At Lisa's House All Day

It IS Monday and I woke up thinking I had all this stuff to do for work today. Of course the more I think instead of going to my centering meditation, the more I end up lollygagging. And it was already close to 9 AM when I finally got showered, cleaned up, and ready to go. What's the rush this Monday? I had to be at Lisa's at 10:15 AM for Johnnie's parent teacher conference. I wasn't going to miss that for anything because it is one of the rare times in this time of COVID that Lisa and I would get to talk to Johnnie's teacher together. I even packed my laptop so I could go straight from that meeting right to my regular QueensCare Monday Business Continuity meeting.  Oh and even before that I had to field a 9 AM meeting from Barbara regarding coming back to work at the FRB. As in it ain't happening until the summer. At least through July. Which would clinch my being at home for Johnnie's entire school year this year. Not that it matters now. I have a routine, QueensCare is doing just fine with remote work, and after 8 months we're pros at this by now. And so I had a quick breakfast and got to Lisa's and just as soon as he got done with his 9:25 class, Lisa and I go to her "office" which used to be my office LOL. It felt strange working there I'm not going to lie. I spent so much time there when I lived here. But did I really? Did I not lug my laptop with me downstairs most of the time? I spent time in this office only to get away from Lisa really. And here I am in the pic doing my meetings, doors closed. Before that I thought we had a pretty good meeting with Ms. Wiley. I remember last year at this time, the focus of our conversation with Ms Gee was Johnnie and the other kids in the class and how unruly some of them get. None of that this year since the kids are not around each other. We did talk about Johnnie's progress, which I had no concerns about whatsoever. I know he's smart. I know he's already at 1st grade level in terms of reading and math. We went over the DIBELS assessment but Ms. Wiley also knew he was already at least at the level he's supposed to be. He's handling remote work just fine and so really it was just all about meeting her and Lisa giving her a download on Johnnie's physical/medical concerns. None of these you'd even know he has so I didn't think there was a point. Lisa sort of relayed the information as  a point of pride I think of how much he's accomplishing already.  I mean e IS a great kid which is why Lisa felt like sharing all kinds of stuff about him I'm sure. When I got done with my QueensCare meeting it was already noon and I was about to take off home so I could have some lunch. But Lisa reminded me that I was going to watch Johnnie while she took off to do errands this afternoon. She was supposed to get COVID tested, and then it's her usual list of stuff to do on a Monday. I was happy to watch Johnnie actually. Just wasn't sure how I'd fit in the other routine Monday stuff I have gotten used to doing. As in taking my mid-afternoon walk, doing steps, getting my exercises in. Oh well, those would have to wait I suppose.

As it turned out I ended up staying at Lisa's house all day. I had my laptop so I was at least able to work. I was so behind on my invoices I needed to at least make a dent on those today. And I had resumes to review. By 2 PM I realized I barely had 1000 steps in. And so I parked Johnnie in front of some EPIC books to read and I did steps around the sidelawn. Walk and walk and walk with a little light jog thrown in. By the time Lisa got back it was already 4 PM and starting to get dark. She was moaning about how the COVID test really cut in to her routine. Yeah for me too Lisa. For me too. But I think she had to do it. Her mom got tested yesterday only because she felt pressured to do so. For me, it was the responsible thing to do. And so I stuck around Lisa's house while she basically spent the last few hours of the afternoon making a gingerbread man. That's their thing Lisa and son. They bake. Me and Johnnie? We have a different thing. We watch dinosaur videos LOL. It was almost 6 PM by the time we got back to my apartment. I had to learn how to feed the gecko apparently because they're going away this weekend. Is it me or do I find myself getting roped into all these Lisa household things despite the fact that we're divorced! I guess that's the price I pay to keep harmony while still being able to spend as much time as I do with Johnnie. He immediately went to his DAD's apartment routine soon as we got there. He took out his dino toys, ate his McNuggets + chicken noodles, and put on Isla Nublar until it was time to go to bed. What a different Monday this turned out to be. But it wasn't so bad. I always feel like I'm not myself when I'm at Lisa's and that's ok. I got done what I wanted to do anyway. I even finished at 12000+ steps anyway. It's all good.