May 28, 2023, Sunday night, 7:21pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Went for a walk and workout this morning. Spent time in Aliso Viejo with family. The weather in Orange County was cool and overcast so I was able to rake another walk with the dog in the afternoon. Later, my daughter and I picked up her friend up for a sleep over. We stopped by the store to buy snacks before heading home. Now I am in Dana Point reading and watching videos.

May 27, 2023, Saturday night, 10:05pm, Pacific Standard Time, apartment in Dana Point, California,USA. Work was busy today. The first day of a three holiday weekend, with most staff off and out of town. Not an ideal situation. Truth be told, it doesn’t matter. The Palm Desert branch as a whole is going through a transformational phase at the moment. Employees are leaving, checking out, and/or burning out. I understand. I am going through it myself. Thankfully, there is new staff starting the week after next and the new director is coming on board the following week. We also have a plan to address weeknight and weekend coverage. Of course, a plan doesn’t help right now. It is going to be stressful (even more so than usual) for a little while. Time to take a deep breath and remember, everything will be alright.

May 26, 2023, 7:13am, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. I am not going into the office this morning. I will do my morning calls from the hotel then head to Orange County. If I don’t set boundaries for myself no one will. Going into the office for two hours on Friday causes me stress, and it generally is not productive. The interview yesterday went alright. There are a couple things I could have articulated better but, overall it was fine. Fact is, they need me in the role more than I need the promotion. That is such a unique way to feel. Usually when I interview the desire for a steady paycheck supersedes all other concerns.

May 25, 2023, Thursday morning, 6:21am, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. The final interview for my new job is today at 11am. I am meeting with the district VP of operations and Human Resources. I wasn’t looking forward to the appointment. Things have been busy and stressful at work. However, I spent the morning preparing. Now I am eager for the interview. I wrote out my failures, my successes, times working with difficult people, my background, strengths, weaknesses, and leadership style. I feel confident and excited.

May 24, 2023, Wednesday morning, 6:46am, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. I am enjoying a rare time of being in the moment. Last night I felt stress but woke up at peace. The trick is to have something to look forward to. For the rest of the summer I am focusing on self-care. Plotting out time off, not staying at one site too long and not trying to fix everything all at once. I basically burned out two months ago and have been going on fumes. I need to take time to re-charge. I plan on staying at this job for the remainder of my daughters high school career. I need to find a way to pace myself for all our benefit.

May 23, 2023, Tuesday night, 6:51pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. Felt good this morning. Started planning days off for the summer. Labor Day, a two day trip back to Arizona, Fourth of July, then a week to visit mom in Wyoming with my daughter. I also announced to the Palm Desert team we hired a permanent replacement. Those things put together made the morning fun. Of course the work day was still exhausting. I am tired of the monotony. Memorial Day weekend can’t get here soon enough.

May 22, Monday night, 11:25pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Bakersfield, California, USA. Walked the dog this morning, took my daughter to school, did payroll and ran meetings. I got out of Orange County at noon, drove to Bakersfield, Spent an hour in the office, checked in to the hotel, then grabbed dinner. My corporate credit card is maxed out. I have to see about getting a limit increase or I will be incurring expenses on my personal card.

May 21, 2023, Sunday evening, 6:23pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. A good day. Usual Sunday anxiety, but enjoyable overall. I slept in past 8am, which is something I rarely do. Didn’t go for a walk or workout. Picked my daughter up at 10am and grabbed breakfast. Went and got a haircut at noon. Drank coffee at the coffee shop for a little while afterwards. Took a nap, went shopping, then dropped my daughter off at the softball fields so she could work the concession stand with her friend. Now I am doing laundry. On another note; my daughter’s mom found a check from a recently closed bank account. I had been looking for that check for months. Odd that I closed the account, but the bank sent the check to her solely in her name. I told her to keep the money. I am just happy the mystery is solved.

May 30, 2023, Saturday night, 9:03pm, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Walked this morning, grabbed coffee, worked out. Later, I picked up breakfast for my daughter. When I got to Aliso Viejo she wanted to drive around and listen to music so we ran errands. In the afternoon we went out to get dinner at her favorite burger place. Later, her mom came home from spending time with friends. I fed the dog then came back to Dana Point at 8:15pm. The sky was misty and overcast today. Yet, the air was warm with a puffing cool breeze. The kind of weather you only get in Southern California.

May 19, 2023, Friday morning, 11:03, office in Palm Desert, California, USA. Internal stress is the same as physical stress. There comes a point where exerting effort is counter productive. If I am working out and my muscles are fatigued there is no benefit continuing. The only remedy to heal is rest. The only way to get stronger is to take a break. I need to take time off from work to recuperate. I have been going too hard and too long without rest and it is no longer beneficial. We will see if I take that advice. I have a tendency to see the solution long before I act on it.