A Different Monday Routine

To say that today's Monday routine is different is an understatement to say the least. All I was hoping for was a good night's sleep and I did get that last night. And today I got a glimpse of what Monday morning looks like with Johnnie school drop-off with Lisa. I will preface everything by saying that there is no right or wrong, at least in terms of Johnnie's routines. There's just Lisa's way of doing things and my way of doing things and they are almost always hugely different. I'm of the mindset that we're keeping her routines for today and then starting tomorrow, we're doing my routines even though I am well aware that i am in Lisa's house and so when push comes to shove, her rules take precedence. And I am perfectly ok with that. So what does all that mean this morning? It meant that we all had to sit for breakfast and Johnnie ate sourdough toast (2 slices) and some OJ. I worry of course that THAT is not nearly enough for him and that he will be hungry by mid-day. Earlier than that even. But hey, it's his mom's turn so she made lunch for him and he will have to eat what is there. And I'm thinking he will probably need a huge dinner as well. And that is still ok. So Lisa does have the day off today but she has physical therapy to do at 9 AM and then she is back before lunchtime. For me, Monday routine is catching up on emails and gearing up for a 15,000+ steps day. Which means I have to have 5000+ steps done before 10:30 AM. I told Lisa about this routine and she encouraged me to take the dog with me for my morning walk. That is do-able of course. And so we would find ourselves dropping Johnnie off by 8:07. Still on time mind you but cutting it way to close for comfort as far as I was concerned. I LIKE to be early. As in there by the time the gate opened. Again, no right way or wrong way. Just Arnel's way and Lisa's way. And Lisa's way was to park 2 blocks up the street and walk to the gate. And either way we were back to Lisa's house by 8:15 AM and I was off on my walk by 8:30. I did take Claire with me and I did manage to finish 5000+ steps and almost 50 active minutes already by the time we got back in the house at 10 AM. Lisa being out of there, I took advantage by taking a shower in her bedroom bath. And toweled up every drop of wetness I could find LOL. And then I got to work. It's UDS week of course and I managed to get started with OSHPD reports for the dental vans too. Lisa walked in at 11 AM as expected and made me a cup of Earl Grey tea. THAT was nice. I worked on my computer, she played the piano the rest of the morning. All good. 

After lunch I headed out to Mitsuwa to pick up some udon and ramen at Lisa's request. She headed off to her office with Claire most likely to catch up on notes. That left me alone for the afternoon actually and I did what I usually do. Work. Do some steps. Work. Do some steps. By the time I looked up it was already almost 4:30 PM and the sun was starting to go down. I had actually gotten 12,000+ steps already too. All that was left was to pick up Johnnie from school. I forgot myself for a second and pinged Lisa at 5:30 since mom and son hadn't gotten home yet. Yes I knew she was picking up Johnnie but my own anxiety kicked in and I need to turn it off. Lisa's in charge and she knows what she's doing. Tonight they got home around 6-ish. She still managed to pick him up on time. It's just that I don't like it when Johnnie is the last kid to be picked up. i pick him up at 5 every day. You know me and routine right? Johnnie had ramen for dinner (see the pic above) while I had my beef stew from last night. And Lisa made her own vegetarian dinner. She mentioned she had a late game tonight and she ok'd Johnnie to watch. On a Monday night when he's sleeping at my house that would be a NO. But tonight, she said it was ok for him to watch the first half and then he would go home with me so I could get him to bed. I still was pretty adamant that he be in bed by 9 PM. It's a school night after all. And so it was that we went to the Santa Monica Airport to watch Lisa's soccer game. This doesn't have the emotional investment I used to have. Back in the day I almost felt like I was part of the team. Tonight, I'm just here to take Johnnie home at halftime. Which is exactly what I did. And I got him showered and ready for bed and IN BED by 9 PM. He mentioned something about sleeping in mommy's bed tonight. That was ok, but I chose to ignore it and put him to sleep in his own bed. He was asleep inside of 5 minutes. Certainly well before Lisa got home. She came home pissed because she only got to play for 17 minutes tonight. I guess Claudia played all of the 2nd half taking Lisa's minutes and she did not like it one bit. I told her this was actually her team and if she was pissed, she should address it however way she saw fit. Sitting on it though and not saying anything and complaining privately won't get it done. I think she texted one of her teammates and hopefully that helped blow off steam for her. And so that was that. A full Monday at Lisa's house. We didn't tear each other's head off. It turned out ok LOL LOL LOL.