HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BUG

So today is Johnnie's birthday and when he woke up, he BOUNDED up with such excitement. I couldn't help thinking to myself boy isn't it great to wake up with such unbridled enthusiasm when you're a kid! As for me, I just asked myself a question: How can I make sure today Johnnie has a day he remembers because he had such a really good birthday? You ask a question, you'll get an answer right? The answer that came was simply provided by Johnnie himself. He kept bringing up that he was having dinner at Oops sushi with both his mom and dad tonight. Ok then. In the meantime, I ran him through his usual school routine. Except that it wasn't so usual this morning. His Social Studies class was replaced by a Junior Fire Marshall class sponsored by an insurance company. But hey, he did learn to create a Fire Escape plan and got himself certified as a Junior Fire Marshall. It's all good! And then sometime in the morning, Amazon dropped off his present. The trampoline came!! Of course I told him we weren't going to be putting it together until his last class today, which was computer programming class. And then of course there is swimming class before that. I mean, all these classes today already right? But Johnnie was a trooper. In fact, for his swimming class I saw the progress he made swimming on his back for a bit. Considering that just a little over a month ago I couldn't even get him to go to the small hot tub in my building, this is progress indeed. This is already in addition to last week's video of him swimming. He still needs to build confidence obviously, but it's getting there for sure. And as far as his computer class, I've already chronicled skills he learned just on that Scratch Jr platform. And so when his computer class ended he went right at the box which had the trampoline in it. And so we would spend the next 20 minutes unboxing the thing and figuring out how to put it together. And put it together we did. And within minutes he was jumping up and down on that thing. He was so happy! And so now I could worry LESS about him jumping up and down on my couch. A win-win.

By 6 PM, Lisa had called letting us know she was on her way to Oops. It was walking distance for Johnnie and I and I thought about taking our bikes. And then I just decided we'd just drive over there. She was already waiting for us. I don't know what Lisa's Tuesday routine is anymore and really it didn't matter. Immediately she launched into the thing that was bothering her the most, which was pretty par for the course. Something is always bugging her. And I already mentally prepared myself that I was going to have to listen to it and try my best not to be too dismissive. This is HER way of processing her negative emotions and so SO BE It. She was bothered that her vendor that was doing their new office scrubs had botched measurements yet again and she was not happy about how they fit. I merely told her that if she was spending all that money for a custom fit office scrubs, then they sure as heck better fit. And if the vendor didn't get it right, then she should get them to fix it until they did get it right. Of course there was also the factor that any vendor that didn't know Lisa, didn't know how particular she was LOL. And so I let her talk and talk away and tried to get Johnnie to tell her highlights of his day. He was, of course, a point of focus today in his class because his teacher knew it was his birthday. And really for all of us, isn't that what we remember? That other people remembered? I don't care if you're 6 or 66. And of course Johnnie will remember getting a trampoline for his birthday LOL. He gave me such a hug about it too. And I also know that he is happiest when he is with his mom and dad and that this tonight, this dinner at Oops is merely a replay of his fondest moments of us all eating out together. Even if we ate outside with masks at the ready, coronavirus pandemic style. We still got to eat out. Lisa said she had gone here a few times already. This was my first. And the food was still as good as before. Hey, no Panda Express for Johnnie tonight right? Lisa wanted to go for a walk around the neighborhood afterwards. I have a memory of us doing just that on a Halloween night 2 years ago. She and Johnnie collected candy at one house. And then off she went and Johnnie and i continued trick or treating in my neighborhood. Tonight Johnnie did NOT feel like walking around. These days he will tell you if he doesn't feel like doing something. And so we just walked back to my car and headed home. I, of course, was thinking about the NBA Finals Game 4. And I welcomed the dinner to take my mind off the game. And later on i would find out that the Lakers did win going up 3-1 and within 1 win of another NBA Championship. They're smelling it now. I am too. But really today was all about Johnnie's birthday. And I am very VERY glad he had a good one.