January 5, 2023, Friday night, 8:30pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Took the Arizona plates off my car today. The last remnant of my time in Chandler. Hard to believe that moment is over. Ironically, my daughter’s mom is leaving for a week of business meetings and is staying not too far from my old apartment. For safety reasons she is taking the Acura. That car definitely knows the way. In the two years I drove back and forth I put nearly 70,000 miles on the odometer.

January 4, 2024, Thursday evening, 6:56pm, pacific standard time, hotel room in Carlsbad, California,USA. The vista office was locked this morning when I arrived. The staff was in San Diego for a meeting so they rolled the phones and locked the door. The problem is the office must be open and attended during business hours. Consequently I ended up hunting down a building contractor to open the door and I say alone in an empty office until 5pm. Also reconnected with a friend I hadn’t talked to in a couple days. She is a lot of fun but also a little confusing. Not sure where I stand with her or what to expect.

January 3, 2024, Wednesday night, 7:45pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Carlsbad, California,USA. Spent the day at the San Diego office. Mostly monitoring emails and talking with staff. They are a good group. I liked spending time with them. And I am enjoying the hotel. It is more vacation focused. People are here because they want to be. That positive energy is contagious.

January 2, 2024, Tuesday evening, 6:36pm, pacific standard time, hotel room in Carlsbad, California,USA. Staying at a new place after visiting the Vista location for the first time. It is a pretty good hotel. I grabbed groceries on the way here but couldn’t find anything for dinner. I was going to order from DoorDash, but lucky me, there was a manager’s reception tonight. I ended up with a delicious hot meal for free with no wait. Sometimes life works out great.

January 1, 2024, Monday morning, 9:52am, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA, New Years Day. Last night my daughter, her mom and I went to PF Chang’s at the Mission Viejo mall for a New Year’s Eve dinner. Afterwards, we weren’t ready to go home so we stopped by Target and walked around. Then we went back to the Aliso Viejo apartment and played Yahtzee before watching the new year celebration in Chicago at 10pm. I went home after that. Now I am doing laundry and getting ready for the week. I don’t look forward to going to work. Not because work is bad but rather the transition from not work mode to work mode is debilitating. Oh well, it has to happen some time. Might as well be tomorrow.

December 31, 2023, Sunday afternoon, 2:42pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, New Years Eve. yesterday I got caught in the rain on my walk. After drying off I went to the gym and worked out. It was such a slow day I went to the gym again in the afternoon to walk on the treadmill. This morning I didn’t walk outside because it was still wet. The last two days have been really lazy. I don’t particularly want to go back to work but I also don’t want to sloth around. At least the first week back is short because of the holiday.

December 29, 2023, Friday night, 9:07pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Started the day with the Blue Lantern walk, then drove to Aliso Viejo to grab the doggo and have a walk with her. At 11:30am I went to the gym before taking care of my car registration. Good news is my car passed smog inspection. The bad news is Triple A was having computer problems. I have to go back one more time to finally get it resolved and get my California license plates. I ordered my daughter her contact lenses at the optometrist this evening before coming home. It was expensive. And I have to order my contacts next month.

December 28, 2023, Thursday afternoon, 12:07pm, Mountain Standard Time, waiting area, Gate B1, Salt Lake City Airport, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Got up early and flew with mom back to Salt Lake. Some friends of hers from Wyoming came down to pick her up and take her home. I am waiting for my return flight. It is delayed a little, hopefully not much longer. I am glad mom came to visit. It is nice having her, even though the apartment is small and sleeping on the couch is uncomfortable. She is having more episodes of forgetfulness. Some days are better than others. I worry about the future and how to support her long term. I think she can still function independently but definitely a situation to monitor.

December 27, 2023, Wednesday night, 7:29pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Spent most of the day remembering driving to Las Vegas four years ago to pick up my daughter’s dog. She has been a blessing these past four years. No matter who comes in the house she is excited to see them. She loves to snuggle, go for walks and get treats . If you scoop her up in your arms she will let you hold her like a baby. And, as the picture below proves, she will let you dress her in Christmas pajamas with little fuss. But she definitely prefers when you take them off. Life is better with a dog. So much excitement, love and needed routine. One of the draw backs of traveling for work is not getting that consistent experience. The past couple days the dog has stayed with me in Dana Point. That has been a blessing. I don’t mind going back to work but will miss seeing her everyday.

December 26, 2023, Tuesday night, 7:26pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Got up around five and went straight to the gym. After working out I drove to Aliso Viejo and took the dog for a walk. It was 44 degrees, a little chilly, but the air was still. Dawn broke over the mountains as we were walking. I kept reminding myself to stay in the moment. That there will never be a time of pure bliss. The apex I seek exists in days like this. for the remainder of the day I went to triple A to get the Acura registered, made a Target run with mom and we stopped by the post office to pick up boxes for her presents. This evening the family came over for dinner consisting of leftovers from yesterday. My daughter was excited. She got contacts this afternoon. They decided to go shopping tonight so I brought the dog back to Dana Point with me rather than leave her alone in her kennel.