6:25pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday evening, December 31, 2022, New Year’s Eve. The weather has been foggy and rainy all day. I drove I’m from Palm Desert this morning then picked up my daughter to visit friends in San Juan Capistrano. Afterwards we picked up dinner and settled in to celebrate the new year. My daughter is playing a game on her tablet and I am watching football. Time will tell if we have enough energy to see midnight.
Month: December 2022
Friday night in Palm Desert, California
5:21pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Friday night, December 30, 2022. Left the office and returned to the hotel. Usually I go back to Orange County Friday afternoon or late morning but, with no other staff available I stayed until closing. Next week a regional colleague will be on site. However, she does not arrive until Tuesday afternoon and leaves early Thursday so I will be in Palm Desert again for five nights next week. It is strange to be here on Friday but, it is better than hurrying home just to turn around again. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow, working out, and enjoying the free hotel breakfast before going to spend the new year with my daughter.
The hi-desert
7:05pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Thursday night, December 29,2022. Made a trip to the “hi-desert” this morning. That is the area in San Bernardino county where Joshua Tree National Park is located. I needed to get paperwork signed for two nurses and rather than have them come to the office I agreed to meet them up there. My motives were twofold; to get their signatures and to see the area. The hospice has patients up there and I was curious to see what it was like. The drive took 45 minutes and was enjoyable. The weather was much cooler and it had just rained. I don’t get out of the office very often so it was nice to have some time to relax and just be.
Just a day at work
6:21pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Wednesday night, December 28, 2022. Not much to report right now. Today was busy, which made time go fast. For that I am thankful. I did talk to my supervisor about taking time off next week. I am not sure what I would do with an extra day off but, it would be nice to be out of the office for a spell. I will have to make plans and come up with something fun.
Mom made it safely
11:18pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Tuesday night, December 28, 2022. Mom made it safely to Wyoming without my accompanying her. The accomplishment was a team effort; my daughter’s mom drove her to the airport, my daughter and her friend got her through check in and finally, a family acquaintance picked her up in Salt Lake City for the drive back to Wyoming. I am glad she made it and, to be honest, happy I didn’t have to go. This weekend gave me a chance to relax and change perspective regarding work. Now I feel less stressed. If I had missed work yesterday I would have fallen back into the same energy as before. I needed a change. Fortunately there are only three more work days until 2023. Time to make the best of them.
A long week ahead
6:27pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Monday night, December, 26, 2022. Came to Palm Desert instead of staying in Aliso Viejo tonight. Originally the plan was to take Tuesday off, fly to Salt Lake City with mom, turn around, fly back, then drive to Palm Desert Wednesday afternoon. However, the clinical manager here in Palm Desert had a family emergency so, she is not available to open the office tomorrow. I altered my vacation plans to be here as needed. Unfortunately, that meant traveling on an extremely busy afternoon. A drive that normally takes 2 hours took closer to four. I am tired and getting ready for bed. It feels like this is going to be a long week.
Christmas 2022
9:33pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Sunday night, December 25, 2022. My daughter and I walked to the park this afternoon and kicked the soccer ball around. It was nice to get out, just the two of us. and do something athletic. Especially after a long day of eating too much food. All in all, it was a good holiday; we woke up early, ate breakfast and opened presents. After we all took afternoon naps and played soccer, we drove around listening to music. At six we ate dinner then went to a movie together. Now we are back home and in for the night. Time to put another Christmas to bed and get ready for the upcoming week.
8:19pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday night, December 24, 2022, Christmas Eve. Found a good walk through the Aliso Viejo neighborhood this morning. The trick is to turn left at the bottom of the hill instead of right. This route winds past the community park toward the middle school. At the end there is a short turn about and a small housing community. We (the dog and I) walked along the street and took the final incline to the parkway. After two left turns it was down hill back to the complex entrance. The whole walk took an hour, which is about the right distance. Afterwards, I did some early morning Christmas shopping, picked up mom for a family gathering in Valencia then came back to Aliso for dinner. Now I am going to go to bed early and rest for the Christmas celebration tomorrow.
Much needed
8:02 pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Friday night, December 23, 2022. Made it to Orange County early this afternoon. After dropping mom off at the hotel in Lake Forest, I picked my daughter up to do some Christmas shopping. Now we are watching YouTube and eating pizza. I am happy to be away from work for the next couple of days. Time to relax and enjoy much needed time off.
Ready for the week to be done
7:17pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Thursday night, December 22, 2022. I had to provide a counseling form to an employee today. Such matter are never easy, not for me, nor the employee involved. Unfortunately, the situation escalated to needing a second, more intense, conversation in the afternoon. Which will now be followed by a final discussion tomorrow. At this point, all my energy is drained. I am ready for the week to be done and to move on to our holiday celebration. Tomorrow afternoon mom and I return to Orange County. Hopefully the trip goes well and we can get some last minute shopping in before enjoying time as a family.
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