Gorgeous the Day After It Rains

LA is always so crisp and clear and fresh-feeling and fresh-smelling the day after it rains all day. Especially when that day turns out to be completely different. As in the sun is back out and it is warming up again. Not hot, but warm enough so you can tell the that the grass did grow a tad. Anyway it was chilly this morning but not chilly enough to dissuade Johnnie from wearing his shorts. It is basketball day after all and he is very excited to keep playing. I am glad to be back on routine, though we got to our spot a few minutes later than we usually do. Still, we got there the same time as Brooklyn and her grandmother did and the 2 kids ended up walking together yet again, hand-in-hand practically. Anyway, another quick and quiet drop-off, and I even made time to get to 3000 steps before I even walked back into the apartment for breakfast. Like yesterday, my schedule is pretty quiet today and believe me I am NOT complaining in the least. Even my IS Team Meeting was low-key and really there weren't any critical issues to talk about. These days I think I'm going to simply glad I still have a team and that we're still running pretty well. So much talk about the pandemic causing people to re-evaluate and cause a whole bunch of people to quit their jobs. I think that is what is happening with Lisa's office. In that sense I AM lucky. I think I created a lot of value with my talk last week and I did that while showing some proficiency in my job.  Makes me think about what I will be doing once I retire from said job. I need to build something all over again. It isn't easy to get to that point where my expertise is recognized and acknowledged. Then again, how many people have I really helped with said expertise? I do think about my place in the world and see events like last week as practice. Practice for something even bigger. Or maybe not bigger but just as profound and maybe even life-changing. Or maybe I should just focus on something even broader than that. We are here to LOVE. It is that simple. And in my local universe, no bigger an effect that my thoughts and actions would have than my little one. Johnnie. HE is what I need to focus on. He is the one that I want things to get right most of all.

I lazied my way through most of the day, convincing myself that this is the reward for all the work I did last week. Then again I also told myself it's another rehearsal for what my afternoon would look like when I'm retired. Really? Am I just sitting around watching TV until it was time to pick up Johnnie? Not today.  I still had 3 departments I run. Still had responsibilities in a couple of committees I'm in. Oh and by the way, Claire stunk like hell. That's because I didn't shower her last week and clearly, Lisa didn't shower her the rest of the week either.  That became the one thing I focused on after lunch actually. I was going to give this dog a shower. And THAT is exactly what I did. Took her out first to enjoy the sun and the grass outside. Then gave her a good cleaning. She smelled so much better afterwards. I even cradled her on my lap while I was getting work done. And THEN it was time to pick up Johnnie at school. He had played basketball today and was excited that they would be playing 3-on-3 next week. Ahh so it begins LOL. We went to Panda Express Westwood for dinner. And ate there as well. It started to feel like 2019 when we would come here on a Tuesday or Wednesday night and you could eat in. Slowly we're doing more eating in, even if starting next week we'd have to flash our vaccination cards to do so. I don't care. We went home and watched some Halloween stuff together Johnnie and I. With Claire on the couch. Everything is different when she is clean and able to romp anywhere. A week ago I was on a plane flying home. Today I'm just chillin' at home. All is good.