Miniature Golf w/ a four year old

Sometimes I feel like my four year old's extended battery. Sean and I went to play miniature golf on Sunday. We initiated take-off from the house around lunch time. One quick errand later and we were on our way.

Music request was "Fix you" from Cold Play. So I did the math and the fiftee minute travel time corresponded to just over 3 repeats of that song. Suffering from 'parental love syndrome' it becomes tolerable.

Stars and fries are on the menu for lunch. Luckily their is a "Stars and Fries Place" on the way. Unfortunately, anticipation had spoiled his appetite. I tried the "Only boy who eat a good lunch get to go to the arcade." This opened an extended negotiation of what exactly constituted a "good lunch." This combined with the normal stream of behavioral corrections, was like a shot of emotional novacaine. And being kind of high strung myself, I needed to stay "big picture." The moment I lost my center, we'd best head back home.

Lack of fuel was the first domino in this slow emotional decline. To begin with Sean is "particular." He has to have the yellow putter AND the yellow ball... everytime. Hmm. If the ball goes into the water, then it has to be completely dry before it is again usable. Each instance being a domino lined up to get to the next. But as Sean becomes more tired, he becomes less tolerant. This tolerance factor seems to be the umbelical link upon which flow my energy to him.

We only played 21 holes. But time is relative. It seemed as if the sun had stopped in the sky. Didn't I just tell him not to pickup my ball? Or to wait until his ball had competely stopped before hitting it again? Or to wait until everyone had teed off before running down the hole to see where your ball went? Or to .... AAAARGH!

Ok. He was getting frustrated at my continuous corrections. I was getting frustrated also. The immense capacity for patience powered by love and strong desire for this to be fun for everyone or else was creating a kind of Catch 22.

Recognizing you have a problem is half the battle... yeah, the easy half. So I sat down and began to hack off the dysfuntional parental chains of behavioral expectations. Once freed myself, I was able to free my son. And we had a great time.

Until it was time to leave...

Comments added due to popular request...

Ok. So I have succumbed to the immense pressure of one person's comments on a blog 2 clicks removed to add my comments section back to my blog. Happy now, Red Monkey!? Sheesh.

New Year's Eve's Eve's Eve....

New Year's Eve's Eve's Eve.... My cunada, Marisol, hooked us up with the awesome Dinner and a Show. (Excellent Buffet with great seats to Mama Mia). Just admit it. You love ABBA. Best thing to come out of Sweden since the Electrolux vacuum. Good times were had by all.

New Year's Eve's Eve.... After driving back from LV, we all went to Teryaki Hut. Deluxe combo A please.


New Year's Eve... Silvia made Roast Beast to cap off a day at the arcade and a final lunch at The Hat.

Its a Festivus Miracle!

Festivus Miracle: Ok. So I was looking for Festivus information on the internet (using Google, duh.) And I get directed to the Wikipedia which had a great bit about it (Festivus not Google) including its origins. It turns out that the origins of Festivus come from this guy's father who was inspired by this play, Samuel Beckett's Krap's Last Tape. Beckett, who is some famous Irish poet guy, supposedly dated this chick for a while named Peggy Guggenheim. (apparently, the poorer Guggenheim). So this Peggy made her fortune the old fashioned way. She inherited it from her dad, Ben (who got his from his dad but makes bad investment decision to sail accross the Atlantic on the Titanic). Peggy develops a love for the arts and buys three Man Rays, among other art stuff, to show that she knows about the arts and has money. (I personally feel that she would have bought more but she was the poor Guggenheim) So here is where the miracle happens: Man Ray is the name of the Weimaraner dog made famous by photographer William Wegman. And I OWN a Weim named Wilson thus completing a Festivus Miracle!

Merry Christmas!

Well, we've weathered an outbreak of the chicken pox. Silvia had it the worst. Apparently, she'd never gotten it as a child or had such a mild case as to not develop an effective immune response. She came through it fine though. Just a little uncomfortable... and a hit on the pride.
The Yermacks are here and everyone is in good health! Hurray. That is a first! Pics to come post x-mass gift massacre.

Sean's Fourth Birthday!!

Here is the happy family on Sean's birtday!

Holloweenie!!!

Here of some pics of Holloween!

The latest...

Wow! It has only been a month since I last blogged. Well, we made it back safely from Stockholm. It was an awesome trip. It also took a week to get the kids back on Pacific Time.

I finished my class and sent in my application. Then ordered my last class for my broker's license. I resumed my talks with Kirk and start work for him tonight. I send in my exam and license request today. Hopefully I will get the Nov 23 test date.

I saw a house I liked in Cerritos. I will have to list and sell my house to make it happen. Sil is still hedging on the house. It is a 2100 sq ft. east facing 5 bdrm 3bath built on a postage stamp lot. The schools are good and the price isn't outrageous. But we'd like to be closer to a park b/c of the lot size.

My job is turning around. I haven't been surfing much. I will try to go out this weekend. I always say that. I am also going to investigate a PM position at a construction company.

Late.

Copenhagen

Hi,

We went to Copenhagen as a side trip from Stockholm. It rained the day we got there. Here is a picture of Sean and Sil in front of the Mermaid (w/ head intact) in the rain. It was miserable. Sean was a little out of it b/c of all the travel and wouldn't respond to commands. He was either full-throttle or asleep.

The other two days were great weather and we hit Tivoli, the shops, the Viking museum and the palace ruins.

Well, we come back on Wednesday. See you all real soon.

Boat ride...

Hi,

We went on this awesome boat ride today. It was a speed boat tour of the archipelago here in Sweden. The inflatable boat was powered by two 250hp outboard Mercs. The driver took it easy on us b/c we had small children... otherwise it was 50knotts easy.

It has been sunny every day this week! Unbelievable weather. All the locals are back from their travels and are swarming the leisure spots for their last hurray b/c school starts on Monday here. I think tomorrow we are going to drive to a Viking village.

The ferry ride too and from our island destination consisted of an endless stream of threats to small children for their endless hyperactivity in a confined area.

There is McDonalds here of course. And there is a knock-off called MACS. It is ok. There are no Starbucks! Hurray!

Vasamuseet...

Here is a picture of Warren and Sean making faces for the camera on the streets of Stockholm while waiting for Aunt Rocio to finish shopping.

Stockholm is a sleepy little town that you can walk accross in about 45 min. If you miss your bus, then it is usually quicker to just walk there.

There aren't as many playgrounds as Berlin, but there are more indoor facilities such as playrooms and kindergyms. We are staying at the Wenner-glen which is an apt building on the north end of the city.

The gov't actively supports the family. They give a lump sum of $10k/child every year for families. But the population is still in decline. The lifestyle for single adults must be pretty nice.

Everyone drives like a senior citizen and the city is even cleaner than Paris. There are no deisel engine cars here as environmentalism is as important as feminism to Swedes.

So we managed to get enough energy up to go see the Vasamuseet and Skansen Zoo. The Swedish Man-o-War was an awesome site. Sean was interested for about 10 minutes. So we only got to spend about two hours there before going to a McDonald's knock-off for lunch. Sean welcomed the culinary delight of chicken nuggets. But he is having ranch dressing withdrawls.

Sil has a sore throat and Meghan woke up with a fever this morning. But at least we are sleeping through the night. Sean has the sniffles too today.

Last night we ate at the Mongolian BBQ. It was good. Everyone eats outside here if possible. Today is a cloudless day like CA but 25 degrees cooler.

Meghan's First Birthday.. and our 8th Anniversary...

Hi Again,

Today is a special occasion. It is both Meghan's first Birthday and my wedding anniversay. We plan to celebrate by taking many naps and not leaving house if at all possible...

In Stockholm at last...

So we made it finally to Sweden! First our Britch Airhole flight was cancelled the morning before we leave. So Silvia found a Continental flight the next morning to Newark with connection to Stockholm. But that plane had a mechanical we didn't know about. So it was late. But we arrived at LAX at 5:30am only to be greeted by a huge line of people. About 2 hours into line the terminal was evacuated onto the curb for 2 hours. Then we finally get checked in and fly out at 2pm! We had been traveling for 9 hours and hadn't even left LAX!

We get to EWR (Newark) and it is about 10:40pm ET. We get our vouchers for a place to stay and then our bags which we short checked to EWR (luckily). Then we take the tram to the hotel shuttles at 11:30pm. Unfortunately, the hotel stopped their shuttle service at 10:30pm. So we, along with the other 20 stranded international travelers bribe another random shuttle driver to drive us to our hotel. But then at the last minute, two of his customers have arrived. So we had to drop them off first! That made our 15 minute ride 45 min! Finally, checked in and settled at 1:30am.

The next morning was more of the same. It started out way too smoothly. First of all, we get strip searched every time we go through security. That is a huge problem with a 3 year old who is crying after being corrected for running off every two seconds. Then they want to pat him down too but I called them on it b/c I know if he doesn't trip the metal detector, then kids under 12 don't have to be searched.

We spend out food voucher on really greasy food at Nathan's, cruise the shops and then finally board at 6pm hopefully ending our wonderfully hot and humid day in NJ. But it wasn't to be. The gravity was too strong and we couldn't escape. Thunder storms and the associated wind sheer kept us on the runway for 2 1/2 hours. The kids slept and then woke up when we took off. They stayed awake for another grueling 3.5 hours and finally passed out. We arrived in Stockholm 4 hours later.

So we got our rental car and followed David to his apt for a typical Swedish lunch of bacon, potatoes, and creamed spinach with just the babies.

A three day odessey ends successfully. Our motivation was too strong. Stubborn has its advantages.

7 Days.... not a problem.

I don't dream while sleeping. At least, not that I can remember. But I dream while awake and work to make those come true.

The day before Friday...

Pic of the day... I can only aspire... But I will be trying on Saturday at 18th and PCH at 6am sharp if you want to join our motley troupe. I will be the one doing my best imitation of clothes in the wash-cycle.

Mulhearn wants to give me his schpiel on Sat at 10am. I hope to squeeze a recommendation to the commercial R/E side. Or something other than grinding out residential sales.

I have calculated that in residential sales I would have to close two half million houses a month to make my salary. That's a tall order. I can probably do it; but it would be hard to do it surfing. It would mean losing my weekends too. But I could sleep in... Income property is a clear sideline... I need to learn how to do RoA for income property...

I am going to see what kind of educational materials I can get while finishing my salesperson's requirements. I will not list a broker until I talk to Gil.

Key word is "value." What is my value to Mulhearn? What is his value to me? Maybe I'll be surprised. I won't know until I go down and talk to the guy. It is a great networking opportunity as he is well respected and very successful.

Work is good. But the tactical plan calls for some serious change in the organization and I am not sure that it can handle it. In addition, the assumptions to the plan were primarily monetary. Having the money isn't the issue. Where and how to spend it is. I think the assumptions should have been less monetary related and more strategically related. Instead of saying," We have $25M for IT and where are we going to spend it?" We should have asked,"We need to accomplish this strategic organizational goal, how are we going to achieve it? And what is it going to cost us?"

That's my two cents from the cheap seats.

Tick off the days....

Armstrong is my hero...

www.letour.fr

Ok. So Floppy Joe intro'd me to this guy... http://travinator.blogspot.com ... Travis. He reminds me of my old army roommate, Greg Crouch - Same type of surf mentality. I think am going to have to get up earlier...and go to work later. And find a job in HB.

"...my Costco wetsuit..." awesome line.

I got worked on Saturday in the HB surf. It is a bit quicker than lake doheny. I'll work it out though. I think that I have to stand up earlier and practice my pop.

So, I found an old transcipt for RE Appraisal and Finance. This is good b/c it takes care of two requirements for my broker's license. Now all I need is Practice and R/E Law. Sweet. Saved some money there.

Sweden trip looms on the horizon. We have a shopping list para me cunada. Breakfast cereal and material to make fitted sheets." You know you're in the country for the long haul if you take your sewing machine with you.

My 3 yr old quote of the weekend - "Look at that big-action construction site!!!"

Armstrong is my hero...

*******End of Report*********

Going to Sweden....

So the family and I are packing it up and going to Sweden! Tickets are purchased and they weren't cheap. But you only live once. Or is it that you only die once? No. I got it. Heros die once and coward a thousand deaths. That's the one. I think that we are going to go a couple weekend trips to Copenhagen etc. Sil bought some books.

I am getting over 70% on my practice exams.. So that is looking good.

I am going surfing all three days this weekend. I gotta think of some stuff to sell on ebay so I can get a new surfboard. Mine is too short. Joe bought a new board - 10'.

Everyone is doing well. Suegra is back and working still. She got some award and now won't quit. I don't get it and she won't explain it to me so I'll back off. Given the opportunity to retire early without penalty, I'd take it.

Trip prep....

So we are all going to Sweden in August. I talked Silvia into going for 3 weeks. This is going to be cool.

I take my R/E exam on July 9th. I hope I pass. Failing sucks.

We went to the beach yesterday and took pictures with the new camera. It is much better to have a point and shoot.

The girl is making wacky sounds all the time now. The funniest is the "wail of hunger" where she screams a huge short 'A' sound at the top of her lungs until small bits of food are placed in front of her.

Sean is almost potty trained. Four more poops and he get a bike. Finally.

Silvia's work continues to ramp up. She is doing the RFP's now.

I am now graduated.

Phew! That was a long 2 years. I am finally done with my MBA. Highlight was the Revitalization class taught by Vijay Sathe. The insight into organizations was amazing. He also is an excellent teacher. The lowlight was the 'Modularity' class taught by Sanchez. I don't remember much other than he sure liked talking about himself.

So where to now? Keep my job at Cedars? Well, I would like to earn a little more money. To do this, I will have to get a different job. I have two primary options.

The first is to work for GST. That would be a good transition. GST is a great company and the outside sales position I would have would give me great earnings potential in an area that I am familiar- IT Procurement.

The second is a long shot; but not undoable. Its earnings potential is huge! That would be commercial real estate. I have found a good company that is small and would offer me the mentoring that I would need. There would be a longer ramp up time. But I have already started putting myself into a position to take advantage of it by scheduling my R/E salesperson exam for 7-9.

Family is doing really well. Mi suegra is going on vacation for a month. So Silvia is going to find childcare for Meghan. That is going to be a hard month. Then we are going on vacation to Sweden for 2 weeks with both kids. That is going to be really hard on Wilson.

So that is that.

Got it done.

Ok. I just got it done. I am graduating from CGU Drucker School of Mgt with my MBA. I did it in the prescribed 24 month period while holding down a real job, changing jobs and companies, having a new daughter, having my car stolen, and having my Voom Satellite Cable TV service cancelled.

So what does that mean to me? Well, here is the top 10 things that will change in my life now that I have finished my MBA:
10) I can play computer games and watch TV with relatively no guilt.
9) I get to help out around the house more.
8) No more group projects.
7) My son won't say 'good-nite' to an empty desk chair anymore.
6) Sleep more
5) Home Improvement projects.
4) I don't feel any different.
3) My boss expects me to work harder.
2) My fixed costs increase $300/mo.
1) I get to add a TLA (three letter acronym) to my business cards!