Still On the Go

We go from a busy Tuesday afternoon to a just-as-busy Wednesday particularly in the morning where we have to be at Mar Vista Elementary by 8:30 AM for picture day. And of course I had to watch all the post-game from the Dodgers World Series win last night. Just like I did when the Lakers won their championship less than 3 weeks ago. What a hell of an October this has been for LA sports. You knew when you started hearing fireworks the second the game was over that LA had won! And so I am still dealing with the after-energy of all that. Still we had to get up earlier than usual and get breakfast under our belts the same way. And then I got Johnnie all duded up and prepped to go. I must admit I miss driving him to school which is the feeling of deja vu I got on our way there. No droves of students walking in. But there were some familiar faces, some from Johnnie's TK class last school year. Can't believe that was just a few months ago. And when he lined up for his pictures, he even got a hello from someone in his current class, whom he had never seen in person before other than on Zoom. Funny how that works doesn't it? I think we're all struggling with that lack of familiarity and social interaction, and certainly as someone who is not inherently social to begin with, I find myself struggling to make sure Johnnie learns how to fit himself in, whatever the situation may be. And I, for one, was glad to see familiar faces especially the STAR counselors that Johnnie used to interact with every day. Them I really do miss. Especially this one that used to pick up he and Brooklyn in the morning. She knew how much Johnnie sort of struggled his first 2 weeks of school. And she knew how he morphed into the funny, rambunctious kid that he is today in a matter of weeks. I mean look at the picture I posted of him... of course after my own Johnnie picture. I do hope his school pics turn out ok. The picture taking activity itself lasted all of 10 minutes and lucky for Johnnie, because of it, his 9 AM Zoom class got cancelled. And actually, the rest of the day sort of cruised on by routinely actually. The kind of routine I like really. I discovered that Johnnie liked a coloring exercise I copied from the web, which combined math exercised and coloring between the lines. And that kept him occupied during whatever down time he had. We were breezing so well with his homework that after his 12:10 class I realized that we got everything done! Awesome. This was the part where STAR was very very good at in my opinion. It helped fill in the gaps AND got him to socially interact with other kids. I tried to mimic the activities. I took him out and we played baseball. And then only at 3 PM did I turn on the TV for him and only because I had to lead the PM Huddle. And we actually talked until almost 4 PM. The Octonauts and some of that caramel popcorn he got as a treat from this morning kept him occupied in the meantime. And then we I got one, it was already on to Panda Express Westwood to get dinner. The place was unusually busy today. There was not only a line to get food, but also a line of people outside waiting for food. I wonder what's going on? Last week when we biked here we were the only ones. Hmmm. In any case we got home and got an early dinner in. And when we got home, I got an email from LAUSD. Johnnie and I had both tested negative for COVID. That was pretty cool. At least we don't have to worry about that for now right? Good that we can get our results within 24 hours now. Used to be we would have to wait days. And then I realized that with the NBA/Lakers season all done, and with the MLB/Dodgers season all done too, that we are now back to just football. Of course last year I'd be following the Bruins too. But that hasn't even started yet. The Rams are doing ok 7 games into the season so I could start rooting for them in earnest. But really the rest of the country is starting to gear up for a big week next week. The ELECTIONS happen on Tuesday and wouldn't it be a great trifecta if Biden wins and we can finally, finally, finally get back to a path of normalcy and decency. Aren't we all exhausted of the Trump presidency? We tried it, he showed he was more fluff than substance although his adoring fans would claim different and that he was sent by "God" whatever the fuck that means, so it's time to change the radio station. We wait for Tuesday night a little less than a week from now. In the meantime, we made it through half the week and I'm so glad most of the big activities are all done.