Month: January 2026

Tonight AJ and I went to play Bunco at a local winery with BA and LA. AJ and LA have made amends with their friendship.

It really does not matter much to me, but at least it gives us someone to spend time with from time to time, even though LA mostly talks about herself.

This week I was in Denver for a company kickoff meeting. A couple of days before I left, a snow and ice storm hit Texas, which ended up affecting my travel plans.

I originally had a 6 a.m. flight scheduled, but it was cancelled because of the weather. Fortunately I was able to get on a 6 p.m. flight later that evening. By the time I finally arrived in Denver, the first day of the event was already over. I was cold, tired, and hungry, so I decided to just go straight to bed.

While I was in Denver, AJ called me several times. During those calls she told me about how AE was treating her when I was not home. She said he had been giving her a hard time and acting disrespectfully. From my perspective, that is not really any different from how he often behaves when I am there.

She also told me that he had been keeping her from sleeping and that she had ended up sleeping in the living room. That really goes against how I feel about things in the house. The living room is a common area, not a bedroom. She knows that I do not like anyone sleeping there, but when I am not home she does not enforce that rule. Instead she jokes that when I am gone they do not have to follow the rules.

I told her that if she continues to allow him to sleep in the living room when I am not there, then I am going to remove the limits I have placed on his Xbox and television and unblock YouTube. She did not like hearing that at all.

My thinking was simple. If the rules are going to be ignored when I am not there, then the least I could do is make his bedroom more appealing so he actually wants to sleep there instead of in the living room.

Since we had a long weekend, we decided to make the best of it and head to Hot Springs, Arkansas, to see Hot Springs National Park. Right after work we packed up and took off.

The first night at the hotel was rough. AE was bouncing off the walls and would not let anyone sleep. He refused to listen to anything AJ or I asked him to do. He was jumping on the beds and beating on the furniture, and after a restless night we continued on to Hot Springs.

Once we got there, we explored the area and AJ wanted to go into the springs. The problem was that they were all privately owned bathhouses and you had to pay to get in. Since AE was not old enough to go into them, that was not an option, so we ended up just driving around the National Park instead.

It felt like everything we wanted to do was something AE was not going to allow to happen. We did go to a wax museum, but that turned out to be a waste of money. We also found the National Park store where AE bought a bracelet. I think it was his third or fourth one of that same type.

We had planned to stay in a cabin at a KOA Campground for the entire weekend. We even had firewood delivered because we thought it would be nice to relax around the campfire and have some wine. That did not work out the way we had hoped. AE, even at twelve years old, still could not leave the fire alone without playing in it. I tried to ignore what he was doing and let AJ deal with it.

It was also too early in the year and there were no other kids around for AE to play with. That made everything worse because all he wanted to do was fish, with no place nearby to fish, and to keep playing with the fire. By that point the trip was already going downhill. We ended up cancelling the rest of our time at the KOA and headed to Oklahoma instead.

AJ was able to find us an Airbnb near Beavers Bend State Park. I think she could already tell that I was ready to just go home, so that first night she asked if I would find a local winery with her. We did a tasting, bought a few bottles, and brought them back to the house.

As AJ and I were trying to relax, AE kept going in and out of the hot tub. Because it was cold outside, he was tracking water everywhere and making the floor slippery. I did not say anything about it, but AJ seemed to be getting annoyed. Eventually we wrapped things up and went inside.

Of course, once we were inside, AE still tried to dictate what we were doing in the Airbnb. I ended up finishing the bottles of wine that AJ and I had started.

The next day we explored Beavers Bend State Park, and later that evening AJ and I picked up more wine since we were heading home the next morning.

That night AJ asked me if I knew where the bracelet AE had bought at the National Park store was. I told her that I had not seen it.

The next morning, while we were cleaning up, she found it in the bag where I keep my toiletries. The bag had been sitting in the bathroom, and I told her I had no idea how it got in there. She accused me of putting it there to hide it from AE.

She told me that no matter what I say, she does not believe that I did not put the bracelet in my bag. I am not sure she understands that I would not want to make the situation worse with him. If anything, I try to avoid doing things that would create more problems.

I also do not think she realizes the damage it causes when she treats me that way. It pushes me away from her, and it is starting to put a wedge between us.

The entire drive home she barely spoke to me. I think she may have said only three words the whole way back.

AJ got tickets for the three of us to go see a monster truck show in Austin. I had not been to anything like that since I was a kid, so it was interesting to see that monster trucks are still very much a thing.

It turned out that the event was actually Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live rather than Monster Jam, but it was still a good show and fun to watch.

I ended up recording most of the event so AE could use the footage on a YouTube channel I have been working on with him. I started the channel as a way to try and build a better relationship with him.

It has not been easy. AE can be very disrespectful much of the time, and it is difficult to ignore. Still, I recorded the whole event because I am trying my hardest to make things better between us.