Brian Hale-Yeah!'s blog

A surfer ' s quote

Laird Hamilton: If you see a 50 ft wave and you don't believe there's something bigger than we are, you've got some serious analyzing to do and should go sit under a tree for a long time.

caught with my pants down

um, this just happenned. 

We just put the kids down to bed which is always an exhausting task, so I figured I would relax a little. I've been dying to blog, so I grabbed the laptop, and yes, I took it with me to the bathroom. TMI, I know.

So, I'm sitting there, logging into typepad when Jacinda comes in to wash her face. Right then, one of the kids screams and comes running out their bedroom. Jacinda opens the door and follows in hot pursuit. But, she left the door open. 

Did you remember that we are "community living"? With the door wide open, Bruce, my father-in-law walks by. So yeah, pants around my ankles, MacBook in lap, I say "hey bruce"

"hey brian"

Middle of the night

I'm up at 1am right now because my sweet little baby is having a rough night. We think she has gas pains. So, up I am looking online to find the nearest 24 hour place. Walgeeen's it is. Closest one...8 miles. Got there got the stuff and back home. Hope it works. I'm freaking tired

Two-fer

I just went downstairs to this little cafe and wanted to get a little treat.
I put my $1.25 in and selected F3 for some red vines, the spiral deal rotated and...stuck.
I went to get 4 more quarters, came back but before I put them in I tried hitting F3 again. The arm spun and...two-fer!

The service call

What's the deal!?

Our oven is on the frits so I called my home warranty company and scheduled the repair guys to come out. This is the third time in 4 years they've had to work on my 15 year old gas range.

That's another thing though. What probably irritates me more is the "we'll be there anytime from 8am until...your next birthday, so make sure you're home"

Is there anything more frustrating?

Expectations...

I want a bigger house. Heck! I just want to live in the one I'm renting out right now! The point is, I always want more than what I have. When we visited the ATL, the houses there were enormous. The house above is in the Newport Beach area of California, but you get my point...

I listen to a podcast on iTunes called "My Money Life" with Chuck Benteley who is the CEO of Crown Ministries. They are little 2 minute segments packed with 1 truth about you and your money everyday. I heard this one a couple days ago and I thought it was interesting enough to write it down.

in 1900, the average number of people living in the "family home" was 4.6. And, they lived in a 700 square foot home. That's an average of 152 sq. ft. per person. (I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this...)

in 1940, the average family was 4 people, living in a 1500 sq ft home. That's 400 sq ft per person.

in 1980 it was 3 people...

and today, it is average 2.5 people living in a 2500 square foot home with 1000 sq ft to each person. That's bigger than my first house! probably because it was built in 1951. 

I wonder if that has anything to do with how the family dynamic is becoming more and more dysfunctional. Now, if you're mad at someone, you just go hang out in the west wing!

what time is it?

after a week on the east coast, I thought I would be lined up perfectly with my life here. wake up early, go to work at 6:30 and go to bed around 9 or 10. The problem is that I stayed up til 2 in the morning with Carlos playing this Stuntman game on Xbox almost every night! I slept in until 9 this morning but that might have something to do with Melania waking up at 3:30am the last couple nights.

Ouch.

Frustrated

Oh, I am so pissed right now! I was supposed to work until noon today. Kiara got sick last night and her eye got all swollen up. That's not her fault, it's just another thing in a long string of things.

Anyway, I called the Dr. to make an appt and they got us in an 10:30. Cool. I go home and the girls are still in their pajamas, so I quickly start getting Kiara dressed. Then Melania starts freaking out and now there's no way that I can leave her home, so I have to get her dressed in my 10 minute "pick-up and go" window. Plus, there's a poopy diaper thrown in there.

Get to the Dr. okay, she's sick, she needs 2 antibiotics. I tell them to call it in for me and after our quick errand thru Costco, we pick up Jacinda for lunch. On our way home for naps I swing by the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. I think, "hey it's been 2 hours, it's gotta be ready"

nope. No prescription called in. frick!

I call the Dr.'s office to have them call it in...CLOSED!

I call the Dr. on call 24 hour line...wait until at least 2pm because they call in the prescriptions after hours.

Go by the pharmacy again, no call-in.

come home, wait for awhile. call at 3pm. no call-in. Oh, and "we close at 5pm today and all day tomorrow (Christmas)"

At this point I'm slanging cuss words and "how come no one can just do their job" -isms in my head.

Call the 24 hour line again. wait on hold...wait...okay, they'll leave a message for a Dr. to call me.

It's 3:57.

%*(#%(%)#)*$*^(#)@@__$*@#*$*%#%)#$%*#$*%#)#)$%*#$%

Frustrated.

UPDATE: the pharmacy lied about getting the fax from our Dr. probably because they were busy. When the Dr. called them he asked when they got the fax and they wouldn't tell him! Anyway, got the meds within 10 minutes of closing and she is already showing great improvement today. Thanks!

What I want for Christmas...

We spend a week in Newport Coast, CA every year and we've really come to love the area. Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and pretty much everything inbetween.

Although I live in the middle of California's Central Valley, my dream is to live where I can see the ocean. Hawaii is always a favorite too, but at least family wouldn't have to fly anywhere to visit if I was in Cali.

A friend of mine whose parents live in Newport Coast turned me on to the real estate agent, John McMonigle. His website is the creme de la creme of properties. You gotta check it out. There are some houses on this site that are $77,000,000 dollars. Crazy, but it's fun to dream. Here's my current favorite in a Private Beach called Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach. See if you agree with me. I just need $36,900,000 and it could be mine!

Check it out!

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

office debate update

I assure you all that that last post was with a sarcastic tone. We weren't really arguing about what's wrong and right. I just like to joke around and being a heretic. It keeps people from saying, "Jesus loves me and that's all I need to know". We were just stretching each other by exercising our theological muscles. We actually had another great talk today. I think spiritual language for this is "iron sharpens iron".

I assure you that I do not know enough or assume that I am the final authority on anything. 

And that last statement was just me and my friend laughing at how we thought we were funny because we are nerds, not because we think we know anything for sure. Obviously, there are unknowns in Scripture and theology, but that shouldn't stop us from trying to learn and seeking to know the Truth, even though Jesus is the Truth. 

The fact is Calvin was a man, both of these theologies were created by man, so...neither is perfect.

Alright, I'm done. Unless you know me pretty well, then you don't realize that half the stuff that comes out of my mouth is a joke. Hence the title of my blog "Hale-Yeah!"