April 30,2025,Wednesday night,7:09pm,pacific standard time,apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Today is the nine year anniversary of the last day with my brother. Hard to believe he has been gone that long. Time seems irrelevant now. Experiences flow by, measured not where they fall on the timeline but rather by their emotional heft. The things that hit strongest last longest. April 30, 2016 was such a fun day. Going out to eat, playing games, laughing. Yet it is tinged with sadness looking back realizing it was the end. No one lives forever. If all goes to plan I will have to say goodbye to many friends and family members. Or they will have to say goodbye to me. Such is the fate of life and love.

April 29,2025,Tuesday evening,6:24,pacific standard time,apartment complex parking lot,Dana Point, California, USA. This morning I drove to a Aliso Viejo to take my daughter to school. When I arrived her mom said she wasn’t feeling well and decided to stay home. They meant I had unexpected free time. I took the dog for a walk, did my morning call, grabbed coffee from the Starbucks off Ridge Route then meandered into Costa Mesa. I didn’t arrive at work until a quarter after nine. It felt good. Like playing a little hooky. Unfortunately the day was unfathomably slow after that. Weird energy. The past and future held no wild flights of fancy and work was painfully boring. I actually zeroed out my work email inbox. That is crazy. When my last job ended I had almost 20,000 unread emails.

April 28,2025, Monday night, 6:46pm,pacific standard time,apartment complex parking lot, Dana Point, California, USA. The concert was fun last night. My daughter did a great job. She has been hypercritical of her performance. That is unfortunate. She should look back and be proud of what she accomplished. She sacrificed two nights a week for lessons and rehearsals. She made a commitment to something and stuck with it. And finally, she worked through her nervousness to deliver a memorable performance. Talking with her reminded me of my high school band days. Playing live is fun but also nerve wracking. She had to build up strong coping skills for a situation like that. In the end it will help her immensely that she took the chance and put herself out there.

April 27,2025,Sunday afternoon,3:44pm,pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Sundays are amazing days I hate to see end. The weekend in full swing, the mood is causal, and everyone is happy. Yet the clock is ticking and the start of a new week looms large. There is nothing to do but enjoy the day and prepare for what comes next. Today I woke up at 3am and went for a walk. Then I worked out and took my daughter to get lunch at Canes. After that I took another walk with the dog. Now I am in Dana Point waiting for tonight. My daughter has her band performance. She is nervous but I know she will do well. time to enjoy the rest of this day and live life to its fullest potential.

April 26,2025,Saturday afternoon,4:45pm,pacific standard time,apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. A work call woke me up out of a deep sleep at 3:27am this morning. Rather than go back to bed I took a walk and made some coffee. As hard as I tried I couldn’t stay awake. I went back to sleep and stayed there until 8:30am. I went to the gym, came home, ate breakfast/lunch, and did laundry. I drove my daughter to pick up her boyfriend in Ladera Ranch and dropped them off in Aliso Viejo but I haven’t done much else all day. I am waking up from a long nap and thinking about going to sleep early tonight. This is possibly the residual of a late night on Thursday. If that is the case I better rest up. Tomorrow is the performance and it will be a long one. Their set list is 16 songs long and scheduled to to start at 7:50pm.

April 25,2025,Friday afternoon,3:33pm,pacific standard time,office in Costa Mesa, California,USA. Received a text at 10am this morning that the dog was due for a grooming appointment at 11am. I scrambled to leave work for a bit, drove to Aliso Viejo, pick up the dog and then headed to Dana Point. Right when we arrived at the groomers some other customers informed me they were closed. The power has gone out and was not going to be restored any time soon. So I took the dog back to Aliso with a stop at Starbucks to get breakfast and drinks for my daughter and her mom. Right now I am exhausted. I stayed up past 11pm last night taking my daughter to her final music rehearsal before her performance Sunday. I am counting the minutes until this day is over then I am going to go home and go to bed early.

April 24,2025,Thursday morning,6:08am,pacific standard time,apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Amazingly I am experiencing Another feel good morning. Which makes it the third morning this week I have clearly been happy. I have made it a point to use my 999+ thesis. Namely, be mindful of attitude, stay positive and be present in the moment. Being positive and present takes effort. I check in throughout the day and write affirmations as they come to me. That has resulted in an internal transformation while creating content to share. I am on the path I was destined to travel and I am collecting rewards along the way.

April 23,2025,Wednesday night,6:02pm,pacific standard time,parking lot, school of rock, San Juan Capistrano,California, USA. Yesterday at work we laid off two office employees. It was an emotional day. Plus, the business manager was sick so that meant answering the phones. Today was more of the same. The timing of the layoffs wasn’t good (not that it ever is, but still) our force was reduced just as business picked up. Consequently we were double slammed. By 2pm today I was tired and grouchy. My daughter is off for spring break. I should have taken a day to spend with her. Maybe we can do something this weekend. Right now I can’t think straight. I want to go to bed and start fresh in the morning.

April 22,2025,Tuesday morning,6:41am,pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California , USA. My daughter and her mom come back today. I look forward to seeing them. The last couple of mornings have been very enjoyable. Even with work weighing heavy on me (I have to lay off three employees today) I still am finding peace in this moment. The dog and I slept in then went for a short walk. Now we are sitting on the couch, enjoying coffee, watching the weather and snuggling. I haven’t gone to the gym the last two days. I miss my workout but it is a small sacrifice considering the trade off. Tomorrow I will be back in my usual morning routine and looking back on this time with fondness.

April 21,2025,Monday morning,6:58am,pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA. We slept in this morning then went for a walk along up the back side to the dog park. It has felt so good to change routine and perspective. I am happy to be out of my apartment and doing something different. It is a beautiful morning, hanging out, sipping coffee and watching the weather.