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.

December 25, 2023, Monday morning, 10:37am, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Last night was interesting . The refrigerator broke at my daughter’s mom‘s apartment. We had to buy ice to keep the food cold. On top of that my daughter was upset because a voice acting job fell through. She also didn’t feel well. Mom and I were tired so we left early with four storage bags of food to put in my apartment’s refrigerator. By the time we went to bed we both were grouchy. This morning has been better. I slept in then went to Aliso Viejo to walk the dog and put out stocking stuffers. After grabbing coffee and a pup cup from Starbucks the dog and I came back to Dana Point. Now we are lounging and seeing what the plan is.

December 23, 2023, written Sunday, December 24, 2023, 10:55am, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. I was out late with a friend in Orange and later Fullerton last night. We met last week and she was in town so we decided to get together. It was fun, we met at the Dave and Busters at the Orange Outlet Stores and then walked around for a while before heading to Fullerton. My Mom is still here and the dog stayed with us last night. Yesterday, we had breakfast with my daughter’s mom’s family then opened presents before returning to Orange County. Tonight we are going to go to Aliso Viejo for a Wisconsin inspired breakfast dinner courtesy of my cousins who live outside Madison.

December 22, 2023, Friday night, 9:44pm, pacific standard time, hotel room in valencia, California, USA. Went to the Athenaeum for lunch today then drove to Valencia before turning around and going back toward Pasadena and visiting the Enchanted Forest display at Descanso gardens. All while trying to work during the day. I am glad the week is over. Time to enjoy the holiday weekend.