A Day At the Zoo

Today is 11/11. Veterans Day such as it were and Johnnie has no school today. Which meant no need to get up real early and push to get out the door by 7:40. We still had breakfast from McDonald's. And for me Thursdays have now become back-to-back meeting days with the IS Team, the EHR Support team and then a project meeting on roster management. All went pretty well and by 11:30 I pronounced to Johnnie that we could leave for the ZOO! It turned out to be a warm day today. Like mid-80s warm. And so despite leaving later than usual, getting the tix printed at Staples then stopping for a couple of fried chicken wings and water since it was so close to lunchtime already, AND THEN hitting traffic on the 5 North, we got to the zoo before 1 PM. Clearly we weren't the only ones that had that idea today. There were lots of people there. I had memories of the last couple of times we went to the zoo Johnnie and I. It was before the pandemic obviously. And it was during late summer. Though it felt like late summer today. The difference was that there weren't that many food places open. And those that were obviously were configured for covid social distancing and so the lines were long. I had to stop us for food around 2 PM because I was starving. And then we waited almost a half hour to order and get our food. But despite all these discomforts, I remember thinking this morning that i hope we have another bonding day Johnnie and I. And all in all we did I think. Johnnie was satisfied he got to see all the animals he got to see. He wanted to keep his ticket too. Aww, is my little bug growing a sentimental side? To me it felt like that day I played golf on a Thursday at Roosevelt. It was just as hot, I started the activity right after the 11 AM meeting then as well and it took just as long since I got home by 4 PM that day. And at the end of the day, Johnnie was tired and knocked off for a good 2 hours after that. I'm just going to post pictures of the day:

Fun Halloween-y Saturday

I'm at Lisa's at 7:40 to pick up Johnnie, or at least I thought it was that time. I was still half-asleep because I stayed up until 3:30 AM watching Roswell. I'm still wondering why I did that? It's not as if it was THAT compelling. Still I knew I was going to be tired all day now and I was going to need to find a brief stretch to find a way to take a nap knowing full well I had Johnnie for the entire day, possibly until late depending on how late Lisa decided to stay at work. We spent the morning shopping actually. At Target. Carter's. Trader Joe's. Johnnie had this list that he wanted to get done. He picked that up from his mom for sure. Included in this list was to get a neon fish and a new goldfish from Allan's pet store. This kid...Still we managed to do all shopping, half of which was for Lisa BTW and by the time we got done, we simply picked up Panda Express lunch and were back in the house before noon. THAT was when I was able to steal about a half hour while Johnnie watched the Wild Kratts. Afterwards, he reminded me I promised to take him to the fair. We passed a Halloween Pumpkin patch right across the street from Trader Joe's. So close to the apartment we could have walked to it. It seemed like a great idea to pass away the afternoon, especially after I finally got my nap in. What I did NOT expect was that it became an actual M&M afternoon. And I'm simply going to let the pictures tell the story. We had so much fun, including the life lesson on the rock climbing wall when I kept telling him to look up and he made it all the way up. He was so tired he knocked off on the way to the pet store. I simply turned around and let him sleep. And made us pizza. Lisa for her part called late and it was like a Thursday night actually. She was glad he was sleeping. I ended up dropping him off around 7:45 when he woke up and when he got a full pizza in. We had a great afternoon Johnnie and I. We ended up having a Halloween together after all!

Just when I thought I was out... I get pulled back IN

How long has it been since I used to go to Lisa's office to do payroll and admin stuff on Saturdays?! I mean I did that for many years. And when we got Johnnie, I cut that down to going there at lunchtime and then working the afternoon. I still drove Lisa to work all those Saturdays. But it has obviously been a while.  At some point I stopped going altogether and ceded all duties to Nikki and Lisa. I think that was early 2018 already so I would say it has been almost 4 years since I have been in Lisa's office in any capacity other than a patient or visitor picking up Johnnie. But then a favor is a favor and I will tell you I'm more anxious to do a good job here than I am with my talk next week.  And so dutifully, as if we were still married, I brought breakfast for all and then got a very quick introduction and went over the front desk script. Fortunately for Lisa, I AM really familiar with Open Dental and so I didn't have any qualms looking up schedules and due balances and all that stuff. And of course everyone is depending on me to get lunch. Just when I thought I was out... they PULL ME BACK IN!!! And so I posted pictures of the day, it told more of the story. To be honest, it was a real easy day actually and I think I did just fine. I saw that Lisa had comandeered Angie to do some of the previous manager work she used to do. So really she's ok from where I was standing. We had a pretty good lunch, patient flowed, procedures were done, money was collected. Bim-bam-boom, Johnnie and I were out before 3 PM!

It did not escape me that I won't be seeing Johnnie for the next 3 days. In fact, I need to get my head into conference mode starting tonight. But Lisa did not pick up Johnnie until 8 PM and really I didn't mind. I milked every second I had with Johnnie today. Told him how great a job he did at Lisa's office taking patient's temperature and giving them hand sanitizer. Such an awesom kid we have. We even got to play some baseball outside, it being such a nice warm day and all. After Lisa picked him up and I basically didn't get back into work mode. I got a lot done while I was at Lisa's though.  And so my Tech Council presentation is pretty much all done too. I'm good to go.

Happy Birthday To My Awesome Son

So when I looked at this week last Monday, today was the flex point for everything. Not only is this morning the Town Hall that I have spent a lot of attention on yesterday, today is also Johnnie's birthday. That alone makes it a very important day indeed, perhaps THE most important day of the month. He turned 7 today and that to me is a bit of  a timemarker since I had it in my mind that statistic that a child's cognitive development and personality development pretty much happens the first 7 years of their lives. That their brainwaves are pretty much in theta all the time. With that I always want to make sure Johnnie has a sense of routine, that he feels safe and that he feels loved. I have always tried to make sure I was present whenever he looked for connection. And I think I've done a decent job of that. Not that I can stop doing that now that he's 7. It's just that now it's a different ballgame. If he's not in theta so much, now he can really be affected by external stimuli. And I have to be careful of that too for him. But for today, just for today, I wanted to make sure he at least knows that we care that it is his birthday. Which is why I did a stealth invite to Blair Olivera so Brooklyn and her sister can join him for pizza tonight at Pitfire. I even pinged Lisa so she can try to be there if she chose to. I'm sure she has work and other activities lined up but at least this way she has a choice.  And so with that, we were off to school with all the goodies he wanted to hand off to his classmates and I was back in plenty of time for the Town Hall. Of course what would be a Town Hall that I am hosting if there wasn't something that went off kilter?! This time, it was that people got let in at 8:15 just as we were doing pre-event huddling. And so we had to kill that in a hurry and I had to put on 2 more songs including the one I planned to play 3 minutes before the TH started. Yikes! Threw off my sequencing totally. Fortunately it ended up working out other than about 15 dead seconds while I searched for the taped benediction that got re-queued. The transitions went so much better than last time and so much so we actually finished 15 minutes early. Pretty good all in all I'd say. And so with that the first part of the day was done. I say that only because I stayed up late thinking about this presentation. I'm not sure why it caused so much stress, but it did. That coupled with Johnnie's birthday elevated my RHR a full 2 points LOL. But now that THAT's done, I can finally focus on Johnnie.

He's in school obviously but I just sent him some loving thoughts... imagined the other kids in his class singing him Happy Birthday. Getting his birthday picture taken at STAR. And the faces of the other kids while he handed out his treats. I don't have any such birthday memories when I was a kid. Probably why I am expending so much energy making sure Johnnie remembers that lots of us remembered his birthday. And before long it was 5 PM and time to pick him up from school. We went to Pitfire Pizza immediately after STAR and when we got there Brooklyn and Bailey were already there waiting with a balloon and a present. YES! That was all I wanted. I mean we can always hang out together Little Bug and I. It's different when other kids are there. Even if Bailey is fighting with Johnnie over the balloon and Johnnie and Brooklyn are trying to avoid Bailey. Kids. I had my usual pasta tonight but the lady who took our order mistook the pizza for a full one instead of the kids one. And we ended up with 2 extra large pizzas, one a burrata one that I have no idea how they mistook. No wonder it cost $70 for the order! I didn't even think about it twice actually. I totally didn't care. I even sent the 2 extra pizzas home with Blair to give to Jason her husband and her mom. It's not like we were going to eat it. And as it turned out, Lisa decided not to come. She did call Johnnie later on and they Face Timed before she went on to her soccer game. See? She's neck full in her activities and that's ok. She hung out with Johnnie on FaceTime for a full 15 minutes in fact, until it was time for her to start her game. And I'm glad Johnnie got a chance to talk to her. Wouldn't want him to think mommy didn't think about him tonight even if they had already done stuff this past weekend.  Afterwards, Johnnie took stock of his birthday loot. He actually did get lost of cards from classmates. Hand-made ones actually. They were so cute. And he still got to have ice cream for dessert courtesy of my freezer. By 8 PM I could feel myself starting to fade. Lots of adrenaline today and not so much sleep from last night would do that to me. I even nixed the Claire bath tonight. She will have to stay dirty for Lisa. And so it was that I felt good about Johnnie's day today. I didn't even make him write anything as I usually do. I'll let it all sink in. I asked him if he had a good day today. And I got a matter-of-factly YES as a response. My little one isn't so little anymore. He may still be sleeping with his Fuzzy next to him and he may still be talking about kid things all the time. But I sense his world is expanding. And I'm going to do my very best to make sure it is filled with wonder and laughter and I iwll hold his hand for as long as he lets me. I love you my Little Bug. You will always be my Little Bug. Happy Birthday.

Johnnie Saturday

So today is a Lisa work Saturday, which means that I get the whole day with Johnnie. For this entry I'm going to let pictures tell more of the story. From picking him up at Lisa's and then getting assigned some Lisa to-do's. Apparently it's her mom's birthday and she wants me to help Johnnie get a present and a card together. And then she handed me her pictures from Hawaii and asked if I could mail it to Joy. Just Lisa being Lisa. I'm not going to lie I like it that we just get to go off and have the day to ourselves. I gave Johnnie a shower, picked up breakfast at McDonald's and then off to do Lisa's errands. And then off to lunch. Panda Express Marina del Rey. Only because I wanted to get some Hansen's soda from Pavilion's. Only they didn't have any. I had to go get that from Instacart LOL.

The best part of today was hanging out at Mar Vista Park. Johnnie wanted to play basketball. I wanted to teach my son the basics and the fundamentals. And I had him to dribbling drills until he got tired. I'm not even going to say how that's the best part about being a dad. Teaching his son sports. Nothing beats that.

It was almost 7 PM by the time Lisa called to pick up Johnnie. Except that she wasn't calling to pick up Johnnie. She wanted to meet us at her house because she was in a rush to pack. Apparently she is going to her mom's house because they have a get-together for her birthday. And she and Johnnie are spending the night. So I had to help Johnnie feed the gecko and the turtles. And then I went on home and they went on to Pasadena. And then I watched UCLA blow a lead to unranked Fresno St with 54 seconds to go. Ruined a perfectly good day. No matter. The time with Johnnie was the best ever. It almost always is.

Priceless

So today Johnnie has no school because it is Yom Kippur. And I started his day by actually having him watch a video about Yom Kippur and what it was all about. How it was the holiest day in the Jewish faith. How Jews practice atonement during this time. Of course Lisa and I have not raised Johnnie with any kind of religion whatsoever. He does ask the Universe not to give him bad dreams when he goes to sleep at night. I want him to know about the Higher Power of course and I will stick to steering him away from any type of religious practice. I am on the record that extremist religious practitioners have been largely responsible for most of the world's troubles for thousands of years. Yes that includes you too Crusaders. Hell why do you think I have a Spanish last name anyway?? But enough of that. Today I floated the idea that Johnnie and I should go watch Shang-Chi in the movie theater on his day off. And technically, since it's the Thursday after Tech Council Meeting day, it should be a TANK DAY for me as well. But alas I have back-to-back-to-back meetings all morning. I told him we'd go after lunch. I reminded myself just a week ago, I had a great golf afternoon after lunch and I intend to have a similarly nice afternoon today as well. Fortunately, Dennis cancelled our one-on-one which was the middle meeting. Kennedy was out so the IS Meeting went by very quickly, which left the EHR Team Meeting and that too was done inside of a half hour. And so I made Johnnie and I a boboli pepperoniand cheese pizza and off we went to the Landmark to catch the Shang-Chi movie. I posted a pic of the 2 of us. The last time Johnnie and I saw a movie inside a theater was a documentary about Egypt at the Cali Science Museum. When he was 3. This was actually the first time we're going to watch a big-boy movie together. And it sure was a BIG-BOY movie too. Funny how the theater actually had quite a few patrons. Much more than I thought for a 1 PM showing. As for the movie itself, I will admit there were parts where Johnnie closed his eyes and told me he was scared. But towards the end when Shang-Chi went to the mystical dimension of Ta-Lo and there were all these cool creatures, including a dragon Johnnie got really interested. Although by this time he had gone on to my lap. And there was where he saw the fight scene between good and evil, and the family scenes too. In my mind I was glad that there is a superhero he could identify with that looks like he does, just the same way African-American people identify with the Black Panther superhero and their advanced tech. Look at the last pic I posted of him doing imaginary fight scenes with his weapon(s) later on. In a word, the afternoon with Johnnie at the movies was... PRICELESS. It was one of those Magic Moment afternoons I won't ever forget. And I hope Johnnie doesn't either. And so it was that the rest of the afternoon we reverted back to script. I did some stuff for work, we went to Mitsuwa because I talked Johnnie into having a large bowl of udon for dinner. It was not too far from my mind that last week Lisa was having yet another meltdown about work. But I am prepared this time. And so when she called having the same complaints as last week. All I did was listen and ask how I could help. When I do that she will remember that all her problems have nothing to do with me. And in fact, she doesn't really even WANT ME TO HELP. I reminded her that perhaps when she sees her son. ANd Claire. And realize the magic they bring into life, then she can forget her problems if just for an instant. After all, I realized that magic this afternoon myself. Which made me able to handle whatever she can throw my way. She can TEN-RINGS me and all that will simply roll off my back harmlessly. And as it was it was a quick and quiet pick-up. Off they went and off I went to walk around my neighborhood. I reflected on my day some more. And basked in the gratitude of the afternoon. And quietly remote-hugged Johnnie and wished him a very good night. 

The Things Kids Say

Johnnie's AHA. One thing about spending time with Johnnie these days is that he has shown he has a capacity for understanding well beyond his years that is hard to believe. But then again maybe all kids do it's just that us adults dismiss them. And sometimes, most of the time really, the delivery can take you by surprise. Case in point we're driving home from Target today and out of the blue Johnnie says "Dad, I know how you and mom don't have to be divorced anymore".  To say the statement took me by surprise is an understatement. And so I asked: "How Johnnie?". The reply was about as insightful as it got. "You guys just have to do stuff together".  He hit the nail right on the head didn't he? At that point I had to tell him that mom and dad just got to the point where they didn't like each other more often than they liked each other and so that's why they stopped doing things together. The answer was equally as insightful. "You can just start doing things together little by little can't you?". Wow. And then he revealed why he asked the question. "Sometimes it's lonely just doing thing with just her and I." And all I could do was say I understood. And so I pivoted to asking if he got lonely doing stuff with just me. Again an insightful answer: "Maybe when you do to much work in front of your computer dad". Whew. Talk about feeling guilty. I had to explain to him about my job and that I had to spend time in front of the computer because that's what I get paid to do. I promised him I'd spend less time on it though, although I'm not sure exactly how I would follow through on that particular promise. Now mind you this happened around lunchtime. By then Johnnie had taken a nap for more than an hour and a half on the couch. I picked him up at Lisa's at 7 AM, and he was already having breakfast. But he hadn't showered yet. So I brought him to the apartment, gave him a shower, and brushed his teeth. And THEN he knocked off on the couch... 

While Johnnie was sleeping on the couch, I was able to get in an audiobook on the Kybalion and the hermetic principles. I figured I needed to get back to basics.  In that hour I got ME time in sitting on the couch next to him while he napped. And dealt with all that emotional stuff from yesterday fairly effectively I thought. I got the reminder that I was yet again being tested and distracted and I needed to hold on to my focus and the truth that I can always control my reaction and perception. And that I could always choose what I wish to experience. With that said Lisa picked up Johnnie at 3:30 PM and off they went to a playdate with Simon as she usually does on Saturdays. She also invited me over for dinner since she had all this extra food from Panini Grill. Kabobs! What a treat! And I won't have to cook tonight. But then I was probably also thinking about what Johnnie said this morning. Did that have any influence on tonight? Because Lisa made it clear it was optional for me to to come over. My choice. And I did choose to go. And so it was that I had a pretty big dinner over at Lisa's tonight and it was fairly non-eventful... other than instead of playing UNO like Johnnie wanted, we turned on Disney to test her remote control. And because it flashed ever so quickly, Lisa checked out the new Mighty Ducks series on Disney, her old patient Emilio Estevez being on it and all. And we spontaneously watched two episodes! I can't remember the last time Lisa and I watched TV and Lisa laughing as had and as loud as she did tonight. I think it was Santa Clarita diet more than 3 years ago.  It would seem that tonight JOhnnie got his wish. Mommy and Daddy did stuff together, even though he himself was bored and didn't really like the show. We did do a game of UNO right afterwards and I did finally win a game. And then off I went on home. I didn't want to put any significance on my time at Lisa's tonight. It was just a spontaneous family night was all. And that is perfectly ok.

Johnnie Work

And so I am dutifully at Lisa's front door at 7:45 this morning, still half asleep because I once again binged on Fringe last night. Why do I do that?! Now I'm going to feel tired all day. AND as I anticipated I still had to give Johnnie a shower knowing full well he was already asleep in his clothes when I brought him home last night.  No matter, it still IS Saturday and it is still Elysee breakfast morning routine time and so I showered Johnnie quickly in my apartment and by 8:30 we're outside in Westwood enjoying croissant and eggs and my Earl Grey hot tea. Then came a quick trip to Target where I was picking up some of the groceries and also picked up a cool rock painting kit for Johnnie to paint the rocks at Lisa's house... all for $1! How cool is THAT! I figured I'd keep him occupied with his videos and somewhere along the way, sneak in a nap at some point. Even 10 minutes would help I thought. I was so looking forward to that as Johnnie and I picked up lunch from Panda Express... until I got a call. It was Balwan. He and Varsha were dropping off Sharon to work for a bit and then were off to Venice Beach. He was inviting me to come with them, but of course his timing was once again pretty bad. I let him know Johnnie was in the middle of lunch and that Lisa would be picking him up by 3 so I didn't really feel like dragging us to Venice Beach not even for just a little bit. Balwan did agree to come by just to say hi. I would find out quickly that he had other motivations actually. Balwan and I hadn't talked since the holidays when he was pretty much in the dog house because he was sort of going on his own it seemed in a different direction than Sharon and Varsha. Balwan still has his dreams about Yoga Talk and that is a good thing. But his most pressing need is financial at this point and I couldn't help but think back to the time I faced financial urgency in the early 90s. That was before Cedars-Sinai, and right after all the Tony Robbins stuff. And so I heard myself talking to Balwan in sort of a straightforward and aggressive way to somehow get his shit together financially.  To take care of his family. And Balwan seemed to be trying to. He came because he is starting a new venture, now helping friend(s) get employment and/or projects. I tried to stress to him that no matter what venture he is doing, he MUST be in a place where he could be self sustaining for a few months at a time. Kind of like what struggling actors do... get day jobs while their "ship" came in. I don't know why Balwan came today and made me aware of where he is financially or otherwise. If everything is ME PUSHED OUT, then there is a lesson or a message there somewhere and it probably doesn't have anything to do with Balwan. After all, he will do what he does and it seems as if Sharon has already made up her  mind to go back to Ireland in July. And that's because she has lost trust in Balwan's ability to provide for them. I am pulling for them but people have to do what they feel is best for them. And so I told Balwan to send me his resume, gave him some more advice about marketing people. That's another thing... he needs to learn his craft and get good at it.  Maybe that is the message I need to hear...for ME. About my other stuff I'm trying to get off the ground myself. I'm the exact reverse. I have the job and stable income but I need to work on replacing it. In the end I was glad they came by and by 3:30 PM here came Lisa to pick up Johnnie.  Seems like I've been with Johnnie for the last 5 days straight and I definitely can't complain about that.  I finally did get to knock off for about 30 minutes after they left and when I woke up it was already close to 5 PM. I was so lazy all I did was go to El Pollo Loco to get dinner.  And finally finished the last series ending episodes of Fringe. Yes I did binge some more but this time, the final episodes had a message that resonated with me. And it was centered around a boy who couldn't communicate in the traditional ways but was destined to change the fate of the world. And it was all about what a FATHER is supposed to be for their son, their children. The scene with Walter and Peter with the former trying to find a way to say goodbye, and then with Donald about what being a father means, how it that not hit home with me. I got real gushy with both scenes. And then I went back to today and yesterday. Yes, I may have been hijacked by Lisa yet again. But how can I not treasure all the time I got to spend with Johnnie. He and I watching TV on the couch with a blanket over both of us, he clutching my hand and snuggled next to me. How can that not be perfect in that moment? That, at the end of it all, was the play of the week! Just look at the last picture I posted. Me and my boy.  I did manage to remember tomorrow there's golf and I'm not going to play with just 4 hours of sleep. I still binged watched a bit. But I got to sleep by midnight. Good enough for tomorrow...

Little Boy is Growing UP

So this morning Lisa needed a different plan. She scheduled her car maintenance at Culver City Mazda and so that was my destination this morning first thing to pick up mommy and son and give them a ride home. Look at the pic of Johnnie that I posted. That was about midday while we were picking up his lunch at Panda Express. And by then it had gotten back up to the mid-60s and sunny. No need for layers by that time. But it was chilly first thing and although we tried to go get croissants and muffins for breakfast at old fave Rockenwagner, the line in front of the store dissuaded both Lisa and I. And we ended up just going to her house and her fixing all of us breakfast.  Eggs for Johnnie, eggs for me, pancakes for all. And of course Earl Grey hot tea. Worked for me. And then it was time to head out so Lisa could do her piano lesson at mid-day. This time she asked that if we were going to go grocery shopping, to pick up Progresso chicken soup for Johnnie. And maybe Illy coffee for herself. This from the woman who called me cheap earlier in the week. But then again we had that all straightened out already. What I heard was "Can you fork up an extra $300 for vet expenses for a dog you never planned for?" What she was trying to say was "Hey would it be ok if I used the joint expense account since there is a lot of money in there still, a few hundred dollars for vet expenses". If that was the way she would have asked in the first place, I would have easily said YES without a second thought. Because it was money I was never going to miss. Funny... all miscommunication is a matter of decryption of where both people's minds are. At least we could discuss it today and all was good. AND off I went buying her Johnnie's chicken noodle soup AND Illy Coffee which required separate trips to Whole Foods and Ralphs. Wouldn't it be great if Whole Foods would sell Progresso soup? Wouldn't be even better if Ralphs sold ground Illy coffee? Anyway all that running around pretty much took up the entire morning and Johnnie barely got in a couple of episodes of the first season of Camp Cretaceous before it was already time to head out to pick up said lunch. We didn't have the dog with us because we left her at Lisa's. But as soon as she got done with her lesson it was already time to pick her up again. I was also her ride back to the dealer to pick up her car when it got done. I figured I was running errands anyway. No big deal.   

You will notice I also posted a pic of Johnnie missing his front tooth, which FINALLY came out today. He actually texted me via Lisa first thing this morning. I'm relieved it happened at Lisa's watch although the one next to it is loose too and is ready to go. Ahh another childhood timemarker in the books. And he's already sprouting past his 5T pants. So much so that after I dropped off Lisa and Johnnie at Culver City Mazda, I went to Target on Sepulveda to check out what the next size is for him. Turns out he has gone past toddler sizes and he now is officially in the child/boy sizes, albeit still SM and XS. Didn't I just buy him all this 5T pants not a couple of months ago? Thank God Cat and Jack at Target is cheap! And finally I get the rest of Saturday for some ME time. I reminded myself that I already did my Netflix movie night but honestly I just needed whatever downtime I could get... and if that meant just sinking into the couch and watching more movies, then so be it.  First things first was to catch up on this journal, which was a few days behind. And then of course I had to make sure I was on pace for my 10000 steps, although I wasn't behind at all courtesy of walking around grocery stores all day long. I had actually made my own run at Trader Joe's after Target. And so after all that and settling myself in I made myself some DIY pizza from Trader Joe's. Nothing to it... just put a bunch of pineapple on top of the pepperoni. Good to go. And I watched the movie "FINDING OHANA" on Netflix, which was sort of a 2021 version of Goonies. I must say I enjoyed the movie for a bunch of reasons but most so because it pulled me back to thoughts of  Hawaii yet again. <I'm going to have to find a way to find property there that I could go to in retirement huh? Shouldn't be a problem for a master manifestor right?> And then there were new faces and old faces too. Kelly Hu was the mom and she has gotten older too. Yet another reminder of my own age. Didn't i have a signed poster of her up in my Beverly Glen apartment 17-18 years ago? Now she has gray hair too. Anyway the other theme was reconnecting with family and also reconnecting with one's roots.  A message for me too perhaps. This as I saw a picture of Grace on FB taking a walk with my mom at her house in West Covina today. I'm SURE she sees my posts because she comments on them. Johnnie's tooth out, Johnnie's puppy video which was seen far and wide by all accounts. So much so Lisa had to ask to see it herself. And so by far the most emotional scene in the movie was Kelly and her previously estranged dad (played by Branscome Richmond... as in Renegade series in the 90s with Lorenzo Llamas) making things right because they had lots of emotional baggage. And then there was the Vietnamese kid from Indiana Jones Temple of Doom, an older man now obviously trying to help show Kelly the way. Anyway the dad-daughter  scene had Ho'onoponopono written all over it. And had me sniffling myself and asking the Universe for forgiveness. Needless to say the movie made an impression. And who's to say this wasn't the internal work I needed to get done today after all?!