Sunday, January 8, 2023

9:33pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Aliso Viejo, California, USA, Sunday night, January 8, 2022. Set up a new phone today. Making sure all of my apps and accounts are working properly as been a struggle but, so far no major problems. It has been a good day; went for the full walk in Dana Point this morning, took my daughter to lunch around noon, then did more apartment hunting in the evening. After two days I realize I will most likely end up in Rancho Santa Margarita rather than Lake Forest. It is still to be determined but I will know more at the end of the week. For now it is nice just to be making some progress.

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.

Getting serious about the move

6:09pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Palm Desert, California, USA, Thursday night, January 5, 2023. Time to start getting serious about the move to California. I need to establish residency for my drivers license renewal so I booked an apartment tour this coming Saturday in Lake Forest. I don’t know much about the area other than it seems nice and is close to my daughter and her mom without being too close. Besides, I won’t be there very often what with traveling for work and all. I can’t believe how much things have changed recently. Not even two years ago I knew nothing about Arizona or what job I would have. Now, that time is coming to an end.

Sunday in Orange County, California

6:39pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Lake Forest, California, USA, Sunday evening, December 18, 2022. I spent the whole day waiting for inspiration to write this post. Nothing overly amazing happened but, it was a nice day nonetheless. Went to breakfast with my mom, took a walk in Dana Point and ran to some stores. Later, we drove around for a while before taking dinner to the family in Aliso Viejo. Now we are back at the hotel and calling it a night. We will leave for Palm Desert tomorrow morning and stay there until next weekend.

Lake Forest, California, Saturday afternoon

4:10pm, pacific standard time, hotel in Lake Forest, California, USA, Saturday afternoon, December 17, 2022. Woke up last night in Salt Lake City to a very hot hotel room. Turns out the thermostat in the room was malfunctioning. That meant no matter what the setting said (64 with the air conditioning on) the heater kept running full blast. After two hours of sweltering frustration and nearly at my wits end, I finally realized I could unplug the unit and shut it off completely. But, by then I could not relax and go back to sleep. So I got out of bed, showered, and headed to the lobby to wait for the 5:30am shuttle. After a nice, short flight my mom and I arrived in Orange County just before 9am. We were both a little tired and ready to relax but because everyone is sick we could not go to the apartment. Instead, we reserved hotel rooms in Lake Forest. However, the rooms were not ready until the afternoon so we filled the time with shopping, lunch and running errands. Now we are comfortably settled in and ready for a quiet evening of much needed rest.

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.

New apartment prep

8:11pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA, Saturday night, November 5, 2022. Spent the day at the new apartment in Aliso Viejo. We moved a dresser, assembled a desk and put together a bookcase. All in all, we were there over seven hours,?with a small break to take my daughter to a birthday party in Lake Forest. I am exhausted. Time to read, then go to sleep.

Christmas Eve Night 2021

8:22pm, living room, Dana Point, CA, Friday night, December 24, 2021, Christmas Eve. Made it to Orange County around noon, dropped mom off at the hotel, took a quick nap and played video games with my daughter. Around 4pm we took the dog with us to Lake Forest to get mom for dinner and present opening. Then, one more trip to the hotel to drop mom off for the evening. Now we are sitting on the couch watching videos and talking.