This is my journal entry from February 24, 2026 — my real, unedited day, shared just as it happened.
Woke up with the kids here today, and we took a leisurely time getting ready for school. We made it there a bit late, just barely getting there before school starts. But I had some good snuggles, and it was all good. I drove home and took a nice walk around Crescent Lake Park. My matchmaker said that I had been a little too restrictive in my matching. It sounded like she mostly wanted to set up dinner dates was the main way they operate, so I am available for dinner dates Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights and my favorite food types are vegan sushi, Mexican, hibachi. And she sent me a reply back pretty quickly to that saying that that helped her a lot and that things are going well behind the scenes and I should be excited. Her one little email left me surprisingly feeling so reassured because unlike with things like swiping or trying to pick girls up in person, this matchmaking process I can't tell anything's happening until all of a sudden I've got a match and then a date. It's all just happening without me doing anything, which is the reason why I wanted to invest in it. Because I can then just go about my work without doing all this stuff behind the scenes.
I remember it after initially feeling a little down and questioning my decisions. Like if she thinks I should be getting excited, then I should be excited. Like remember, just because you don't see anything happening doesn't mean that something is not in the works and getting ready to happen. A lot of the things in life that look overnight actually took a lot of gentle behind the scenes building before they were there in reality. Thus, I intend to on a daily basis just trust the process and be grateful that I don't see what's happening and that one day I'll just get a message. And I don't know which day that'll be, but I'll get a message saying there's a match and soon enough I'll have my first of 12 different dates with different girls, which is so awesome.
I went to my AA meeting after that to see my sponsor there, and I started working with ChatGPT on my business model and the details of it and planning things out and getting ready to write the letter. I'm happy with what it says on the outside. I've got my website set up to charge $300 for a 90-minute session. Now all I need to do is get the letter written on the inside, then print it and start passing it out and get ready for sessions to book. I enjoy the AA meeting and then I get called on pretty early on into it too, which is nice since I didn't get called on yesterday. Then I drive over to go do a noon power flow yoga class. Again, practicing the idea that if I want more friendly people, I need to be the one to be the change I want to see in the world. Today, I put my mat down next to a girl who has the same brand of yoga towel I have. And I end up talking with her after class, telling her that, you know, starting off with a yoga towel commentary, but then branching off into other areas. I end up meeting her and her friend, which feels great. I see a chiropractor I know there. I talk with him a bit. And then I see the woman I met at yoga again. And I tell her that since I've seen her, I've been making sure to be more friendly. And I felt, you know, that after I dumped on her and my vulnerability hangover afterwards, I'm like, all right, it's time to take some action. So I thanked her for listening and, you know, by listening, helping me to see that I needed to make some changes.
I went home and got a nice shower and lunch, then went to pick the kids up right after that. I got the kids from school and we come home and they get into their snacks right away. I make a popcorn from the air popper. And I've got the new cutting board set up today to a big 16 by 20 inch granite slab cutting board. It's like $70 from Amazon. Man, I love it. I got one of these for my ex-wife's house last year, and I'm so happy to have one of these at my house now. That cutting board is heavy. I mean, it's a nearly inch thick slab of granite. And man, it just makes such a big difference in a kitchen. A good reminder of how small changes like buying a cutting board and then moving the microwave to the other side of the kitchen and having the cutting board right next to the sink and a dish drying rack and the compost bin. Sometimes these little changes in our lives can make a huge difference or give us a burst of positive feeling. We don't need some huge accomplishment like graduating with a degree or finding a second wife. It's like just doing little things in my life can bring a lot of joy.
After the kids have been over about an hour, we are halfway through the Harry Potter Hogwarts battle board game and my ex-wife comes over to take the dogs for a walk. I double checked with my ex-wife and the kids that they'd like me to actually participate in going to the dog park because this is the only time my ex-wife is going to have with the kids today, so my ex-wife says it's fine with her and the kids say they'd love for me to come along too. So all four of us walk around and my ex-wife for the first time acknowledges that, you know, she does miss having a man around and that someday there might be a desire there. Right now she doesn't have time that she wants to give up and she's enjoying her space, but this is the first time I've heard her actually acknowledge that, you know, I don't need to say misses me in particular, but she misses, you know, having a man around, which is nice to hear. And I update her on my matchmaking process because that's what friends do, like we're friends now. And I don't see why we need to be weird about like the dating and stuff. Like my ex-wife wants me to find someone else. So it makes sense to keep her updated. Now, I'm not going to give her like play by play details the way I might with the boys or something. But at the same time, I'll keep her updated how the process is going. We go to the dog park and walk back home.
My ex-wife heads out and the kids want to play with the girl across the street. But she got grounded. And I have empathy for the parents dealing with their daughter having a hard time. I certainly wouldn't want to do that myself. And I know as a parent, it can be difficult to try and help your kids navigate things in life. At the same time, as a parent, I refuse to use tools like punishing the kids and threatening the kids, which sometimes makes it difficult when my son's hitting me. You know, it's the best I can do is just try and push him away or push him off of me or something. But I'm not going to ground the kids for doing stuff. Life has enough consequences. I don't need to apply more. And there are natural consequences in life. And I'd rather those come along than applying additional punishment. Like, it's kind of sad to see this girl who loves playing with my kids so much, them and my kids miss out. It all seems kind of silly, doesn't it? But I understand from the parents' point of view, it does make sense. And I understand they probably don't know what else to do either. So the benefit of this is I get more time with the kids today, a nice solid afternoon with the kids, picking them up at school all the way until they go to bed, which is the most time I've had straight with the kids in a long time, which feels very good.
My mother comes over at about 7, and my mother enjoys having time with the kids. We're going to play Ticket to Ride, but she was showing them stuff on her phone and she read the book my son's reading for school. And she helped my son with his homework while I was doing the dishes. Felt really nice. It was nice to have my house feeling so full because I've acutely felt how empty it feels sometimes when the kids aren't here, when my ex-wife's not here and the new wife's not here either. Feels real empty sometimes. But it feels very full with my mother and the kids here, and I'm grateful for that. My mother heads out, and I get the kids in bed. And they're both kicking and slapping each other before bed. And without threatening them or punishing them, I'm not sure what I can do. And truly, it is their relationship, too. Now, if somebody appears in acute danger, I'll certainly stop things. But I walk out, and I come back in. And my son's crying because he said my daughter kicked him in the head. And my daughter's still triggered and still trying to kick him even after she's already made him cry and got him to the point where he wants to stop. And I figure the best I can do is not get upset myself, and I turn the lights off and say I love them once it looks like they're not going to hit each other anymore. And then my daughter calms down and says, I love you, Dad. Good night, Dad. And we all go to sleep. It's just after 9, so I'm looking at having 10 hours in bed, and I'm grateful for this chance to rest thoroughly. I imagine these would be the nights I fantasize about next time I have a newborn.
If you connect with how I live and think, you can follow the rest of my days on YouTube in my Life playlist.