A new year, new goals, and a bitchin’ road trip

I understand how bad I’ve been with this Diary, and I feel about it because should appreciate OD more and not take it for granted. I missed the fuck out of it when it was gone, and now I’m being a total slacker now that it’s back. I feel like shit about that and intent to make a better effort in 2019, especially since the typing skills are getting better and better with each passing month since the stroke.

I’m not going to use the stroke as an excuse anymore, I’m doing better and need to stop being lazy and get back to it. Despite having a lot of other writing to do, my OD isn’t going to be  neglected moving forward. I’m going to write more movie reviews and move related articles, political themed rants, and even bring back Monday School starting tomorrow. Just writing anything at this point will keep me sharp and help keep a good pace which is sure to assist the other writings I have to do.

With the new year comes new hopes and the start of a new chapter. I’m optimistic moving forward. While it’s been far from perfect, I’ve stuck to the Yoga I started in May, and will keep at it. There is a new gym opening near where I live, and I’m tempted to sign up. Part of me is afraid to do that, but I’ll give you an update when I make a final decision about it. I might check the place out first and do a tour first before deciding.

One of the more exciting things is that I’m already making plans for my summer vacation. My ex is going to take the kids to Newfoundland for three full weeks in the summer, so I’ve got a big kid free pocket to do something with. I love my boys, but kid free windows this big don’t happen often so I’d be a total douche bag if I didn’t take advantage of it. Since I’m a huge baseball fan, I want to do something baseball related for this vacation. So a close friend and I put our heads together last week and came up with a real doozy: a fifteen day road trip that will take us to eight cities to visit several baseball parks, and attend half a dozen MLB games.

Here’s our plan: Our first stop is going to be Chicago. We are going to see a Cubs game one night, then a White Sox game the next night. From there, we’re going to drive to Iowa to visit a certain ball park in the middle of a cornfield where one of my favorite movies was filmed. After that we’re going to drive to and spend a few nights in Kansas City. Not only are we going to see a Royals game, but we’re going to visit the Negro League Hall of Fame, which is also located in Kansas City. From there our road trip is going take us to Cincinnati to see a Reds Game, Pittsburgh to see a Pirates game, and then onto Cleveland for a few nights. We’re not going to see the Indians, because that week Cleveland will be hosting MLB’s All-Star Game. So we’re going to attend both the HR Derby and the All-Star game, and even check out the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame while we’re there. Then after that we’ll drive to Buffalo and back across the border… all within 15 days.

To say I’m excited about this trip is a complete understatement. I’ve never seen a game in a NL ballpark, and on this trip we’re going to attend three. I’m going to visit Wrigley Field, and check out the Field of Dreams, two things that are on my actual bucket list. What makes this trip super awesome is attending the All-Star Game in Cleveland. This is going to be an amazing road trip, and while part of me wishes I could take Ethan or Jon, I’m unsure if they can handle this much time, an estimated 37 hours, on the road. I look forward to taking this trip, and since I’ll be taking my laptop, I’m going to be posting entries here on OD every damn day with tons of pictures.

I am not making any trips to Florida this winter/spring, so that will allow me to save all my pennies up for this amazing road trip. Since I don’t have the kids for Xmas in 2019… I thought it would be cooler to visit Florida in December like I did in 2016. I want to save up enough so that I can buy a baseball hat at every stop, as well as have enough to buy whatever I want at any point of the trip. So yes, I am very excited about this. This trip also will give me something to look forward to, which makes Peter a much more dedicated/inspired worker.

There’s a lot of cool things planned for 2019, so I really have no excuse not to write anything this year. I’ll do my best to posts not only more entries, but more notes as well. Until then, happy new year everyone!

Peter