All About Johnnie

So it is Tuesday of a short work week and other than my team meeting, which would be the only one I am doing for this week,  I didn't have anything scheduled for work. That doesn't mean I didn't have anything to do mind you. I realized though that any feelings of un-ease around work centered around James and Data Analytics as there were at least 3 things he was supposed to be responsible for yet here he is taking the day off sick today. Which meant there was nothing i could do about pushing things forward. Still people that needed their reports were bugging me about them which is why I was also feeling some irritation. I had to tell myself that things were still under control and the fact that James wasn't here today only heightened a sense of lack-of-control. My feeling of un-ease was a control issue? Seems to be the case isn't it. And so the lesson today was to find a way to put all those negative feelings on the shelf and find a way to better deal with things positively. Fortunately for me I did have one thing that commanded far more attention and that I considered far more important. That was finding something to do for Johnnie ALL DAY today since he had no school. From the moment he woke up this morning he was already in GO mode and he even announced he wanted to draw stuff after breakfast. And so I did my team meeting, let him watch some animal stuff on YouTube and then got him to doodle something with watercolors. The good thing about Johnnie is that you can always get him to do some artwork. And you can always get him to draw dinosaurs. And you can always get him to do stuff under the guise of making his mom something for a present. While I did try to do work - and after all I had at least a dozen purchasing invoices I needed to catalog and approve - before long he had at least half a dozen things he had drawn. He was eagerly showing them to me of course. He was trying to tell me what each drawing was. And then I had the most BRILLIANT idea. "Johnnie, I asked him, why don't you write down a sentence about each drawing?" After all, you want mommy to know what each drawing is about don't you? HOMERUN! And so he spent another hour writing something. He had to ask me how to spell stuff but hey that part was easy. The astounding thing I realized was after the end of the activity, he had written himself a dinosaur book! I mean how amazingly cool was that?! He had a cover and an END page and everything. I mean it wasn't like I told him to write a book or anything. It just sort of worked out that way.   

And then later on after lunch I had another A-HA event that sort of just unfolded organically. We were taking an activity break or a video break. I started to watch something Christmassy and I chose the video "Closing of the Year" from the movie Toys by Wendy and Lisa. I was thinking how this was a bit of a ritual listening to this song and watching this video and it brought me back to a time when I was listening to it when I was still living at Maplewood. It was then that it hit me that we hadn't taught Johnnie any Christmas songs. I mean I know we're not at all religious but at least we have to teach Johnnie some holiday rituals right? Like the Christmas tree he helped his mom put up? And so i decided that I was going to teach him a Christmas carol today and we were going to sing it together and we were going to post the video of it in FB. THAT is sort of my way of getting into the holiday spirit right? I chose Silent Night. I figured it would be nice and short and mellow. And I had Johnnie write the words even. And then we sang it and sang it. The video I posted is us practicing it. The final version I posted on Facebook actually turned out very well. Ok, so maybe Johnnie is way out of pitch. He hasn't really learned how to sing. More like yell really. But he tried. And his facial expressions were totally priceless. As we were heading home from picking up his Panda Express dinner, he actually broke out into the song and knew all the words. See? Mission accomplished. One Christmas carol taught. All good.  With these 2 activities alone that Johnnie got to do with me, it was already a day I won't forget. In these times that doesn't feel like Christmas, we made it feel like Christmas. Way to go dad.

Winter Solstice And A Double Planet Conjunction

It is Winter Solstice today, officially the first day of winter and a very rare astronomical event happening too. Not only is today officially the shortest day of the year in terms of sunlight, three is also the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter later on tonight that only happens in a few hundred years. Such a confluence makes the appearance of a huge bright star... hmmm like possibly the one that was described by the Three Kings in the Nativity Story?  Hence it's being called the Christmas Star event in some circles. Then again everything has a scientific explanation right? As far as all astronomical events there is always a metaphysical connection and interpretation as well. This one is supposed to usher in significant change globally both in terms of social and cultural norms. Might we finally go back to more of taking care of each other instead of this me-me-me thing that seems to have bubbled to the surface in these Trump years? In any case, this week is also a short week and especially since I took Thursday Christmas Eve off, which means I only have 3 work days.  In the meantime, it surely did not escape me or anyone else in our Business Continuity the sound of overwhelm and frustration coming from our Health Center Managers as the clinics are starting to get overrun. And when that happens and patience starts to run short and mistakes start to happen, it's incumbent upon our leadership to calm the waters. I offered whatever help I could from a tech standpoint. But I think it's more on the providers to show a little flexibility and a can-do attitude. So after I got through the Business Continuity meeting first thing, I focused squarely on getting my steps in and keeping up the heavy exercise day that Monday has become over the past couple of months or so. The short week means I do have lots to work on actually. Several contracts due, dozens of invoices needing my approval and trying to shore up the Data Analytics function... while actually reminding myself that I still do have an internal routine I need to maintain as well. This morning I did a quick Tai Chi routine to calm down actually, sensing that I was already tensing up. And even though I didn't actually get to shower until it was already well past 9 AM, at least I did that. I mean I hadn't showered since Thursday morning. Eezy and relaxed is one thing, stinking up myself is quite another. And it did feel good to clean up. Before I even had lunch I made it a point to go outside and enjoy the sun, this being another nice day and all. It's almost Christmas and I'm walking around outside with no layers on whatsoever. It's actually warm out even. As if the point is being hammered that this is no ordinary Christmas holiday season.  

Anyway I let the rest of the afternoon sort of cruise on by and before I knew it it was already time to pick up Johnnie for my turn this week. I hadn't seen him all weekend since Friday afternoon for the first time in a while and even then I'm already going to be seeing him much more than I did last year during the holidays. Which is why i didn't really even make an effort to see what mom and son were doing this weekend. Better just to let Lisa have her time with him alone I thought. I mean I wouldn't want her horning in during my time with him during the week. And when I did pick him up, all these things that she did inside of 15 minutes reminded me why. She was getting Johnnie to finally pick up after his toys, knowing full well I'd be there at 5:30. She bugged about the pair of jeans that I chose for him to wear since they weren't skinny enough. I didn't want to tell her that skinny jeans are no longer the "thing". And I had purchased these jeans from H&M too. And then I had to listen to her forecast her week. Actually that was important because I don't even know what her Christmas Day plans were. I assumed she's going to visit her family and taking Johnnie with her. And that's ok. I was supposed to bring Johnnie back on Christmas Eve around lunchtime and that's already more than I could ask. This week just becomes like a regular week and I'm satisfied with that. In the meantime, as soon as we get in to my apartment Johnnie morphed into the dinosaur-watching mad drawing kid that he is when he's around me. And since I had actually had a usual heavy exercise day today, I was out like a light before 10 PM. All good. One day down, a couple left to go for the week.

3rd straight sunday at Altadena

So today I get up early and head out to Altadena golf course for the third straight week. Which means that it has been 3 weeks since the county order that people can't play with others unless they are in the same household. An order that was largely ignored really, but it made getting tee time reservations almost impossible. Hence, we stuck at Altadena simply because it worked the first time 3 weeks ago and at least I've kept it going. No Scott today since he had a procedure to close a hole in his heart. Sounded serious and definitely not the small deal Scott seemed to liken it to when he talked about it a week ago. Still it was supposed to be a warm day today even and so I was NOT going to miss the chance to golf and get some exercise in outdoors. As it turned out, Greg seemed to be the only reliable golfer I can play with these days, what with Scott out and Chris pretty much no longer playing with us except for every once in a while, maybe once a month or so. And that's ok. I didn't focus so much on how to have a good game this morning. All I know is that when I release my attachment to a score or to a shot and just let things flow the way they're supposed to go, to just let go of whatever causing me stress and anxiety, mainly the pressure of hitting a good shot every time, then I seem to do better. There is a balance between focusing and making sure you've got your mechanics lined up, and getting too attached to making the perfect shot. I mean we're not pros here. With that said, all I really cared about was reducing the amount of whiffs and mis-hits I hit, which is probably the wrong approach since that makes me more focused on NOT doing something rather than what I really want to do.  I tried to tell myself that. All the way to the first swing when I flew out of control to the right side. Still, I managed to get on in 4 and of course missed my putt for a 6. I told myself to slow down and just enjoy the game. "Just enjoy the game" I could hear myself. I really wish I listen to myself sometimes. As far as the rest of the game, I was typically inconsistent, but I did have my moments. So for every beautiful shot off the tee like the iron on Hole 8 that landed dead straight not even 15 yards from the hole just before the green, I would pull a tee shot so bad it went way left on Hole 6. I had a great hole on Hole 6, with a nice chip that went a foot from the hole, But I had to rescue myself with a whiff on that same hole. And I putted like crap all day. Still, it did turn out to be a nice day. And I did enjoy playing here for the third straight week, though I am glad I already have reservations elsewhere for next week. 

I did the Crimson lunch followed by a nap thing right when I got home. And did some loads of laundry too. The nap actually took about an hour and a half, which made up for less than 5 hours last night spent watching TV of course. I was back to TRAVELERS after IVANHOE. Usually I'd be up and about on the last weekend before Christmas, but then there are so many things I didn't have to worry anymore because we are on lockdown. Buying presents is not one of them since you can easily get those things online anymore. Then again, I never bought stuff for anybody anyway did I? Man am I some kind of Scrooge or what? I think Lisa mentioned they had their office potluck at her house this past weekend, and that they were going hiking with Balwan today. Me? I'm just chillin' right there on my couch, still working on doing the internal things I need to do in order to get closer to my outcomes. Last night's fiasco with the pizza was a reminder that I am actually manifesting what I don't want and so it is that kind of focus I need to sharpen. As for steps, I didn't need to exercise anymore since I was already at 9000 steps when I got back from golf. I was already well past 78000 steps. I did notice my heart rate spiked back up to 71 today. Nothing of concern except an awareness of what internally is going on that would make it go up a couple of points like that. Was it the thing with the pizza and the irritation I felt? Or something internal going on while I sleep, which makes it even more imperative that I do my internal work to fix that. I didn't need to go out for dinner either. I just made myself some nice linguini with pesto that I got from Trader Joe's. Put more tomatoes in there right from my vine (which does sound cool I must say), and the shrimp I got on sale from Ralphs and voila... A fine, fine dinner it was that I ended up having. There was nothing to watch tonight except some Christmassy stuff and I didn't feel like watching those. And so I just caught up on this journal and went on to bed. It turned out to be a quiet weekend without Johnnie. But then again he's back next week. 

A Very Quiet Saturday

Since I didn't get to bed until 1 AM last night and in fact I fell asleep on the couch, I think I could let myself sleep in this morning, not that sleeping until 8 AM even qualifies as sleeping in. But it does for me since it is already later than the latest I've woken up in quite some time. Usually I'd be having breakfast at Lisa's or at least picking up Johnnie so she could have time to do whatever it is that she does. But since I already did that yesterday, albeit as a good Samaritan gesture, I didn't push to spend time with them this morning. Better let Lisa rest I told myself.  Or even better to not be in her hair considering she didn't seem to have the best energy yesterday. That meant that 3 years ago when we were still married we were for sure going to have some kind of fight that night.  It's ok to let her spend time with Johnnie just the two of them I thought. After all, I did have him to myself for the last 4 full days almost. OK to give her the next 3, which is the entire weekend + Monday when I get him back. Besides I have so much stuff I need to get to it's almost ridiculous. I have all this material I want to learn, and I need to find a way to synthesize that learning to make it go quicker. AND to find a way to break the habit of procrastination and distraction which keeps me from being consistent with said learning anyway. Example: the Silva Ultramind system I got to download for free I STILL haven't gotten past Day 2. Why do we do that? Because it IS harder when you're doing it yourself. But I still have to try. Which is what I intended to do today.  

Of course what actually does happen becomes different from what I intend because I needed to focus my thought patterns first to minimize those distractions and start everything with clarity. And THAT I did not do today simply because I wanted to be lazy for the morning. Hey don't I deserve to simply BE and do nothing? I was actually doing just that not giving myself anything to "have" to do today. And wouldn't you know I would get a call out of the blue, from Dexter checking in and catching up. We talked for almost a half hour and it actually felt good to connect with him considering I barely connect with anyone other than Johnnie and Lisa. And so it would seem the Universe was making sure I was plugged today regardless of what I did or didn't do LOL. And then Karl texted too after Dexter's call.  By the time I sort of looked up, it was already well past lunchtime and I had accomplished the mission of not actually having done anything! I got lunch from Chipotle and then went to the couch to go back to doing nothing. Which actually consists of watching TV. I was fully aware that to minimize distraction meant that I would have to do a lot less of watching TV shows and movies. Just see what happened about Meatballs last night?! Today I did it again this time getting a clean download of the mini-series Ivanhoe from 1982! This series had pretty much an all-star cast actually. Anthony Andrews, Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), James Mason (Heaven Can Wait, the Verdict), and John Rhys-Davies (Indiana Jones). But of course back in the day I watched it because of Olivia Hussey. Man she was so beautiful. Anyway just like last night I got nostalgic watching it again. And I ate it with several pieces of pepperoni, sausage, and pineapple pizza actually. I even posted the pic. I actually did end up with 2 LARGE pizzas to take home. That's because the first one they made for me didn't have the right toppings on it. It had jalapeno instead of pineapple and I didn't discover that mistake until I had gone to Trader Joe's to go shopping and then gone on home. At first I thought of just flicking the jalapeno off the pizza but then considering I had focused attention on the pattern of my order not being done right (e.g. Crimson 3 weeks ago when they missed my soup), I decided I had to draw a line with the Universe and actually do something about it and get them to get it right. So I went back to Pizza Hut and got the right pizza this time. They let me keep the old mistaken one too hence the 2 large boxes of pizza I'll never be able to eat. I should have given away the first one to the homeless... but I didn't and I am kicking myself for not doing that. Such a waste. And so it was that Saturday night turned into pizza and movie night, to follow a do-nothing day of a Saturday. Hey I did manage to get 10,000 steps done though. That would help make sure that pizza didn't totally do damage LOL. And then back to routine tomorrow. Early tee time at Altadena.

A Very Different Friday

So today's version of Friday couldn't have been any more different than most Friday's past. First, I get Johnnie right back again today because Lisa is spending the day at Cedar-Sinai doing her medication infusion, which also means she needs a ride there this morning and then a ride back home later. And so by the time I would have been watching the Season Ending episode of the Mandalorian first thing this morning - which was something I was excitedly waiting for all week long, instead I was knocking on Lisa's door to pick up mom and son. Son was already ready to go, since he didn't have to change at all, today being pajama day for his classes and all. Look at the pic I posted. Made things really eezy-peezy for the morning eh? Mom, on the other hand, still had to make tea, pack her breakfast and lunch, and whatever stuff she was bringing with her to the hospital, since she was going to be pretty much down  all day doing not much of anything. She even brought pastries from Portos, and I didn't really have the heart to tell her that Johnnie and I would be just fine for breakfast since I am now treating this like any other morning schoolday and we WILL be stopping at McDonalds on the way back to my apartment. I had an unusually busy Friday on tap already. I had to do 2 interviews today for Lam's spot and then I had reports that were due as well. No tank day for me as it turns out. Still we did manage to drop Lisa off by 8:30 AM which gave us j-u-s-t enough time to navigate home and pick up breakfast by 8:45. It was like I got everything done anyway. Well... almost everything. What I missed was taking a shower which I had no time for, and Johnnie's shower first thing. I had about a 10-minute gap between Johnnie's Science class and my 10 AM interview and THAT was the pocket I used to give Johnnie HIS shower at least so his hair isn't sticking up for the rest of the morning LOL. It turned out that I didn't need to rush because my 10 AM interview didn't show up for the Zoom call. And so for the rest of the morning, it was bam-bam-gam like routine clockwork for Johnnie and I. This was his last day of school before winter break. And then it's 3 weeks of nothing. It's also the last weekend of FALL. And although it hardly feels like the holidays... at least to me... I had to remind myself that it's going to be Christmas in less than a week! The fact that I have Johnnie today already makes it different than last year when they had already taken off for Paris by this time and I was pretty much left to myself for the next couple of weeks. Having Johnnie in the house means your hands are pretty much full. And even though we didn't really do much of anything, I still had to make his udon lunch and horseplay with him all day long. Even with my 1 PM interview, Johnnie managed to invade my space and got himself into my Zoom call LOL. Not that I cared.  

I picked up Lisa around 3:30 PM and I rushed her home. Her energy felt like that day we picked her up the last time she did this while we were still married and I still lived at Maplewood. She was anxious and skittish and basically had an energy I didn't want to be infused with. I could have tried to balance her energy and be a positive influence. But today, this afternoon, I guess my own energy was off too because I didn't feel like doing that. And so I wanted to drop her off at home as fast as I could. In the meantime, Johnnie had fallen asleep in the back seat which was really convenient. All I had to do was carry him into Lisa's house and I was good to go on home. I still had some reports I needed to run and that was what I spent the next couple of hours doing. Yep, on a Friday night. Finally I did eat the rest of my bolognese leftovers and the last of the beef stew. And so after eating finally, finally, finally I was able to sit down and watch the finale of Mandalorian Season 2. And it did NOT disappoint. There was the final battle between the Mandalorians and Mof Gideon and when they appeared trapped by the dark warrior robots about to just pummel their way through the blast doors... who comes to rescue them but a Jet wing pilot. Yes, it was Luke Skywalker about 6 years past the Return of the Jedi. By himself he blasted through the entire platoon of Dark Warrior robots and then finally took Grogu back with him to train. TALENT WITHOUT TRAINING IS NOTHING... he says. Kind of like my manifestation skills right now right? I need some conditioning and training. Anyway, there was the final scene of Mando saying goodbye to Grogu. As a dad, I can't help but get emotional with these kinds of scenes <sigh>. And then of course after credits, we return to Jabba the Hut's old lair. And Boba Fett came and took over. The Book of Boba Fett, coming a year from now. Boy there sure is a lot of Star Wars spawn stories coming next year! And so there went the 2nd season of the Mandalorian. But oddly enough, my night didn't end with that. Instead, it ended with me watching the old movie Meatballs with Bill Murray circa 1979. It's almost puzzling how I couldn't stop watching that movie. It's like a whole bunch of nostalgia that came gushing through all of a sudden. Not to mention 2 songs that I used to love hearing that I hadn't heard in a very long time. Good Friend by Mary MacGregor and Moondust by Terry Black. Yes it was a goofy summer camp movie that couldn't be more removed from the winter that we're in right now. But it did make me feel good and I'm not apologizing for staying up until almost 1 AM to finish the movie. It was all good. Hey, it's Friday and I had a long one and I deserved this one. 

More Johnnie Stuff More Work Stuff

So today we roll on towards the end of the week and don't think I don't remember that the rest of the week during Tech Council Meeting week are usually tank days. And the day after was usually followed by the HIT Roundtable at CCALAC and I usually just go there and then hang out at the 7th St and Fig mall afterwards and wait to go on home.  Of course we won't be doing that again for a while, if ever but I can still think of creative ways to tank it. Today I did do the CCALAC HIT meeting and I did my part as chair and led part of the meeting, even if there was relatively light attendance. Hey it's December after all. Usually we've even had to cancel the December meeting. Still I actually had to put some effort into all this what with the timing of the meeting and all. Johnnie's classes ended at 11:45 and I had very little time to fix him his lunch... and mine for that matter. So much so that the meeting had already started while I was still making my bolognese sauce for my pasta for lunch. And I actually had to EAT lunch WHILE in the middle of said meeting. In the meantime it is bandana day for Johnnie and fortunately I had my usual blue one that he usually uses for a scarf for his music class. Today they made some crafts stuff using marshmallow and beads. They made a candy cane that Johnnie immediately put away in his mom's present bag for her to see tonight. Even put in an I LOVE YOU note. Awww. How jealous am I huh? AND I could hear him do his dancing while I was trying to conduct my IS Team Meeting in fact. Turned out I was just as busy with meetings today as I was yesterday. No tank day I guess.  

And the funny thing was that even when I tried to focus on writing an email or something to do with work and I would leave Johnnie alone, he would usually come into the room and find a way to interrupt me. Most of the time I don't care when he does that. By now, the people I usually meet with are used to him doing that. Once in a while though he would interrupt me in the middle of an impassioned or articulate argument or something and I would lose my temper and get him out of my bedroom. Today, that happened and I immediately felt bad about it afterwards. Believe me, I would rather him bug me about a snack he wants to eat, or a show he wants to watch, or some trivia about geckos and reptiles and dinosaurs than not. Because him connecting with his dad is the most important thing in the world. After my batch of phone calls, which ended with the Afternoon huddle right around 3:30 I hugged him to apologize and then immediately I got him to gear up and take a scooter ride. Yes we hadn't done that since it was still warm more than a month ago. We scootered on to Panda Express where I bought his dinner. I realized it was much colder now. And that it was already starting to get dark when we got home. But we got out of the house and we did something active which was very good. I also realized it was hand-off night tonight and although Johnnie tried to be as patient as he could, by the time 7 PM rolled around he was already asking me where his mom was. He knows the schedule all too well. As it were, Lisa came a little later than usual but I didn't care. Who knows what drama she dealt with today huh? She did remind me that I was supposed to drive her to Cedars-Sinai tomorrow first thing for her medication round. I was happy to help. I guess I get my Little Bug for an extra day. Yay to that. My tank day tomorrow is not to be. I get to work and do interviews too. And that's ok. It'll all be ok. It's still Friday coming up.

Goofy Hair Day

Like I said Lisa had given me enough materials for Johnnie's fun week this week. Every day they were supposed to do something artsy/craftsy. Yesterday it was making a ginger bread man puppet with a brown paper bag. Pretty cool though if I do say so myself. Without anything much to celebrate at work, I sensed that I was actually focused on Johnnie's holiday week. And why not? Usually around this time, I would at least be going to QueensCare's holiday dinner at the swanky private club downtown. Eating my roast filet sandwich and turkey. And hob-nobbing with our Board of Directors. Not this year. And so I look to Johnnie's activities LOL.  Johnnie had been ESPECIALLY looking forward to crazy hair day. And that's today. Probably because he and mom had already been practicing it this past weekend. Of COURSE Lisa would be practicing it. She of the -it's got to be perfect- ilk. I on the other hand who lives on the planet -do your best and pretty good is good enough- knows it's all about doing it together, all about making Johnnie feel included and special, all about letting him participate in the experience. And THAT is what we did this morning. I posted pics of me doing his hair and the end result afterwards. Was it as good as the pics of mom and son practice this weekend? NOT EVEN CLOSE. But I think you can judge the result for yourself. Look at the pic of him. He LOVED it! He was all smiles. And the best part? His class happened to be the one the school principal Ms Choe participated in this morning! And guess what?? She singled him out SPECIFICALLY!  How cool is that? And so I ask you? Was it perfect? NOPE> But was it good enough? Did he have a really good experience with it. The answer to that one would be a resounding, unequivocal MOST DEFINITELY! And to me that wasn't even the coolest thing he did today. In my humble opinion, that would be the snowflake he fashioned in Art Class with watercolors. I posted that here too. Because I happen to think it was very VERY cool as well. I mean look at it. It's something I could put up on MY wall and actually look nice. We're going to have to do more of that for the future. All of this sort of dumbs down the fact that today is Tech Council Meeting day. And even though I had my material good and ready to go, seriously I was more focused on Johnnie's activities than my own. Fortunately, he did get done before lunchtime and I had a little bit of time to focus and get my head together. I had plenty of material anyway so I wasn't worried. Even had new material about the huge cybersecurity hack that just occurred a couple of days ago.  So how did it go? It was sort of a non-event actually. That's because halfway through the whole thing, Eloisa suddenly pulled Barbara and Chad out of the meeting. No doubt something weird was going on with the Health Centers that needed their attention. And that they needed some decision on. I didn't care other than it left me with an audience of 5 that really wasn't all that interested in the rest of the presentation. And so I was left with 20 minutes to kill. And by the time I got done, I had a full 8 minutes left. Oh well. At least I GOT to do the presentation.  And then it was off to the next meeting with OCHIN right after that. All in all, I was just glad I got through a very busy day. And then Johnnie and I were off to Panda Express like usual for Wednesday night teriyaki chicken. By the time we got done, I was just sort of lazily couching it for the rest of the evening. And I was very glad to merely share the rest of the time watching whatever Johnnie wanted to watch. Actually I will admit to steering him away from anything Jurassic. And so I successfully steered him towards Guardians of the Galaxy. First the Lego version, and then he even agreed to watch the real movie. And then before I knew it, it was already 8:30 PM and time to go to bed. I wanted him to get to bed early today. Mainly because I had to wake him up especially early this morning to give us time to do his hair. And I still ran out of time really. But also mainly because I felt tired myself. I still managed to get my 11,000 steps in and then some. I still managed to do 3 sets of Nitric Oxide Dump exercises. And this after focusing on 2 meetings this afternoon too.  AND dealing with all this other stuff with Data Analytics reports. And so I think I just closed my eyes and it was probably pretty early when I knocked off. Fitbit said I fell asleep at 9:30. And I had a good 7 hours of sleep. Sounds just about right. It had been a pretty good day.

Work Work Work

So today I was fully aware that I needed to hunker down and get a lot of work done. As in get my Tech Council presentation. In the meantime, Johnnie's class is in full holiday celebration mode even while being remote. Today for example is WARM SOCKS DAY and to her credit, Lisa handed Johnnie off yesterday fully equipped for the week's festivities. Look at the pic of him with mommy's socks on. Can't get any more warm and comfy than that. And he and his classmates laughed it up sharing their get-ups with one another in their class. That's all you can ask for during this time of remote interactions, is just to have some semblance of social interaction. Particularly important for Johnnie I think. As for me, I wanted the opposite. I needed time to work and think and it was enough to simply have a little attention to whatever Johnnie was doing in the living room while I worked in the bedroom. How could you miss listening to Cosmic Pizza Party being read out loud to him? Anyway they seemed to have a fun time. In this last week of class before the winter break mode, there is no homework, no SeeSaw for Johnnie, but at least I found some things online to keep him busy. Some more math stuff, some more reading, just to keep him edge-sharp since he won't have school for the next 3 weeks. THAT would even be more of a challenge I think, but since it IS the holidays, I'm not all that worried about it. And oddly enough, despite not being close to finishing my presentation by mid-afternoon, I wasn't all that worried about that either. That's because I had content locked in my mind already and it was just a matter of organizing pages in Powerpoint. I thought I had barely an hour's worth of material to cover. It wasn't like I was pulling stuff out of my ass like many previous Tech Council Meetings, but it wasn't like I had anything meaningful to cover anyway. Except of course the big cybersecurity news that a few US federal agencies just got hacked. Or at least they found out they had been hacked and they had been spied on for many months. Someone is going to get egg on their face. I don't know how in the real world, some IT exec would have been skewered over that but in Trump's administration, it's like they don't even care. They're too busy still peddling that BS about how Trump won the election big. It's actually sad to watch now. Some goofy old man trying to keep to an alternate reality so badly out of whack with what actually did happen. It's a lesson in how you can alter the fact with a false narrative if enough people believe it. My question is how so many people have chosen to believe... 

Anyway by late afternoon, I had actually gotten caught up with material for tomorrow's presentation and so I didn't feel all that much pressure at all. Look at the picture I posted of Johnnie goofing around with me and horseplaying like he usually does. Does it LOOK like i'm stressed or anxious in any way? Probably more so that Johnnie could actually hurt me now. He did last week already almost busting my front tooth. Today being Tuesday, it made for a side trip to Panda Express for his dinner. And I actually had a lot more leftovers from last night. My unstuffed cabbage just needed some rice to go over and I had myself a pretty nice, decently healthy meal. I got Johnnie to keep on watching different videos... this time it was back to the Octonauts, while I sat down and finished my presentation. I remember when I would procrastinate so much I would be working on it until the wee hours of the morning many a time. Not tonight. I fully expected to get back to work on it once Johnnie fell asleep. But he fell asleep so fast I didn't need to lay there waiting for him to knock off. I just kept on working on it. And I was done with everything by 11 PM, including the agenda. Mission accomplished. Of course I never doubted it for a sec. And in the time that I took to wind down while laying there in bed I actually drifted to a state that was perhaps close to Alpha. And I was actually able to sort of meditate deeply while I knew I was still awake. I did my image cycling exercise and then it was like I took an elevator ride from that state right on to sleep. I felt like I worked my butt off today. And that's ok. I still felt like I spent enough quality time with Johnnie. 

A Busy Monday to Start A Busy Next couple of Days

So I must have felt guilty or motivated, one or the other. Because I woke up and immediately went on the computer and started to knock off all my 400+ unread emails. Yikes! And then I popped off a quick Nitric Oxide Dump exercise. And got my shower in. By the time I got around to breakfast, it was already past 9 AM. I could sense that I had a lot of energy today and that I was going to get a lot of stuff done. And even before my 10:30 AM Business Continuity Meeting I had already knocked off almost a mile walk just around my block. It was a nice, crispy day outside, the kind of breezy winter day that's usually cold but today I didn't even have to wear a vest. The sun kept it warm enough. Still pretty breezy though. Today I realized the reason I felt "busy-ness" was because it was Tech Council Meeting week, which means I better have worked on my Meeting Minutes by today and have at least a concrete idea of what to present by today too, at least start getting my material together. I have my KPIs I usually do so those I am almost automatic on. It IS December and usually it's the time I could even think about cancelling one of these. But I already did that last month, with the excuse that I was too busy since I was trying to pick up where Lam left off. That was the message I tried to convey to my team this morning, knowing full well that a few people were alarmed that he had left. Hey, if they could have shown him he was more valued, he probably would have stayed, but now we'll never know. I have to pick up regardless and I'm ok with that. Keeps me unusually busy though and I am a little disappointed in the people that have applied so far. In my mind I'm thinking that I found Lam the first time and I should be able to find another one too. But I also remember it took me 2 iterations to actually find him. And my first crack was that couple of guys that did turn out to be a couple. A mistake there. I mull these things as I continue my walk after lunch. But I focus more on how nice a day it was outside. And that all will turn out ok. 

In the meantime, Lisa was supposed to drop Johnnie off early today. She has to get a doctor appointment, medication appointment, AND a COVID test to do. And so in my mind, if I needed to be at 13,000 steps before I got to bed tonight, I better be at the halfway point of that by the time I got Johnnie. And so I got focused on getting lots of steps in, 2 miles worth before 3 PM.  And that included a couple of sets of Nitric Oxide stuff too. And later on 40 pushups in a minute or less, making the benchmark. I guess Mondays have morphed into my physical exercise day. Works for me. Of course with Johnnie in the house, that gives me even less time to think about work, which is why it was so important to get done what I needed to get done, although I fully realized that I was going to not be able to do much of anything. Still I was happy to see my Little Bug and he bounded all the way to my apartment when Lisa dropped him off, all packed with his books and his drawings for me, and his stuff for Winter Wonderland week at school. It's going to be a chill week at school with lots of activities and he is already very much looking forward to funny hair day on Wednesday. In the meantime, I got him busy with  Cat-In-the-Hat while I attempted to get some work done on my presentation for Wednesday. And of course when Johnnie is in play mode like he was this evening, he would be likely to interrupt whatever I was doing and play with me. Look at him in the pics I posted. Immediately he built his dinosaur fort on the floor and immediately he asked for McNuggets for dinner. Great... that would take away that option for lunch tomorrow. But then again it isn't a normal week anyway. And with the abbreviated schedule all week for Johnnie's classes, I'm going to have to find something for him to do when he finishes early, if I'm going to get all my stuff done. It's a busy week for me after all, and especially since next week is Christmas week and a really short one yet again. And of course the pandemic rages on as one by one departments at work are reporting staff shortages either because people are testing positive for Covid, or staying at home to take care of someone who has.  Fortunately for me,  all i have to worry about is Johnnie's attention and I remembered how I got him interested in all those EPIC read-to-me books that had adventure themes. The Bright Family. Cat Ninja. And tonight I actually had him read some of those books given to him to read. I'm also proud that I got my internal work done as well despite being so busy. That is the kind of thing that just snaps into place after doing it consistently for some time. How a long a time? It depends I guess. I do feel that despite all the interest I've had for a really long time on metaphysical things, I just haven't focused on them with enough clarity and consistency. And I think I can do that now. It doesn't guarantee results I grant you, but it does make me feel much more centered and calm. And so tonight I let Johnnie drift to sleep before getting to work on my stuff. I only worked through 11 PM. I had no intention of working late. Funny I only do those to watch TV shows I guess. Still I had a pretty productive day.

Another Golf Day in Altadena

So today Greg and I managed to book tee times at 8:30ish at Altadena. And Scott was supposed to join as well. So I'm up real early and I even drove past the fairly long line at Starbucks and got myself breakfast at McDonald's instead simply because there was no one in line. I got to the golf course a little after 8 PM and Scott was already walking up! Glad he got the message. And when we checked in there were at least 2 other groups in front of us. Last week, there was this newbie that was in front of us that Greg and I played through. And then the 2 guys that were chillin' and relaxin' and blasting music and drinking. All this quarantine stuff is sure bringing out the unusuals. Hey golf is the only thing you're allowed to do outdoors it seems like. And so here we were enjoying it, wait be damned. It's a pretty nice day out after all. The guys in front of us even let us go first since they claimed they saw us play before and we hit long. HAH! I wish. You'd have to hit it straight though. Unlike those guys that were in front of us this week. No golf etiquette. Hit the ball as hard as they could off the tee. To the other fairway. i think those guys must have been confused with the object of the game. Was to make it in the hole of YOUR OWN lane. Not that i had a lot to say different actually. I was glad to be out there and wasn't really focused on my own accuracy. And it showed. My tee shots were ok actually. But my fairway shots were short or inaccurate. And my putting was as bad as last week. Still, if just for today, being out here in the sun and getting exercise was much better than not. AND I got to hang out with Greg and Scott as well. Scott looked so bundled up it was funny. But he actually played well today. Better than I did in fact. Although I do recall hitting a couple of 5-irons straight down the fairway and all the way to the green 140 yards away. At least lets me know I'm capable of that from that distance. Now if I could only get consistent. Anyway, despite having to wait a little bit, we got done by 10:45. And I was home by 11:15. Enough time to go straight to Crimson to order and pick up lunch. Just like last week, I ordered my usual salmon kabobs and lentil soup. Yes, I know it's a creature of habit thing but really just driving home and driving past that corner between National and Barrington where the sandwich place Champagne used to be was enough reason for me to keep coming back to Crimson. You never know how long a favorite of yours will continue to be open. Specially in this time of coronavirus. You never know if the picture I posted in that shopping mall is something I'll look at a couple of years from now and remember fondly, just like how I feel when I see pictures of myself, Lisa, Chris and Mandy and even Johnnie eating outside at that same Crimson restaurant. It's been at least a couple of years now but I do keep the fond memories. Today, there is no eating there of course. I took home my lunch and then ate heartily and took a nice nap afterwards. So nice I got more than an hour out of it. I could have stayed on the couch too since I was already well past the benchmark of 7700 steps for the week as soon as I got home from golf. Instead I watched the series Lorna Doone, starring Amelia Warner which I watched in 2000 and just found on Amazon. I actually did chill on the couch until dinner time and I prodded myself to go to Ralphs to pick up food for the week. I am all hammed out of course, but I did purchase some pre-made chicken breast parmessan to go with the fettuccini I still had. And I had myself a pretty good dinner too. Only then did I feel productive enough to actually do more stuff. Like cleaning the kitchen, including the floor that I didn't clean yesterday. Boy was it dirty. And finishing my laundry. It turned out to be another full weekend.  Full enough for me.