Saturday Workday for Lisa Returns

As tired as i was already from getting only about 4 hours of sleep, i still get a call from Lisa at 6:15 telling me she needs me to pick up Johnnie at 7:15 because she actually starts work at 7:30 AM today. Great. Even less sleep for me. But there I am dutifully at her doorstep at 7:15 AM ready to pick up Johnnie.  It is back to Lisa-working-on-a-Saturday routine as this is the first time she is working Saturday since mid-March. Of course the difference is that Elysee has been closed and just did reopen but since I myself have a morning appointment for a cleaning at Lisa's, we didn't have time to go there today. There is also the Target run but that we can do after my appointment. Still, I picked up Johnnie and we did our usual McDonald's breakfast run instead and it became breakfast-as-usual for he and I. And I barely had enough time to brush and floss and make my 9:30 AM appointment. Her office obviously has reconfigured to allow for the new coronavirus protocols and I was actually pretty impressed how they have adapted. And for today, there were 3 patients in the waiting all socially distanced. Sandy did my cleaning this morning and I had a lot of "barnacles" in my back teeth since I hadn't had a cleaning in more than 6 months. They can't do polishing yet, but my teeth did get a very good cleaning. Johnnie in the meantime, was such a good boy doing drawings in the front until I was done and then when his hour attention span got done, I could hear him laughing in the front which was just about the time I got done. And then he said goodbye to his mommy and then we went on to... Target. I needed to buy some paper towels and toilet paper.  And so this part at least felt like old Saturdays in the past when I would have Johnnie on a Lisa workday Saturday. Felt normal. And you know how I like routine. By the time we got out of Target it was already 11:30 AM. And so while we were still in Westwood I figured I'd just go on ahead and pick up lunch from Panda Express. Yep, just like those old Saturday Lisa workdays again. Of course we can't eat in there anymore just yet, but who cares. I posted a pic of Johnnie and I waiting to get our order in.  The best feeling in the world for me these days is when Johnnie clutches me or my hand. Just like in the picture. And so we had our little retro Panda Express lunch  I remember when I used to drive up and down Sawtelle just to get Johnnie to fall asleep as recently as 2 years ago. Who knew then that I would end up living right on the same street LOL.

Anyway no falling asleep for him anymore  these days.  I just have to keep him occupied with Peep and Chirp, or Cat-In-the-Hat, or much more recently he actually liked LEGO Guardians of the Galaxy, and LEGO Superheroes. Today it was me that needed a nap and I told him to watch a video while I tried to take one. I did manage to shut my eyes and drop off for about 10 minutes, which is just about all I needed at least right then. I knew Lisa wouldn't pick Johnnie up until she got done with work stuff, got done with her notes and for today, her office was closing at 2:30 PM. Which would put it right around 6 PM that she would be coming around to pick him up. Until then we did have more errands to run. After all, I hadn't done grocery shopping yet. And I know Johnnie just loves hanging out with his mom when she goes shopping.  Today it's with dad. And so there we are at Ralphs getting food for the week, including btw some fresh roasted turkey  and salmon that I was going to give to Lisa. Every Saturday I would get her groceries. Why not get some now LOL?!  In the middle of all that I get this surprise phone call from Jorge in San diego. Apparently USC had laid him off and his last day is in mid-July. He has been laid off by USC  so many times in my mind that I had lost track.  But in this world of the pandemic where there is literally very few people at USC, I believe they are serious this time. I can't believe it's actually been 7 whole years since we last worked together at USC. I can still remember him meeting up with me in downtown LA so I could buy me some suits for work. Seven years ago. Probably almost to the day. I think he was reaching out just so he could keep me up to speed and I'm glad. There isn't much in the way of helping him that I could do. Heck we already hire him routinely at QueensCare. And he's doing Barbara's wiring. But it's good to get reminded that there is the world outside of the bubble I've created. And that there are still people that I care about that care about me too. And speaking of the bubble, I got the timing with Lisa spot on pretty much. She got done and came around to pick up Johnnie around 6 PM just like I predicted. And when I gave her turkey and salmon she must have felt grateful because she offered to trade that for her leftover Panini Grill salmon kabobs and rice. Ahh those leftovers from those Saturday lunches at Lisa's office. A distant memory now but still a pretty strong memory. Tonight I grabbed half the kabobs and left the other half for Lisa to feed Courtney with. Apparently she's coming over tonight and so she's going to need to get food... hey a pretty fair trade I think. And tonight I get a pretty nice salmon kabob dinner, and quite an unexpected one at that. Nothing wrong with just hunkering down for my Saturday night, especially since I already got to spend the day with Johnnie. I was just thinking how we already got used to the Saturday routine, with the breakfasts and the shopping, and Lisa practicing piano. Heck weren't we just at Marina del Rey about a month ago? And so now we have a new old routine. I ended up watching the end of Roswell Season 2. And when I got done with that I moved back to Jessica Jones. Hey, Marvel you know. How did I turn into a binge watcher all of a sudden. Maybe not so all of a sudden. I did have a pretty nice, and quiet Saturday though.  And with Johnnie? It was perfect.