Today was an up-and-down day.

We left the hospital about 8:30 and had breakfast at Bob Evans’. It was the first place we’d seen in a long time where they asked us, “smoking or non-smoking?” — that should have been a warning. It wasn’t easy to find non-pork dishes on the menu, either, but we succeeded — both of us had pretty greasy omelets. We’ll try somewhere else next time.

We spent most of the day doing things; I went back to Stein Mart to buy another Hawaiian shirt, then we went to Circuit City to pick up an XM radio for Mom’s room, and then we had lunch at Red, Hot, and Blue — much better than Bob Evans, but Diane wasn’t impressed with her pulled chicken salad. I liked the brisket and would be willing to return. After that, we went to Dave’s Comics and Silly Ass Toys to pick up this week’s arrivals for Jeff — Dave showed us his commercial for Free Comic Book Day, which was quite silly.

Right after that, my brother called. He’d talked with a social worker at the hospital who thought Mom’s vital signs were so good that she could be discharged to a nursing home soon. So I started thinking of returning home sooner…perhaps even as soon as Wednesday.

But then we went to Mom’s apartment to do a little cleanup and to check out her email. I was sure some of her friends would be worried about her, and I was right — so I sent mail out explaining what was going on (and I got a quick reply from her friend in Florida). It felt wrong to be in the apartment without her.

Then we went back to the house for a glass of wine and dinner before returning to the hospital for the evening. My sister-in-law had spoken to a nurse, who wasn’t nearly as optimistic as the social worker. So I decided against buying a ticket just yet.

We spent not quite four hours at the hospital. Mom slept nearly the entire time, though she did perk up a few times, and she seemed to enjoy the music again. I’d carefully left the XM radio at the house, so I couldn’t try it out, either.

My niece is spending the night with Mom tonight, so we’ll get to sleep in a real bed for the first time in a while. I’m looking forward to the novelty.

We did wind up spending the night at the hospital last night — we must be getting better at this, because Mom, Diane, and I all slept through the night, only waking when the nurse came in at 6am and had to open the bathroom door, letting more light into the room. And then I think we all fell back to sleep again for a few more minutes.

I played music for Mom again last night just before bed — this time, I went for the full-strength treatment of Frank’s Place, which brought smiles to her face, especially when Sinatra himself was on. The last time I listened to that channel was as we were driving through Palm Desert in December; then, I was listening almost as part of a private joke. This time, I think the audience is more attuned to the music.