New New Routine

So today marks a new routine for Johnnie and school. Today he's officially in the Beyond the Bell program, which means I don't have to pick him up at 11 AM anymore. I tack on another 4 hours and I don't have to get him until 3 PM at the earliest. But this completely clears up all conflicts with meetings that are to be held at any one of our sites during the day moving forward, or at least through the middle of next month when school is done again. Hard to believe it's already that close. Just 6 weeks of this really, and we just barely got used to the kids being back in school. And so the drop-off this morning is same as usual. It's the afterwards that I'm still sort of getting used to, and now even more so that he won't be around for lunch starting today. I've built a routine around him having lunch by 11:30 just so he could make it on time for his noon Zoom class, and that one in particular is where he learned the most I think. And that routine included me logging in steps for that 45 minute slot. And so it was that I came home, the new routine included having breakfast and even taking a shower before my 9:30 AM meeting but you know I just didn't get to the shower part this morning. Just like I didn't get to the shower part yesterday. Hmm, at least I did get through my 9:30 meeting though and finally finally I put my head down and started putting together my numbers and narratives for the FCC Telehealth grant that I should have finished last week. Eh, it isn't due until Thursday morning anyway. I had plenty of time. And without Johnnie around to badger me for most of the day, it was a perfect opportunity to get all my work done. Which is exactly what I did. I finally focused on it, only taking breaks to add up more steps and stopping for lunch, and taking the dog out to pee. I made myself chicken and green beans like they do at Panda Express and I even ate it on my very clean dining table. Of course what was missing was that Johnnie's space where he would usually do his Zoom class was empty. Am I really missing that? By 2 PM, I was all done! As in I got all my work in and submitted to Oneida. I knew I would do it, I never miss my deadlines. And all those feelings of urgency? Just some programming that proved to be unfounded yet again. I even had time to dig up a song for tomorrow's Town Hall, considering I'm hosting again. And so it was that I really DID get all my work done, and all before I had to pick up Johnnie at 3 PM. By the time that came around I was actually excited to pick him up. It felt like all those times last year when I picked him up from the STAR program really. Only then I didn't come get him until 5 PM at the earliest, if not later. This time, he walked up from where they were playing and his bag was bulging. As in he had a bag of food in it, probably from the Lunch program. And he was a bit sweaty and his pants were dirty. In pre-school, they always used to say it's a good thing to pick up your child and he's sweaty and dirty and he needed to wash his hands. By those standards, that means he had a lot of fun. He talked up how hungry he was although upon examining his bag, he at least ate all the yogurt snacks I gave him. He was asking for a pizza and so I had to ask him why he didn't eat the pizza snack they provided for him. I heated it up and voila, an instant afternoon snack for him. He still had to do his SeeSaw for the afternoon, but I saw they at least did his other homework. And he kept going on and on about playing RingMaster with his classmates. All in all, I think it's a good thing that he's back in a program similar to STAR... but then again it's only the first day. The rest of the night I was reminded of May 4 from years past. A picture of Johnnie asleep when he was just a baby 6 years ago. And then even before that me by the pool while Lisa took laps. That was in 2013 when we used Dr Deutsch Palm Desert condo. That year was odd in that I was laid off very soon after that trip. Hmmm. And last year the pic was of me watching Star Wars. May the Fourth Be With You after all. I wanted to go to bed earlier than usual tonight. Certainly Johnnie was tired enough to go to bed in time. But i had one more thing to do... sound check on the TownHall presentation. Hmmm who says I don't  do my share for my organization??