Lisa Piano Day Part ...

So, I've come to get used to every other Saturday weekend set when Lisa has piano lessons that I come by to pick up Johnnie sometime in the morning and then keep him until after lunch. Used to be that would happen on a regular Lisa workday Saturday. That it has now become routine every other Saturday as well is something I very much welcome, if only for the fact that it is one more day that I get to spend with Johnnie and a day where we're not bugging about class or Zoom or reading or anything else. Just he and I. You almost miss how fast he has grown since I have been with him every day. Not just physically too, he has grown academically obviously as he is now able to read entire books like a first grader does. I've taken the foot off the pedal with math just so I can give him time to assimilate. But I also know he is far advanced there as well. The biggest advance though in my opinion is that he IS learning personality things that can be striking. He is the one that checks me when he thinks I'm saying a bad word. <BTW "stupid" counts as a bad word> and I am very much glad that he does that. It mean he is developing a moral compass. He is the one that detects when I am impatient and calls me out on it when he sees it. Also a good thing. God knows how much I need reminding. Today I wanted to make sure he got caught up with eating since it was clear to me they had missed something yesterday. I mean I personally don't care what Lisa does regarding her eating habits. But damned if I let her pass it on to Johnnie. And so I bought him McDonald's Deluxe breakfast first thing this morning and even though we spent the morning at Mitsuwa grocery store <itself something that caused a trip down memory lane. I hadn't gone into this store since before quarantine in March!!> and also at Bed Bath and Beyond <again a store I hadn't gone into since pre-pandemic quarantine>,  he actually noticed we were passing his mom's office and we were passing Panda Express on the way home. And so even though it was only 11:15 AM, we stopped and got his lunch anyway.  This way, no matter what happens tonight, I AM sure he will have had 2 really good meals today.

And so dad and son kind of just hung out this morning and then I sort of spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up the apartment. It was definitely due. You wouldn't believe how much residue gets on the floor just Johnnie being there doing his thing. Drawing on the floor, spilling food, cookie crumbles all over the place. Yet I wouldn't have it any other way, let me make that clear.  You can complain about something until you don't have it anymore. I dare say that when I was trying to comfort yesterday on the phone and I talked about how we used to argue, she would actually question if we even argued at all. Funny how I laughed at that thought quietly. She pushed me out the door SOOO hard. Questioned if she even had feelings for me at all. And now that I've been officially gone more than a couple of years it actually did sound like she missed me although she would NEVER say it. Still the truth is I have now lived in the Sawtelle apartment longer than I have at the Maplewood house and so be it ever so humble, it is HOME. And so this afternoon I focused on cleaning my home. Well, first I had to make dinner of course and it was one of those pre-made pork loin chunks wrapped in bacon and stuffing that you had to bake. It wasn't bad. Heck it was only $4. Only after I cooked did I clean the kitchen. The oven. Then the floor. Then the bathroom floor. Then the bedroom. I couldn't believe I did all that in a couple of hours. Frankly I thought I was just trying to distract myself from checking in on the Dodgers game. Wouldn't want to destroy the mojo. After all, they win tonight then I think there is a very strong chance we will win the championship in the next couple of days. I kept trying to tell myself that I really didn't care. And me not caring was what got them past the NLCS when they were down 3-1. Or more preciously, dealing with whatever happened. And now here we are. As it was I did check when they led 2-0. I don't remember what made me look at ESPN, but I did look. And so with the mojo gone, I kept on looking. They were still ahead 3-1 after the 5th and somehow the score became 7-6! W-h-a-t?? Entering the 9th inning they were up 7-6. Who knew that Kenley Jansen yet again would be pitching and giving up a hit that led to an error that scored the tying run and then another error that led to the walk-off winning run. Did the Dodgers just screw this up?? Series tied 2-2. Sigh. What a bad taste in my mouth this left. So much so I had to go to the hot tub and just clear my thoughts for about 20 minutes. Oh well, at least I cleaned my apartment.  I'm going back to not caring again...