Johnnie Day, Dexter Evening

So today is a Lisa work Saturday and I'm over there picking up Johnnie at 7:45 like I was supposed to. I find all the outside gates unable to open.. one was locked and one was stuck and so I hopped the fence. It was good to know I could still do that though I got my wrist all scratched up in the process. Always something at Lisa's isn't it? Johnnie was still asleep, apparently because they had HAD a late evening last night at Joah's house.  By Lisa's account Johnnie had loads of fun last night though later later on I would find out there was a bit more to it than all that. Johnnie woke up before Lisa left and half-asleep cuddled with me still in his clothes from yesterday. I could only shake-my-head quietly and without saying a word try to not judge anyone for anything. It's my watch now and I quickly took Johnnie back to the apartment so he could take his shower and we could start our day. I told him he could continue to take a nap if he wanted to, this being Saturday and all... and I remembered 2 weeks ago the last Lisa workday when I picked him up. He took a shower and then knocked off on the couch immediately after... for the next 2 hours. Lisa simply has no concept about late nights on Fridays I guess and I'm ok with it just as long as Johnnie gets his sleep even if it's on my watch. But not today. Johnnie wanted to go get breakfast at Elysee and insisted we needed to start with washing the car since there was bid poop all over his passenger side door. And so that's exactly what we did, start with a car wash and THEN go to Elysee.  We hadn't been here in about a month and so it was good to eat here again, especially now that we can all eat inside again for the most part. Pretty soon we won't even need to wear masks either and that is most welcome indeed. But just doing the Elysee breakfast routine is good enough for me. 6+ years of doing this makes this something Johnnie will remember forever...just like I still sometimes remember the French Dip sandwich and tomato soup I used to have at Champagne French Bakery right there on National where Chipotle is now. I can still taste the same in my mind. And so it was that Johnnie and I went off to Target afterward and although I was there to pick up TP and tissues and paper towels, he had it in HIS mind he wanted to make something in clay for his mom for a present. W-h-a-t?? We couldn't find any clay of course but I did manage to convinced him to do it in Play-instead. I didn't realize how serious he was about this "project" of his for the day. Until we got home and he went right at it. Anytime he does something ahead of watching any videos, he's serious about it.  As it turned out, he wanted to make a flower out of the play-doh as a present. And he wanted to put it in a box. No problem, I went to the trash room and picked up one in perfect size for it. Only he didn't want just the box, now he wanted to pretty it up. W-h-a-t?? Ok then I told him to simply make his own wrapping paper. And I was only half-kidding when I told him to do a water color pattern. Wouldn't you know he did just that. Make wrapping paper in water color. Sometimes this kid truly does amaze me with how his mind already works! And the patterns turned out to be pretty good too if I do say so myself. Lisa had better be duly impressed later on. By the time he got done with all this, it was already noon, and lunchtime. Panda Express time. We finally went in together since we didn't have Claire the dog with us. 

And so it was that we finally got to my favorite time on Saturdays... which is just to hang out on the couch and do nothing. Actually I wanted to take a nap... but Johnnie wouldn't let me. Just look at the pictures I took of his shenanigans. He not only wanted to finish watching SING which he remembered he didn't get to do last Thursday, but he also kept doing drawings for his mom. It was in the middle of all this that Dexter texted me that he was coming at 6 PM. I invited him to have dinner tonight last week but I didn't think anything would come of it. I even thought maybe Yadira would come up but it was clear she wasn't going to make it and hey, I did owe the guy a dinner anyway since it was his birthday a week ago. We'll just get together after Lisa picked up Johnnie... Except that Lisa didn't call to pick up Johnnie until it was already 4:45. I told her Dexter was coming and somehow all that ended up with the plans being changed to include Lisa and then at her house, and then to pick up pork chops and for Lisa to bring her load of Panini Grill food she had left over. It would have been much easier just to take Dex to Crimson to get some lamb chops but oh no I just had to include Lisa anyway <sigh>. This meant I had to feed Johnnie, since it was already close to 5 PM and I would be able to get all that done well before 6 PM anyway. And so to make a long story short, we all went to Lisa's, Dexter grilled the pork chops, which turned out really really good and tasty. Lisa had lots of kabobs leftovers from Panini Grill and we had dinner in the backyard. It was then Lisa would tell me last night actually had drama because she fell asleep in the bedroom at Joah's, to be joined by Johnnie and then Claire. Why they didn't just spend the night I don't know... other than apparently Joah's wife had issues with them sleeping over. And Claire couldn't be in the bedroom, Joah and wife ended up fighting, Johnnie ended up crying and Lisa ended up going home really late. She was obviously perturbed. I was, too, but only because Johnnie had to be involved. Why Lisa chooses to stay late when SHE KNOWS she will knock off after a certain time is beyond me. Why Johnnie even has to stay late is beyond me. Of course if it were me, we would be out and home by 9 PM, because well, that's me. Lisa? Her brain simply doesn't work in that way. No wonder she gets the guilts sometimes about being a mom. She doesn't think like a mom most of the time I don't think though I think she simply learned that from HER mom. The night ended with Lisa getting Johnnie to help her fix the blinds/shades that apparently Courtney had busted in the guest room. Better him than me LOL. I took off by 9 PM. Golf tomorrow you know. And Dexter high-tailed it right behind me. That Lisa <smh>... At least we got to celebrate Dexter's birthday and I had a good day with Johnnie.