Update [edited]

lyceum_arabica visited me yesterday. Well, she was up for Ohio friends in the south city, but she came up for lunch. Had rather novel views of the aesthetics, and speculations about the history of, my neighborhood. Albany Park is an old immigrant neighborhood -- I grew up seeing far more Palestinians and east Asians than white people, the Korean church across the street has Stars of David in the railings from when it was a synagogue, my father always said the local schools had dozens of languages spoken in them. Lawrence is a pretty busy street, full of shops; my mother found it dreary, I thought it aesthetically nothing much but at least vitally hopping, lyceum was going "this must be the downtown of some small town Chicago swallowed! Especially if it gets deader *toward* downtown. And these buildings! There must have been money!" Anyway, it was pretty fun, and I'm glad she came. She got a house tour, too. ["So spacious! The furniture! The books!" No reaction to the garden, though. Admittedly nothing's in bloom; perhaps a bunch of greenery seems normal to a Columbus/Dayton girl. Certainly much of Bloomington south of campus is competitive.]

Mama went in for some "minor" procedures today, supposedly around one; still in surgery four hours later. [Out now. "She's fine", I'm told. Sleeping. To be moved to yet another room.] This morning she didn't remember that I'd visited her yesterday, though she did eventually remember that I'd told her about lyceum's burbling. Neither yesterday nor today did she react with the expected horror to the news that a complete (and female!) stranger had been allowed to see the house and it's rather sub-Dutch housekeeping.

I tried using the power of attorney forms I have, but the bank wants a valid ID just to add my signature to the account. Since I don't really drink or drive, I haven't bothered updating my expired California license. I'd actually started trying to get an Indiana driver's license, hopefully with lyceum's help, but that got interrupted by all this. And my passport and such are still at home.