Lookin' at Houses

Yesterday I went to Atria to take my mother her morning's pill.  She slept until 11:30 so never had breakfast, though I got her to eat a breakfast bar.  She was complaining, as she frequently does, that there was nothing exciting happening for her.  She had nothing to do, nobody to see, etc.  All the things her hermit-hood has brought her and that she is unwilling to do anything about.  

But I decided to take her out to lunch, just to give her something different to break up the monotony of her day.

We went to a quiet Chinese restaurant where I have taken her before.  Busy restaurants are too noisy for her and she gets confused, but this place is perfect.  It's quiet and she likes Chinese food, which they don't serve at Atria.  And she ate.  I had asked her which she liked better, mushrooms or broccoli (thinking I'd find that out ahead so we could order a vegetable dish) and she said "uh...neither."  Another change.  She used to practically go into ecstacy at mushroom dishes and was always pleased with fresh vegetables.  But she now says she doesn't like vegetables. We we had honey walnut chicken and chow mein.  She even went back for seconds on chow mein, but because it's difficult to dish up she mainly had meat and celery, so I figure she had something nutritious.

And then after lunch was over, I decided to go driving around looking at houses.  She is always so happy to look at trees and greenery and flowers and I figured we would just drive around a couple of housing developments so she could look at what the houses were like.

It was a good idea.  She loved the houses.  She loved the vegetation and she seemed to be in a good mood when I dropped her off at Atria.  I came home to do her laundry before returning for the afternoon pill.

I even managed to sneak out the clothes she has been wearing all week, which she insists don't need washing, despite the stains on the pants.

When I came back in the middle of the afternoon for her second she had no memory of going to lunch or driving around looking at houses, but in the moment she enjoyed it and that made it worthwhile.