Work Week Finally Over

Ah it's Friday at last, one last Town Hall this morning at East Third and we're done! Yay! I got up early of course because I have to get a tee time for a week from Sunday and this morning I successfully got us one for Harbor Park, the single hardest course to get a reservation in the city system. And then of course the day pass for Johnnie to send to Lisa. Since I am not dropping Johnnie off this morning, you'd think I have a lot more time but in actuality, I only had an extra 20 minutes really. It was 20 minutes of a headstart that I lost simply by lollygagging around the house. As it was I got to East Third in plenty of time... except that we couldn't park in the regular parking lot. There is such an extreme shortage of parking in this Health Center that we need to reserve every single one for patients, not staff. And so I ended up parking at a mini-mall almost on Atlantic already (the freeway off ramp) almost 1/3 of a mile away. So clearly I had to walk to the facility and barely got there right before the thing started. Hey at least I can say I made it on time every day this week. Even with Johnnie duties. A lot easier the first time in August when Johnnie and Lisa were in Maui for the week. This morning, I thought the energy of the East Third group was pretty good, even if they needed a little prodding. It turned out nothing would match Hollywood's energy yesterday, even while I tried to get people engaged with my TWO quizzes for prizes. All in all I thought it was pretty good and after the hour, the group of us that spoke and presented let out one huge collective sigh. And then we all met up at a restaurant for a meal and to debrief. It was sort of a team bonding thing though in my mind I am not sure at all who among this group if any I would contact as a friend when I am done at QueensCare. Certainly not the same as it was at Cedars-Sinai but then again even with the group at USC Stevens we have lost touch too. I guess it's just what happens over time. But in the here and now I'm enjoying my breakfast sandwich (see pic) and exchanging thoughts and ideas with the team. My thought that I did NOT volunteer was that Eloisa seems to be bending over backwards  to make sure the Health Center staff feel included and connected. A noble effort to be sure. I'm just not certain the results would be much different from the efforts of Barbara her predecessor who was not exactly a touchy feely kind of CEO and certainly not someone the staff could feel close to I don't think. It simply hasn't been the culture at QueensCare and it takes a while to build that and in my opinion, different people  in temperament and personality to effect that kind of culture. All we can ask for, though is improvement.  A movement towards the desired outcome day-by-day, week-by-week. Year by year. 

I started to drive home from the restaurant knowing full well I still had the FRB Birthday deal to do at 2 PM. I got a call from Lisa. She asked if I was near home. And then she told me why she asked. Johnnie was apparently at the nurse's office at school complaining of a headache and so he wanted to go home sick and get picked up. Lisa was apparently already headed to Pasadena for the afternoon and would have to turn around. I told her I would go ahead and do it since I was less than a half hour away headed home. I also told her I was extremely skeptical that he was actually sick.  He may not feel well. But I was 99% sure he wasn't sick at all. Every morning he has a stuffed nose and coughs real hard. But those things go away inside of a half hour. I was prepared to read Johnnie the riot act when i picked him up. Until he was escorted to the front and he immediately came to me crying about how sick he felt. He must have sensed I wasn't going to believe he was sick at all. I really didn't think he was sick. Not from a cold or flu or infection or anything like that.  But judging from how he didn't want to eat, how he threw up water when he tried to drink it, And how he was knocking off to sleep in the backseat when we were just driving home. Look at the pic of him on the couch a couple of minutes after we walked into the apartment. He was out. And he slept for the next 5 hours.  Poor thing he simply needed sleep. What's the bet he and Lisa were up until late last night and then up really early this morning? Oh and I forgot to mention Lisa dropped off the dog while he was asleep right as the FRB party was starting. It wasn't quite as fun as it was but I simply didn't have energy to crank it up. I made it through and THEN and THEN it was the official end of the work week. I really couldn't do anything since now it looks like I have Johnnie until he wakes up. It was nearly 5 PM when he did and he was hungry, chirpy, and back to his usual self. I was RIGHT! He simply needed to sleep. I took him to Panda Express and he wiped out the entire kid's meal. When he eats like that I am 100% certain he isn't sick. When we got back, he had an ice cream sandwich for dessert and he started watching Wild Kratts. That's my Johnnie alright, back to his regular self. Lisa finally called around 6:30 from her office to pick him up. I told her to just go home and I would bring Johnnie and the dog home in an hour. This way she gets some chill time playing the piano, writing notes, whatever. I stuck around for a bit to chat a little and for whatever reason, our conversation with Johnnie playing with the both of us turned into why I couldn't just spend the night. And how that would be a hoot. And of course Johnnie had to verbally ask why I couldn't just move back in? After all we are married right? Wait What? Where is this kid getting all that? Is Lisa starting to verbalize that they should have daddy around more? Or is it Johnnie doing that? I don't know how I could be any more firm that I am happy exactly the way it is with me. I put any thoughts of that out of my mind and decided I'd get me some nachos and watch a movie. Besides, I'm right back to pick up Johnnie first thing tomorrow morning...