Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Three Beautiful Things 06/26/17: Mom Update, Rice and Bean Salad, *Chopped: After Hours* Stimulated Me

1. Christy went to see Mom around breakfast time and told me that Mom and she shared memories together and Mom had quite a bit to say, especially about the first time Cosette went to church camp and wanted Mom to bunk right below her. She did memory exercises with her speech therapist and by the time I arrived, about 10:30, it was time for her shower. Mom returned looking refreshed. The morning conversations and therapy and the shower tuckered her out. Except for about ninety minutes in the afternoon when Zoe sat with Mom, I was with her until about 5:30 or so and very little transpired between us. Mom ate some of her lunch. Mostly she slept in her wheelchair. She didn't respond when Jane and Lynette came to visit. At one point I buzzed for a nurse to report that Mom was in a lot of lower body pain and the Tylenol he gave her seemed to help. Another staff person recommended that Mom might be more comfortable in bed and moved her. When I left, soon after that, Mom was sleeping peacefully.

2. I made a quick trip to Yoke's and returned to Mom's to fix dinner for Everett and Christy, who put in a seven hour shift at the library today. I made a salad composed of rice, black beans, sweet potatoes, red pepper, cilantro and other items and used street taco-sized flour tortillas to make quesadilla wedges. A cool front had moved in with cloud cover -- a storm came after I went to bed -- and it was very comfortable in Christy and Everett's backyard as we ate dinner, talked about the day and our impressions of Mom's day, and wound down a bit.

3. On YouTube I found several Chopped: After Hours that I'd never seen before and I got so excited watching the chefs who work as judges on the show make dishes from different boxes of oddball ingredients that I had trouble getting to sleep. Oh, well. The episodes inspired me to imagine ways I might refashion the leftover rice and bean salad I made tonight into something different for dinner on Tuesday.

No comments: