My Daily Prayer

I am thankful for this day and I am thankful for this life

I am thankful for this day and this life with my family

I am thankful for this day and this life with my family

I am thankful to be alive and to be right here right now

I am thankful to be me and I am thankful to be who I am

I am thankful I get to choose who I am and create myself anew in every moment of now eternally 

I am thankful I get to take responsibility in this life and I am thankful I get to grow through taking responsibility 

I am thankful for this beautiful day

I am thankful I am, I am thankful I am, I am thankful I am

I am thankful, I am thankful, I am thankful

I am, I am, I am

God thank you for always protecting, caring for, and looking after my family

And thank you for always helping us protect, care for, and look after ourselves and each other

I am thankful for my family, the family that lives in my home, this family I am a part of, and this family I am growing

I am thankful for Melissa and Maxtone, and for An Nyoung and Jesse and Gary, and for our plant

I am thankful we live together and I am thankful we are loving and caring and supportive

I am thankful for my family's beauty and health and I am thankful we are all doing so well in life

I am so very thankful for Melissa my wife

I am so very thankful for her and our marriage

I am thankful she is doing so well in life

I love her and I am so very thankful for this life with her

She is our wonderful, our beautiful, our love and I am so very thankful we have her

Thank you for always helping her god

I am so very thankful for our son Maxtone

I am so very thankful for our beautiful and healthy baby boy

I am thankful he is doing so well in life

I love him and I am so very thankful for this life with him

He is our wonderful, our beautiful, our love and I am so very thankful we have him

Thank you for always helping him god

I am thankful Melissa, Max, and I all did so well through the pregnancy and birth that produced Max

This is a blessing and I am so very thankful

My family are my guiding lights and I am so very thankful of where my life has gone and where it is going with my family

I am so very thankful for our cats An Nyoung, Jesse, and Gary

I am thankful we live with each other and or near each other and I am thankful they are loving and playful

I am thankful that our love of them and our care for them will continue to grow

I am thankful that their love of each other and care for each other will continue to grow as well

I love these cats and I am so very thankful for this life with them

I am thankful for our plant

It is alive and so are we

We are one, we are family 

I love this plant and I am so very thankful for this life with it

God thank you for looking after my family always

Thank you for always loving us and caring for us and guiding us and protecting us and being with us always

And thank you for always bringing us home so we are together safe and sound

We love each other, we are family, we are blessed, and I am thankful

I am thankful for my family's breath

I am thankful our hearts beat

I am thankful for the time and space we get to share and I am thankful we get to share this life and each other here and now in the physical 

I am thankful we get to sleep near each other and I am thankful we get to wake up near each other

I am thankful I got to sleep next to my family last night and wake up next to them this morning 

And I am thankful I get to sleep next to them tonight and wake up next to them tomorrow morning

I am thankful for this blessed life with my blessed family

We are blessed and I am thankful  

I am thankful for my family's joy

I am thankful for our saftey 

I am thankful for our good health

I am thankful for our happiness

I am thank that my family are who we are

I am thankful that we are the people we are

I believe we are loving, caring, joyful, positive, accepting, understanding, patient, humble, optimistic,  trusting, trustworthy, honest, compassionate, empathic, powerful, able, happy, inclusive, humorous, peaceful, believing, forgiving, communicative, creative, expressive, passionate, artistic, enlightened, growing, one, and all

I believe this is who we are and i believe all of this represents us and I am thankful that we are who we are

I am thankful we are

I am thankful for our existence and for life

I am thankful for our awareness and for our consciousness

I am thankful for our unique perspectives 

I am thankful for all my family inside my home and out and I am thankful for everything we have

We have so much

I am thankful for all of our stuff and every one of our things

I am thankful for our homes and for our cars and for our computers and for our internet access

We are blessed and I am thankful

I am thankful for our good jobs and other ways of making money like our eBay store, our investments, and for all the help we get

We are blessed and I am thankful 

I am thankful for all the money we have and continue to make and I am thankful we will continue to save more money

I am thankful for my family's financial stability and for money and wealth growth 

We are blessed and I am thankful 

I am thankful for my family's place in this world

I am thankful for how we live and for where we live and I am thankful we live

I am thankful for our quality of life compared to how we've lived in the past and compared to how others are living today

I am thankful we are all on our way to living a higher quality life

We are all blessed and I am thankful

I am thankful for my family's wellbeing and prosperity

I am thankful we have been well and prosperous

I am thankful for our continued wellbeing and prosperity 

I am thankful for all the opportunities, experiences, comforts, and luxuries that my family gets to have and be a part of

For in this life there are so many opportunities, experiences, comforts, and luxuries and I am thankful for them all 

I am thankful for my family's abundance for we have so much

I am thankful for my our abundance of food, water, air, shelter, freedom, joy, peace, belief, forgiveness, each other, communication, humility, trust, patience, creativity, expression, passion, art, enlightenment, power, honesty, growth, money, success, time and space, life, love, god, truth, light, gratitude, the all, opportunity, experience, comfort, and luxury

Thank you love

Thank you for my family's abundance and access to so much

I am thankful for our access to healthcare

I know not everyone has it and I am so very thankful that we do and I am thankful we are all on our way to having more and better and more affordable healthcare

We are all blessed and I am thankful

I am thankful for my family's joyful and safe driving today, tonight, and always

I am thankful for our joy and safety while we are out and about and I am thankful for our joy and safety while we are at home

I am thankful for our joyful and safe returns home today, tonight, and always with each other/ to each other so we are together safe and sound

We love each other, we are family, we are blessed, and I am thankful

I am thankful I like how I look

I am thankful I like how I feel

I am thankful I like how my family looks and thank you for always helping us feel well

Thank you for our good looks and thank you for our good feelings

I am thankful Melissa and I have jobs to go to today and I am thankful for all the money we are making today, tonight, and always

We are blessed and I am thankful

I am thankful for all my family past, present, and future

You are all my angels and I am so very thankful for this life with all my angels

I have been sent nothing but angels and I had been given nothing but miracles

Thank you for loving me and reminding me who I am

I am thankful I get to love you and remind you who you are

This life is blessed with us together and I am so very thankful for this life with all my angels

We love each other

We remind each other who we are

I am thankful for everyone and everything my family loves and I am thankful for everyone and everything that loves my family

I believe we are that which we love and I believe that which loves us is a wonderful thing

I believe we are all one and I am thankful for this belief for it always leads me to love

I am thankful that my family are all very able and intact people with all of our limbs and senses

We see, we hear, we smell, we touch, we taste

I am thankful for our abilities and I am thankful we are able people

I am thankful we are able minded, able bodied, and able spirited

We are truly blessed and I am so very thankful for our abilities 

I am so very thankful for our ableness

I believe in life, love, god, truth, light, gratitude, peace, belief, forgiveness, each other, communication, humility, trust, patience, creativity, expression, passion, art, enlightenment, power, honesty, and growth

I believe in the one 

I believe in the all

I believe that we, everything, are all one and that we are all of this

I am thankful we are one

I am thankful we are whole and intact and always together, never separate, always one and never alone

I am thankful for our oneness 

I am thankful our outcomes are not in doubt

I believe in evolution, growth, movement, and becoming 

I am thankful we are all growing and moving through love, through that which is and that which we are

I am thankful for our evolution which I believe is always moving us to our full understanding of that which love is, of that which life is, of that which god is, of that which we are and of that which is

I am thankful we are all always growing, moving, becoming and evolving

I am thankful we are not stuck or stagnant and I am thankful for the process of life 

we are this process for we are life for we are one and I am thankful

I believe in creativity, expression, passion, and art

I am thankful we are creative beings who get to be passionate and express ourselves and be artistic

we are the creators, this life is a gift, and I am so very thankful for this wonderfully rich life full of so many wonderful experiences 

I believe in sustainability, adaptability, and functionality 

I believe that these underpin the physical world and that a good understanding of them helps to create a good life

I am thankful for my ever-growing understanding of sustainability, adaptability, and functionality

Thank you life, thank you love, thank you god, thank you gratitude, thank you truth, thank you peace, thank you light, thank you belief, thank you forgiveness, thank you each other, thank you communication, thank you humility, thank you trust, thank you patience, thank you creativity, thank you expression, thank you passion, thank you art, thank you enlightenment, thank you power, thank you honesty, thank you growth, thank you the one, and thank you the all

Thank you for this day and thank you for this life

Thank you for this day and thank you for this life with my family

Thank you for this day and thank you for this life with my family

I am a thankful person

I am a loving person

I am a caring person

I am a joyful person

I am a blessed person

I am that which is, that which we are

One, Love, and All

Thank you, thank you, and thank you

Thank you all my thank yous

I am thankful for this gracious life and I am thankful for what gratitude is and how it works and I am thankful that I am growing my life through and with gratitude 

I am thankful for my prayers and all my thank yous

Thank you, thank you, and thank you

Thank you always, thank you still and thank you again

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

(words = 2247)

4/21/12

I got a crazy good tip at King's tonight. I'm not gonna say exactly how much but it was $110 + a bottle of '08 Syrah. Max kept us up till 6am last night. Medical insurance is crazy expensive. Especially through King's. Adding Max increases our monthly payment by almost 70%. I got rigity-wrecked on wednesday night. Just ask Melissa. I did a pretty good job of humiliating myself. Seriously, ask her. I didn't celebrate 4/20 this year. Come to think of it I rarely do. Although in the past I was high most of the time.

4/18/12

Today we had Max's first real pediatrician appointment. I say 'real' because the actual first appointment went so horribly wrong we ended up walking out before seeing the doctor. Today went much better. The receptionist was friendly, the nurse was pleasant and the doctor was very positive and informative. We have another appointment next week 'cause they think Max should weigh more. I think he's doing just fine but I'm barely a doctor. Today I learned the word autochthon. It basically means indigenous. I saw it on the back of a bottle of Super Tuscan seemingly used properly but possibly grammatically incorrect. I got a hundred dollar tip yesterday. I was really working the fact that I have a new son. It seems to be working. I sipped a little wine today and yesterday while on the clock. I actually have a pretty good job. Melissa brought Max by the OG so Day could come out to the parking lot to see him. Hala took a peek too. Dear Max, Please sleep well tonight so that Mommy and I might do the same. God bless us everyone.

4/14/12

I'm sitting in a dark living room because Max is finally sleeping at night. I'm still up because Melissa is napping in case Max wakes up...which he probably will. I had my first shift back at the OG tonight. I served in Amarone and made seventy bones. Over all it was a pretty good night back. I got to show off pics of Max and everyone was excited to hear about him. I brought An Nyoung to the vet to get a shot. He ended up having worms. I've had literally thousands of cats and never have any of them gotten worms. He seems to be getting better even hours after his treatment. It rained like Savannah Cats and dogs today. The traffic on Sixth St. was ridiculous. Why when it rains and there are no accidents is there more traffic on city streets? I barely understand traffic as it is let alone this soggy kerfuffle. I keep seeing my red sweatshirt with thick white draw-strings on TV shows. Apparently I'm a trendsetter. I just don't understand why it's always girls wearing them.

4/10/12

I've been browsing the virtual art galleries on googleartproject.com. It's really amazing. You can see in fantastic definition thousands of works of art in galleries all across the world. There has been so much beauty recorded over many centuries. Also recorded was the pain that brought us this beauty. Paintings of the poor and infirm lie amongst other paintings of the most beautiful architecture and other man made things. In ancient cultures did they have companies or contractors you could hire to design the most elegant and detailed sitting rooms? Probably not. Right? I'm guessing some sort of slavery or at the very best workers getting paid less than the bare minimum and working in squalor. If I were rich I would want nice things. The nicest. It would be hard not to. This brings me to survival and greed. Most of human history is people trying to survive and live as "well" as possible. Who could blame them. Even in America in the 21st century people are trying to survive. Luckily we can travel far and wide or just locally and not be concerned about animals attacking us or bullets flying in our direction. Where I'm going with this is we want to survive, more than less. We see people with more than us and assume they'll probably live longer and better. This is all very obvious but stay with me. Because having more probably means more survival we all try to have as much as possible. This is where survival becomes greed. I am thankful to live in a time when my survival is generally guaranteed. This allows me the realistic opportunity to try to not be greedy. I have so much compared to so many people living or dead. It may be possible that life is not fair but these days being fair is more than possible. See what I did there? Pretty clever, huh?

4/9/12

Tonight I sang to my son. I've wanted to do that for years.

4/8/12

I got a little more outdoor time today. I went down to Guitar Center in Rancho to return an extended warranty for my electronic drum set I ended up not needing. Thats seventy-five bucks in my pocket yo. I've been experimenting with my new coffee in hopes of making the perfect cup. I'm finding that priming the french press and the glass I'll be drinking out of with hot water makes for a much more enjoyable experience. How much water to how many grinds is still a bit of a sixty-four-thousand-dollar question. Jeff stopped by with his new Prius C. He seemed stoked. Also, this was the first time he got to see Maxtone. I'm awake at 1:54am trying to make sure Melissa gets some sleep. I'm gonna give her till about three or until Max decides it's time for me to go insane again. Love you Max, Love you Melissa

4/7/12

Wanna get a baby to stop crying? Tell em they're fakin it. Don't believe me? Have a baby and find out for yourself. Thats what I told Twitter. And then Twitter told Facebook. You wouldn't know it but I really don't have any friends. I received my Jamaican Blue Mountain whole roasted coffee beans today. They were shipped from Jamaica and took less than forty-eight hours to arrive. I also bought a Cuisinart burr coffee grinder from Bed Bath and Beyond and got an extra twenty percent off 'cause they only had a floor model. This was on top of a twenty percent off coupon Melissa had. To sum up, 20% + 20% = 34% off my purchase. I love and hate math.

4/5/12

So it turns out the Peet's in Fullerton doesn't carry Kona coffee. Not a problem because I've decided to purchase a pound of Jamaican Blue Mountain instead. Supposedly it is one of the worlds rarest and most expensive coffees. Regardless, it is supposed to taste tits! I researched where to buy it from for like two hours. With shipping it came out to be almost $50 so ladies watch out, big spender coming through. We had our second mother-baby wellness exam this morning and everything went well. Max gained an ounce and a half which is the minium the RN's would like to see. We had Panera for lunch and it was momentous. This is only because it was the first time we ate out with Max. I actually mean this literally because we ate outside. After that we came home and eventually Melissa's Mom came over to hang out with us. I took this opportunity to run some errands most importantly of which was buying toilet paper. Melissa's Mom bought us Papa John's and we watched The New Girl until I just about lost my mind trying to deal with Hulu Plus which is complete shit.

4/4/12

Last night was our second night alone with Max. Everything went very well. We were up every couple of hours but we did get two longer sleep sessions that we were very thankful for. Today we are gonna make an appointment at a pediatrician's office for Max's two week check up. Tomorrow we have a second mother-baby wellness exam in Fullerton to check Max's weight. Also, I'm sure the RN will want to make sure Melissa has been getting more rest too. After the appointment we're gonna buy some 100% Kona coffee from Peet's which I'm very much looking forward to.

Ps. Happy Birthday Kristen!

4/2/12

Have you ever had a healthcare provider look at you in judgment because of something that you knew immediately you did wrong? This happened to me today. I should've known Melissa wasn't getting enough sleep. I should've known there were too many people visiting for far too long. The RN who taught our parenting classes ended up being the lactation consultant who administered our mother-baby wellness exam. I was left in the waiting room while Melissa went back to discuss the last couple of days after Max was born. I could sense something was wrong by the amount of time it took until Susan (the RN) emerged with eyes of concern and questions about Melissa's well being. I was humiliated. And rightfully so. Melissa felt bad that I felt so bad but I explained that I believe certain situations and actions require one to be humbled for important and necessary changes to take place. This was definitely one of those situations.

4/1/12

It turns out I'm the 4th Mega Millions winner. The only reason I'm not very excited about it is because it's April Fools Day. Haha, whatever. The fam was over again today. Even Lauren and Whitney came out to see Max. My Dad and Lauren are still in town too. Melissa's Mom said she'd be back tomorrow night to help out again. She made a casserole for everyone and it was delicious. Regrettably I forgot to add hot sauce as I had planned. Life is so hard :)

3/31/12

My son was born almost 62 hours ago. Thats right...my son. I am a father. The delivery barely took 28 hours so it was a breeze. After that we spent 2 full days in the hospital making sure Maxtone was healthy and ready to go home. He is the most beautiful baby boy I have ever seen. This is mostly due to my genetics though Melissa contributed too...sort of. Tonight we are at home for the first time as a whole family. Melissa's Mom is staying with us to make sure everything goes smoothly. The first night with Max at the hospital was kinda rough but the second night went much smoother. We will be on our own (no nurses, no Mom) for the first time tomorrow night but Melissa is the most perfect Mommy so I don't think anything will go wrong. I'm gonna end this post by saying how happy I am. This is everything I've ever wanted and I'm so very much looking forward to all the wonderful moments and experiences I'll be sharing with my family. Thank you

3/14/12

Well, the last couple of days have been relatively lucrative. Bartending at the Olive Garden on Monday and Tuesday is not usually where I make a great deal of money but for some reason this week was different. I used the word 'relative' when referring to my recent fiscal situation because the market has been fickle. Low volume, volatility, and an expected pullback have not been the fertile soil to grow my portfolio I was hoping for. This was expected so it is not too worrisome. There seems to be existing potential upside in the market as a whole and I'm still confidant PTEN will rise above $20 and maybe even $21 in the short term. Tonight Melissa and I are gonna join my Mom and Bob at North Woods to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We will first make a trip to Fullerton for one of our last doctor visits before Max is born. Everything has been going well with Max's development and we are looking forward to a birth free of complication and emergency. For this and so much more, we are thankful

3/7/12

This morning I woke up at 3:58am after getting to bed sometime past 2:30am. I have been watching Patterson UTI (PTEN) for a couple of days since markets had just gone through a correction due to more fears about a Greek default as well as markets being over-bought. The premarket price for a share of PTEN was $18.24. I tried to get in on this low price by placing a buy limit-order of $18.40 but it turns out I understand very little about extended-hours stock trading. Once the market opened I watched the price slowly move between $18.85 and $18.75. Because PTEN rises above $21 so often I felt this price was still very attractive. I bought in at $18.78 hoping it will rise $1.90 within 1-4 weeks. This would be a 10% rise in price making me a a very tidy profit. If the market corrects further I plan on buying more assuming PTEN's ratings and outlook remain positive. Currently this is my favorite pick. Previously it was AMAT and GLW but they seem to be stuck at $12 and $13 respectively so I'm moving on. I'm still very interested in KORS, TIF, and COH since they're ratings are so high. I'd like to buy in if investors begin to take some profits which may have begun today with KORS. I plan on watching US market futures and waking up early to protect my investment just in case the possibility of a Greek default begins to move markets again. But for now I remain optimistic about my position in the short term.

As stated I currently hold shares of PTEN

9/22/10

Dear election year politics,

It's over, we're thru.

Love,
Brad

PS. Jon Stewart, you aight.

4/21/10

I've been thinking a lot about the new iPhone. Is it gonna look like the one that guy left in a bar and ended up on Gizmodo? Is there gonna be a Puff Daddy limited edition matching Bluetooth headset? Gosh, I hope not. This whole instant watch on Netflix is great. Finally, someone figured out how to get me to pay for downloading movies. Today is Melissa's and my day off. We're gonna get some Panera for breakfast as soon as she wakes up. Right now it's 12:59pm... I guess if we wait a couple more hours we'll have made it to brinner. Ah, accomplishment.

4/7/10

This doesn't seem that hard:

What that would be remains up in the air, but most Middle East experts draw the same outline for an eventual peace deal. First, Palestinian officials would have to accept that there would be no right of return for refugees of the 1948 war that established the Israeli state, and for their millions of descendants. Rather, the Palestinians would have to accept some kind of compensation. Second, the two sides would have to share Jerusalem — Palestinians locating their capital in the east, Israelis in the west, and both signing on to some sort of international agreement on how to share the holy sites in the Old City.

Third, Israel would return to its 1967 borders — before it captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank in the Six-Day War — give or take a few negotiated settlements and territorial swaps. Fourth, the United States or NATO would have to give Israel security guarantees, probably including stationing troops along the Jordan River, to ease Israeli fears that hostile countries could use the Palestinian state as a springboard for attacks. And finally, Arab neighbors like Saudi Arabia would recognize Israel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/middleeast/08prexy.html?hp

3/22/10

Health Care, Shmealth Care. I've been perfectly fine not paying my over priced emergency room bills. I've come to realize that if I just ignored the collection agencies I wouldn't have to pay and my credit would barely be affected. So what if now a child can not be denied coverage due to a preexisting condition. The tea partiers have convinced me my freedom is more important than thousands of lives that I might have otherwise chosen to voluntarily assist. Instead I plan on "peacefully" protesting what people in other countries and every member of our own congress has had guaranteed to them and their families for years. DOWN WITH OBAMACARE! LONG LIVE UN-SUSTAINABILITY!