"Everything in the universe goes by indirection. There are no straight lines." Ralph Waldo Emerson

This morning I wasn't able to convince Mom to shower. It's rather unfortunate that she has no sense of smell (according to her) because she smelled like cat piss- but I didn't think pushing the issue was a good idea. It took most of the morning to get her fed, dressed, hair brushed and braces on her feet, but again- I wasn't being pushy with her as she was visiting with 'MK'.

Today 'MK' wanted to take us out to lunch. 'J' wasn't feeling up to much of anything, and probably relished the thought of some quite, alone time- so he stayed home. 'MK' drove to a chain restaurant called Panera Bread where we had a nice lunch, good food.

It was a little trying for Mom, lots of noise, tons of people, worrying about how to get her soda, where to find a table, what about the extra food she didn't finish eating... but she still had a good time. On the way back to the house I conveniently napped in the backseat while 'JP' and 'MK' decided to drive to the Natural Tunnel in Virginia.

Mom has been to this park twice in the last 3 months but has no memory of it. She stayed in the car and waited for us while we walked down to the train tracks (well, almost) and then back up the 'mountain'. Beautiful scenery, amazing view, steep stairs, do you all know I hate stairs about as much as Mom hates cliffs? Lol

We got home and she spent a few hours watching tv before dinner. Tonight we had pineapple chicken, basmati rice with a pineapple glaze, broccoli and pineapple bread. Mom loved it. 'JP' and I had a clashing of power when he grabbed my chicken out of the fridge and started removing it from its marinade to rinse the chicken in water. I firmly and emphatically kicked him out of the kitchen. He hates that. He did, however, compliment my dinner after eating it.

After dinner Mom and 'MK' sat talking about old times and looking at photos. There were a lot of blanks to fill in for Mom, lots of things she claimed to not have ever known anything about. Names of schools, places, dates from when she originally moved to Cincinnati, these pieces seem to escape her. There wasn't any frustration from her about not knowing this information though, it was almost as if she has accepted that pieces of her memory simply are not there anymore.

'JP' took a couple photos of the two of them, I've attached one.