Last Part of Spring

The USC Commencement is somewhat of a timemarker for me. It tells me it isn't quite summer just yet but close.  Never mind the drizzle from yesterday. That seems to be gone today. It is still cloudy but it's just another June-gloom kind of day. As in June coming early. And certainly it wasn't cold at all. I hopped on the computer early to get Lisa Johnnie's day pass and then run my Covid vaccination reports and then headed out to start the Monday steps routine. I took a pic of me walking along  McLaughlin so I could get a good start on my steps today. I saw my puffy face in the picture. Does that guy look old or what? Better get those steps in LOL. As it was, the sun started peeking out a mile into my walk and by the time I got back in the apartment, I had already logged 5000 steps and 40 active minutes. A good start it is. An even better one that the Business Continuity Meeting had been cancelled this morning. I don't know why really. And I didn't care. Gave me much more time to do my Monday morning reports so I could get done well before  the afternoon. I reminded myself that the Tech Council Meeting is back on this Wednesday which means I had better get started with my presentation today. Although I had never not done justice to getting my material by the day of the meeting, I had no intention of staying up until late tomorrow night either, especially since I had not really gotten good sleep for the past week either. I always count on catching up when Johnnie is with me though I don't know how that's going to work when he gets his own bedroom this summer. Yep, I have to start thinking about that too. All these thoughts crossed my mind on my walk this morning which is probably why I felt no urgency at all throughout the day. That is until it was time to think about picking up Johnnie. By lunchtime the sun had come out in earnest and my mid-morning walk was augmented by the smell of late spring. That would be courtesy of those flowers whose pic I posted too. They had that definitive pungency that remind me that it's starting to get warm again. I took my time for this walk, once again taking the opportunity to clear my mind simply by feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. You could call it my ME MOMENT for the week really, especially since in a couple of hours, the calm will disappear with Johnnie's arrival. That was not meant as a complaint mind you, merely a reminder to seek balance first and all good will follow. No more a reminder of that as when I picked up Johnnie at Lisa's. Mom and son were in the front porch with his school bag materials all out. Apparently Lisa was looking through his homework materials and trying to catch up. She lamented about the 3 PM pick-up and how she really didn't have a whole lot of time with him before I came by at 4:30 to pick him up. I reminded her that it was her idea for me to come earlier because she had Pilates class on Mondays now.  Of course, this unleashed a string of grievances that Lisa bottled up. There would be the grievance about Courtney being over so much. Then there was the grievance of her office manager Nikki being pregnant. My guess is that she is tanking it far more than she ever had. Candidly I was chuckling inside because had I still been living here, it was 100% certain she would have had a grievance with me. Because her mental program is to find drama somewhere somehow. When really it was she that caused the drama in the first place. I would have been happy to come later to pick up Johnnie. Something tells me I would be blamed for the 3 PM pick up since it was MY idea LOL. I reminded myself of yesterday's mantra: LOVE PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE AT. DISENGAGE FROM THE DRAMA. I sat there really waiting on her to work her own conflicts out until she was ready to hand Johnnie off. I had already told her earlier in the week, it was her own guilt of not being such a good mother that causes her grief too. I could tell her that I felt the same way at times but I balance myself by reminding myself that all I can do is the BEST I CAN. And do the next right thing. And decide what that is quickly. Funny how a song from FROZEN II could resonate that much LOL. Anyway, Johnnie and Claire were back at the apartment soon enough by 6 PM. We had even stopped at Pizza Hut because I did not feel like cooking anything. I barbecued some chicken thighs at lunch and added it to that Cuban chicken bowl from Trader Joe's. And proceeded to spend an hour in the bathroom pooping up diarrhea. I figured a pizza would be much safer for my stomach. And for his part, Johnnie ate up an entire large slice too. Before asking to watch the movie SING yet one more time. Tonight I actually chilled and watched some of it with him. Nope, I did not get to work on my presentation. Yep, I finished 15000 steps and almost 120 workout minutes. Another hard Monday to allow me to chill the rest of the week. I'll work on my stuff tomorrow. We're all good tonight.