8:25am, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday morning, January 28, 2023. My daughter has her first baseball game this morning. In preparation, we went to the ballfields after school and played catch. She has a good arm and isn’t too bad at catching. Impressive, considering it was her first time using a glove. I am nervous for her but, excited as well. She is athletic and wants to succeed. If she sticks with it she will have fun and be a good player.
Category: Relationships
Apartment hunting
4:49pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday afternoon, January 7, 2023. We are going to see a movie tonight in Irvine. That means getting home late. I don’t mind, it will be nice to get out of the house instead of sitting on the couch. I drove in from Palm Desert this morning then ran errands before checking out apartment complexes in Lake Forest. Nothing stood out as a place I want to live. I will check out more properties tomorrow. Hopefully one will stand out. I did decide to get a two bedroom. That way when my daughter or mom want to stay they have their own space without feeling like they are putting me out.
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.
They have Covid
6:09pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Wednesday night, December 14, 2022. Turns out my daughter and her mom have Covid. No wonder they were feeling under the weather this week. My daughter seems to be fairing well but, her mom is more symptomatic. I am feeling alright so far, which is good. Friday I fly to Salt Lake City to meet my mom and fly back with her to Orange County. I called her this evening to let her know the situation. She just got a Covid booster shot so, she isn’t overly concerned. We are moving forward with the original plan and will celebrate the holidays together.
Monday in Aliso Viejo
8:26pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Monday night, December, 12, 2022. My daughter and her mom are both sick. I originally stayed the extra day because her mom had a court case to attend and needed me to take our daughter to school. Instead, I spent the day with my daughter while she stayed home. The extra day away from the office was nice but, it is hard to fully engage through email. I will head out early and get to Palm Desert around noon tomorrow. There are only a couple days before I fly to Salt Lake City to pick up my mom for the holidays.
Saturday hanging out
6:20pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Saturday night, November 26, 2022. Watches videos online with my daughter most of the day. Then we went and got some cards for a game she likes. Later in the evening we went out again to pick up the mail and dinner. It was a fun day; hanging out, talking, listening to music, laughing. Nice way to spend Saturday.
Not that busy
6:13pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Tuesday evening, November 22, 2022. Still no update on the plan for tomorrow, but it looks like I will be able to get on the road early. That will help beat traffic. Today was non-eventful, a catch up day on neglected work projects, which is what I anticipated. It just isn’t that busy this time of year. I don’t mind. Right now all I want is to be home and spend a couple of days with my daughter.
Feeling run down
2:49pm, pacific standard time, bookstore parking lot, Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Sunday afternoon, November 20, 2022. My daughter is hanging out with another friend today and I am the chaperone again. Unlike yesterday, I am spending more time in the car than in the shops. I just don’t have the energy, or motivation, to follow teenage girls from store to store. I feel run down. My daughter’s mom is under the weather with a scratchy throat and runny nose. Hopefully I am not coming down with what she has.
Only so many
4:42pm, pacific standard time, tire store in Lake Forest, California, USA, Friday afternoon, November 18, 2022. The plan was to reach Orange County this afternoon and pick my daughter up from school. Her mom needed new tires for a trip north next week and the appointment was scheduled for the time school let out. However, she wasn’t feeling well and asked if I could get the tires. So we met in Aliso Viejo and traded cars. I went to Lake Forest and she took my car to the school in Laguna Hills. I don’t mind running the errand (or paying for the tires even) but it means not getting to spend time with my daughter. I hate missing those opportunities, I only get so many.
Being more social
5:39pm, pacific standard time, parking lot, Palm Springs convention center, Tuesday evening, November 8, 2022. Waiting to meet up with an old work colleague. We were going to a convention mixer then dinner, but he is running late. I kind of wish I cancelled; the night is dark, it is rainy and I am a long way from my hotel. However, I always tell my daughter to be social. Time to take my own advice, suck it up and make the the best of the situation.
mikemeyer949 