Back to work...

Listen,

What a wonderful Christmas I had.  Lots of Star Wars, lots of Imaginext and lots of fun and all that.  You want details?  I got your details right here.

 

First off, I had to work Christmas Eve day.  It was kind of a waste of a day at work since most doctor's offices are closed and all that.  They (some of the the people that work here) orginized a breakfast/brunch, which I'm gonna call a breakfunch because it was more breakfast than brunch would lead to believe.  I bought a bottle of maple syrup which I spent $1.99 on and in turn got donuts, waffles, hash browns, sausage, bacon, and juice.  Not too shabby.  Those same people orginized a secret Santa thing as well.  There was a $5 limit which meant most of the stuff given was going to suck.  I gave some person I have never met, and probably never will meet a sweet Michael Jackson Thriller poster.  It is the one where he is wearing a sweet white leisure suit and he is still black.  I got one of those big tins of popcorn, you know the ones, with carmel, cheese, and butter flavored popcorn in it.  Brady and Evan have really enjoyed it.  And before anyone thinks I am a bad person for letting a 15 month old eat popcorn, just stop. 

 

Christmas Eve, the real part in the "Eve"ning, was spent at my parents and we had a really nice dinner and exchanged gifts with my siblings and nieces (no nephews on that side of the family).  I got a $20 In-n-Out gift card, Brady got a sweet air powered nerf-like rocket launcher, and Easy-E (that's gangsta for Evan) got a helicopter toy that makes noise, plays songs and holds plastic balls so he is loving it.  Everyone was really generous and we had a great time.

 

Christmas morning was the best part.  I went to bed late and woke up every 15 to 45 minutes to see if it was time to wake up.  I never sleep well on Christmas.  Brady and Evan woke up at about 7:30 and the fun began.  I won't go into too much detail, but lets just say that Brady and Evan must have been really really good when I wasn't home to deserve their hauls.  Hana and I gave eachother a laptop (just one for us to share, not 2 seperate laptops).  Hana also spoiled me with some Star Wars Toys and other fun stuff.  Hana wanted a bunch of books, which doesn't sound too fun, but she was really excited.  It took almost 3 hours to get it all unwrapped and opened up.  It was a blast.  Evan crashed for an hour or so and it was on to my parents for more Christmas fun.  The highlight was the Imaginext Dragon Castle that Brady got from my parents.  All the kids wanted to play with it.  What a cool toy!  After several hours there we went to Hana's parents' for our third Christmas extravaganza of the day.  By the time we left there we were beat, the boys were spent. I think I was in bed by 10:30 that night which is really early for me.  

 

It was a crazy few days and I didn't even get into Saturday... but now I'm back at work trying to keep my eyes open and there is stuff that needs to be done. 

 

I hope that all of you had a great Christmas as well (unless I hate you and then I don't care if you did or not)
 

 

What a weekend...

Listen,

I am sure that everybody had a crazy weekend with Thanksgiving and all that.  Here is how mine went...

 

Wednesday:

See previous post about New Moon and In-n-out.  The movie started at 10:15 so we didn't get home until about 1:00 Friday morning.  What a way to start a busy weekend...

 

Thursday: 

Because I go to work early every morning, my shift starts at 7:30, my body thinks that I have to "go number one" at 7:00 whether I am working or not.  So, I woke up because I had to go.  I tried to be as quiet as possible, but half way through my going Brady stumbles into our bedroom.  I tried to convince him to go back to sleep, but he wanted to watch a show together.  He usually wakes up right after I leave or just as I'm leaving so he really likes it when he catches me home in the morning.  So we go down and put on a show and about an hour later Evan wakes up.  By the time my eyes were actually staying open without the aid of my (or Brady's) hands holding them open I was getting everything together to start frying my first turkey of the day.  I offered to fry a turkey for Thanksgiving at the Maxfield's feast.  Frying a turkey is pretty easy, but it does take some preparation and gathering of various supplies and ensuring that the turkey is adequately dry to enter 4 gallons of 450 degree oil.  One turkey down with no incident.  On to Thanksgiving feast #1 at the Maxfields.  Because Hana's parents and my parents live 2 or 3 blocks away we always get 2 feasts on the "feasting holidays."  It is really great, but it does take some skill to pace yourself at the first meal so you are not bursting at the seams (sphincters) by the time the second meal occurs.  I suck at doing this by the way.  After eating and resting a bit I was back on my way to my parents to fry turkey #2.  No major problems with this one either, but for some reason the oil wasn't heating back up to 350 after the turkey went in.  When I started to carve it there was a bit of rawness next to the bone, so we put it back in to bathe for another 10 minutes and it was perfect.  I ate WAAAAAAAAAY too much on Thanksgiving.  Including my breakfast slice of pie I ate while frying the first turkey I count 5 slices: 2 apple, 2 chocolate, and 1 pecan.  Delicious.  After the festivities we went home and were in bed by 10:00.  Unfortunately I could not sleep worth a darn (see above 5 pieces of pie).  I think the last time I looked at the stupid alarm clock was 12:37.  Stupid pie... (I don't mean that, I love pie, and would never want to offend it.)

 

Friday: 

The good news is that I didn't have to go to work on Friday.  Because we weren't expecting a lot of action, I was able to work from home which was really sweet.  I forgot to mention that a few weeks ago my parents' computer starting acting up.  Well it finally stopped altogether Thursday morning.  In between frying turkey and shoving pie into my face I was attempting to fix their computer.  I know just enough about computers to be really dangerous and break things.  So Friday I went with my parents to buy a new PC.  They were considering  a Mac, but I told them if they got a Mac they would have to call Jeff or Hay if they had any problems because I do not know anything about them.  They decided on a super nice HP with quad core processor, 6 gigs of RAM and a 23 inch monitor... thing of beauty.  I will be buying me next computer at Costco as well.  If you use your American Express they extend the 2-year Costco warranty to a third year.  That is totally awesome.  (I can say that because Totally Awesome Computers is no longer with us).  We got it set up and everything.  and I even made it home in time for dinner.  Not to mention we went to La Puente with Hay and Tim who are in from Colorado.  Note to self: avoid the Large Combination the day after gorging yourself on Thanksgiving.  That was not smart.

 

I think I better stop here.  I'll get to Saturday and the BYU vs Utah game another time... maybe.  If nothing else I want to say that I agree with Max Hall (my new idol) 100% in his feelings toward the University of Utah, the U of U Football team, and especially the fans:

 

You are classless and I hate you all.
Sincerely,

Bob

In-n-Out and New Moon

Listen,

Hana finally dragged me to the move theatre to see New Moon.  It helped that my little sister was in town for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I was also enticed by a pre-movie stop at the new In-n-Out.  More on that later, maybe.  

My thoughts on the movie: It was not a complete waste of time.  Some of the action sequences were pretty action-y.  I wondered how they would deal with the blank pages in the book and I really liked what they did.  The wolf pack was cool and the special effects were good.  This was Hana's third time seeing the film.  It will be a LONG time before I see it for my third time, but it was pretty good.  I liked it much better than Twilight.  If they keep getting better at this rate the last movie ought to be really good.  On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being Form Justin to Kelly and 10 being The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the King, I guess it gets a 6.  I enjoyed it more than I expected, but I am not anxiously awaiting my next chance to watch it.  I probably would give the first Twilight a 3, maybe a 4 depending on my mood.  I am glad I read the books though.  Without it I think I would have been a little (a lot) lost.  I have been going back and forth on whether I am on "Team Jacob" or "Team Edward" and after watching the movie I have made up my mind.  I am on Team Victoria. 

In case you were wondering my top 5 movies remain (in no particular order) The Empire Strikes Back, The Return of the King, The Matrix, The Return of the Jedi, and Strange Brew.

Now for my thoughts regarding In-n-Out:  It was kinda strange eating at In-n-Out within 15 minutes of leaving my house.  I have stood in lines at In-n-Out that have stretched out the door, but I have never froze my a$$ of while doing so.  That was kinda weird.  The food tasted just like it should.  The burger was fresh and very tasty, the fries were amazing, and scriptures on the fry trays were inspiring.  The real question is this: Do I see myself driving all the way to Draper for In-n-Out when I have to pass a Five Guys to get there?  The answer is probably not.  The second question is "Will I stop at In-n-Out every time I go to my brother Jeff's house?  He lives in Draper off the same exit as In-n-Out.  There is a good chance this will happen, maybe not every time, but often enough.  I am glad that they finally made it to Salt Lake. 

Until next time...

Have you seen the Barenaked Ladies?

Listen,

First off, calm down, I am talking about the band you sicko!

If you have not seen the Barenaked Ladies now is your chance.  This has been my favorite band since high school.  I have seen them in conert 4 times and have loved each show.  Recently, the lead singer left the band, so I wasn't sure if they would keep going with the 4 remaining members.  Luckily there are.  They will be at the Depot on December 14, 2009 for an acoustic Christmas concert.  Tickets are only $15 plus service charges bringing then to about $20 per ticket.  I think we paid $40 per ticket last time they were here.  As I am writting this, tickets are still available.

Don't miss out on this chance to see a great band.  See you there.

No more barels?

Listen,

We'll start with the good news first: Today as I was driving to work along I-80 between 1300 East and State Street it hit me... "Where are all the barrels?  They are gone.  It was amazing.  I have driven that strectch 5 times a week since July 2008 and for the first time I did not see a barrel!  The 4 wide lanes are pretty sweet and so is going 74.5 MPH again.  This is really great.  I know thoese barrels will find a new home somewhere else, but I am glad they are no longer there.

Second:  Stupid Country Music Awards on ABC meant my 2 new favorite shows were not on this week.  If you are not watching Modern Family and the Middle you are missing out on some really good stuff.  Why would they show the stupid country music awards???  I mean, who freaking listens to that crap anyway?  I admit, I went through a short country phase when I started dating Hana.  She like the stuff and it seemed to be in my best interest to like it to (if you know what I mean).  It is a preiod of my life that I am not proud of, but oh well.  Stupid county music and stupid fans of country music. 

Third: My company is in the process of condensing from 4 buildings down to 3.  The build that I am currently in had only about 30 employess in it before this all started.  It was nice never having to wait for a microwave, plenty of room in the fridge for stuff and all that.  Now there are way more people here.  I have no idea how many, but yesterday I had to wait for a microwave for over 5 minutes.  It sucks sitting there waiting and smelling all the nasty crap people are heating up.  That and the bathroom is crowded now too.  I don't try to spend too much time in there, but when 2 of the 3 urinals and all three "sit-down-stations" are taken it can make a guy pretty uncomfortable. 

Fourth: I am "on call" this weekend.  Calling it "on call" is a joke because there is always more than enough to do.  Calling it "on call" makes it seem that I may not have to work, but I know I will spend at least 4 to 5 hours this Saturday working.  Last time I was "on call" I worked for 11 hours, yes eleven hours on Saturday.   That is not a fun way to spend the weekend.  Oh well again.

That is all for now.   Go Horned Frogs!!!

Just a test

Listen,

This is a test of the blogspot email posting system, this is only a test.  If this had been an actual blog post you would have been highly amused and entertained.  This concludes this test of the blogspot email post system.

And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!

Listen,
I posted this link on Facebook, but felt compelled to share it here as well.  This started out as an April Fools Day prank that was submitted to Lucas Films and it was approved for production!!!
No Christmas morning will be complete without at least 1 Tauntaun sleeping bag under your Christmas Tree.  My house will have at least 4 of them.
My favorite feature is that the zipper pull is a light saber so you can reenact  Han Solo slicing open the recently deceased tauntaun belly to keep Luke from freezing during their night under the stars on Hoth.  I do believe that it will be required to repeat Han's immortal words as you snuggle up in your cozy tauntaun:
"And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!"

3 Wolves T-shirt

Listen,
A few months ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the following item available at amazon.com.
If you feel like laughing, go to the link and read some customer reviews...


Cool shirt eh? The best part for me was that I worked at a novelty warehouse in high school that sold shirts just like this...

Well, Dwight Schrute introduced the shirt to the world on the Jim & Pam Wedding Episode of The Office.

It was amazing... and then they started howling... amazing.


Please visit the amazon link and read some of the customer reviews...

You are welcome

Smiths Pharmacy Sucks

Listen,
I figured it was about time to blog again. I know that you all have been anxiously awaiting an update on what is going on in my world, so I decided that I would tell you about my recent experience with a local retail pharmacy.

I recently went to the doctor. I was given a new prescription for some medicine that will hopefully extend my life and the lives of those around me. Of course, because I work reviewing prior authorizations, my new prescription needed a prior authorization. As a pharmacist, I know exactly what information to give my doctor in order for them to call my insurance and get my medication approved. So, I called my doctor's office and the receptionist told me that I needed to have the pharmacy fax them so they get all the necessary information. This pissed me off, so I called back and requested to leave a message for my doctor and gave the receptionist all my insurance information and the number to call for the prior authorization. I probably have a big "black mark" on my profile at the doctor's office. Who cares. Anyway, I had Hana drop the prescriptions off at Smiths Market Place on 3215 Valley Street near my house. I will never ever ever ever go back there for a prescription as long as I live. I knew my pills would need an authorization and Hana told them that when she dropped them off on Wednesday (the 2nd of September). Yesterday (Saturday the 5th), I called the pharmacy to see if they had gone through the insurance. They flat out told me that they had not been approved yet. The person on the phone said "I am showing that they have not been approved yet, maybe try back on the 13th." The 13th?!? A week?!? What was he talking about?!? This made ZERO sense to me, so I called my insurance. The lady at the customer service line was very helpful and informed my that the prior authorization had actually been approved on Thursday. So, my prescription could have been billed by Smiths on Thursday, but they just told me to try back on the 13th!!!! I told her that the pharmacy just told 2 minutes ago that the prescription would not go through. She told me she did not even have a rejected claim since Wednesday the 2nd of September! That means they hadn't even tried to run the prescription through the insurance since Hana dropped it off!!!! They didn't even try billing it when I called them... That means when I called Smiths they lied to me.

The lady was nice enough to put me on hold and call Smiths to tell them they would go through then came back on the line to tell me that the system showed the paid claim. I thanked her for her help, put on my sandals, and headed to Smiths. After waiting in line for 10 minutes (I timed it) I was told that it would be at least 30 minutes before my pills would be ready. I almost blew up after having been lied to, but surprisingly I kept my calm (crazy huh). I left without my pills because I had to get to my parents house for the BYU game (which was awesome by the way). I went back this morning (yes on Sunday) to pick them up. After being rung up and signing for my medication I left. With all of you as my witness I will never go back to that pharmacy and would encourage you all to avoid going there as well. If I didn't know how pharmacy works, I would still be without my medication. They hadn't even tried running them until the lady from my insurance called to tell them to. This probably happens to lots of people who don't know how the process works and just accept the lies that are told to them. Scary stuff. I am tempted to write a letter... maybe I will.
Anyway,

Smiths Pharmacy on 33rd South SUCKS
Please DO NOT go there

Good burger...

Listen,
So a couple of days ago, we were out and about and got hungry so we went to Carl's Jr. I had the Portabello Six Dollar Burger. It was pretty good, not great, but good.

Today, Brady and I were out and about and he said he wanted to go to McDonalds. He loves that place, though I think it is mostly the play area, but what can you do. I went up to the counter to order his cheeseburger happy meal and my usual, the double quater-pounder with cheese meal, large sized, of course, but they had something on the menu I had not seen before. Its been a while since I've been to the "Golden Arches," but not that long. They had 1/3 pound angus burgers. I thought I'd give one a try. They have a couple variations, but I chose the mushroom swiss.
When I unwrapped it, it actually looked like the picture (the above picture, not the one below like I'm used to), I was shocked... I then took my first bite... wow, this was tasty, I mean, it tasted really good, like really good! I would not put it up there with In-n-Out, Crown Burger, or Five Guys, but it was really good. The most amazing thing was that I actually felt fine after eating it. I know, shocking. Usually, the double QPC leaves me regretting life, but it's been like 4 hours now, and I feel great. I am very impressed and very happy to have an option that is that good at McD's.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Congratulations McDonald's... you didn't make me sick! Great Burger!

So long Joe...

Listen,

This is a sports post. Most of you will find it boring… sorry.

I have been a big-time hockey fan since 1993. Before then I was a fan, just not as obsessed with it as I became in 1993. That was the year that I started playing ice hockey. I had been playing street hockey for several years and it just so happened that the Skyline’s hockey coach lived on my street. If you have seen the street that I grew up on, you would know that this is quite an astounding coincidence. There are only 16 houses (including the corner lots) on it. We played roller hockey on the street quite a bit, since there was not a lot of traffic on it. Anyway, one day when we were playing he came and talked to us about joining the ice hockey team when school started. It sounded fun so a bunch of us signed up. In fact, during my junior year, my ward had 11 guys on the team. Being hockey players, we naturally got more and more into pro hockey. We’d get together to watch and analyze games every chance we got. Those players became our heroes as we attempted to emulate their on-the-ice skills. It was a common thing to sit and make lists of who was the fastest, who had the best slap shot, show was the best skater and on and on. Since the closest team was in Los Angeles, we were free to choose a favorite team. But in 1995 it was announced that the Quebec Nordiques would be moving to Denver, wow, Denver that’s only like 8 hours away.

My dad and I started to become Avalanche fans. We spent countless evenings watching hockey together. The Avs became our team. Joe Sakic, the captain of the Avalanche soon became one of my favorite players. He wasn’t flashy like Jaromir Jagr, Sergei Fedorov or Pavel Bure whose posters hung on my wall and whose jerseys hung in my closet. Joe was a quite leader. If a goal needed to be scored late in the game, Joe would come through. We always called him “Super Joe” a nickname he had, most likely due to his unassuming style, but amazing abilities.

It was been announced that he is retiring after 20 years in the NHL. Here is a list of some of his accomplishments:
- 2 Stanley Cups in 1996 and 2001
- 1 Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP in 1996
- 13 All Star Games
- Team Captain for 17 years
- 8th in all-time points with 1641
- 14th in all-time goals with 635
- 11th in all-time assists with 1016
- Gold Medal at 2002 Winter Olympics
- Most all-time playoff overtime goals with 8

Joe Sakic was a special player. It is a sad day for the NHL to lose a player like Sakic. Not only is her great, but he makes everyone else on his team better. I have a feeling that we may see Joe in the NHL again, not as a player, but as a coach. I was fortunate enough to see him play live when my dad took my younger brother Jeff and I on a road trip to Denver to see the Avs play the New York Rangers. That was a memorable trip.

Farewell Joe and thanks for the memories.

Cherries anyone...

Listen,
So we have a cherry tree in our backyard. Due to the lack of frost this spring we have a load of cherries on the tree...

Only problem is we didn't spray them and they all have worms in them... I opened up 10 cherries and all 10 had worms... I rinsed the worm out of one of them and ate it anyway. It was very very tasty.

That sucks

Stupid blog...

Listen,

So I have sat down like 10 times since my last post on here and have written out some blibber blabber about work, or crazy kids, or being tired or some other worthless dribble that maybe 3 other people will read. Each time it has seemed so ridiculously pointless that I have deleted the whole thing and either gone back to being productive at work or playing video games at home. I apologize in advance for the lack of funny today... really, I have nothing.

So here are the hightlights of my last few weeks:
1. My hard drive crashed on Saturday. I went and bought a new one, loaded Windows and attempted to recover my data. Leave it to me to not back up a single picture of Evan’s 9.5 months on Earth onto the external hard drive I have hooked up. Not to mention other pics, music, games, etc… Miraculously, I was able to access the drive after trying 5 or 6 different data recovery methods I found online. I copied all the pictures, music, and other documents that seemed important onto the new drive and also onto a second external drive. The next morning when I tried to go back to copy over my Firefox favorites, the hard drive was completely lifeless. Truly a small miracle to get what I got off of it. The lesson is either back up important stuff or just don’t have any important stuff to begin with.
2. I bought a new laptop battery because the last one held a charge for less than 3 minutes.
3. I bought a new DVD player for the den because the last one stopped working.
4. The stomach flu went through our family, so we each took turns puking our guts out last week… nothing like watching the people you love puking all the time or going in to check on your 9 month old only to find him sleeping away in a pool of his own vomit. That image will not go away for a long time I am sure.
5. We went to Wing Coop with Hayley and Tim… they get married in less than 3 weeks.
6. My dad managed to outdo himself with an amazing BBQ chicken at Sunday dinner.
7. Brady got a black eye roughhousing with his Cousin Anna and me while at my parents. He looks tough.
8. Evan climbed up our stairs
9. We were sitting outside the other night when there was a steady outflow of people out of our neighbor’s house. Hana had apparently ditched the Relief Society get-together going on there. Anyway, one of Hana’s friends walked over and shared some left-over homemade chocolate and marshmallow ice cream. It was really good.
10. I’ve been looking forward to the holiday weekend all week.

Fathers Day

Listen,

Another holiday that doesn't get me a day off work, or out of church for that matter, but I'll take it. So to all you fathers out there, have a great Fathers Day.

This really doesn't have anything to do with fathers day, but I thought it was funny. Apparently it is the script for a deleted scene from Empire Strikes Back. Amazing writing... take a read:

Darth Vader: Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father.

Luke: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!

Darth Vader: No, Luke... I am your father!

Luke: No. It can't be. That's not true. That's impossible!

Darth Vader: Search your feelings Luke... you know them to be true.

Luke: NOOoooo!

Darth Vader: Yes, it is true... and you know what else? You know that brass droid of yours?

Luke: Threepio?

Darth Vader: Yes... Threepio... I built him... when I was 7 years old.

Luke: No! ... Wait, huh?

Darth Vader: Seven years old. And what have you done? Look at yourself. No hand. No job. And you couldn't even levitate your own ship out of the swamp...

Luke: But... I destroyed your precious Death Star!

Darth Vader: But that was when you were 20! When I was 10, I single-handedly destroyed an entire Trade Federation Droid Control ship!

Luke: Well, it's not my fault...

Darth Vader: Oh, here we go... "Poor me... my father never gave me what I wanted for my birthday... boo hoo, my daddy's the Dark Lord of the Sith... Nobody loved me... waahhh wahhh!"

Luke: Shut up!

Darth Vader: You're a slacker! By the time I was your age, I had already exterminated the Jedi knights!

Luke: I used to race my T-16 through Beggar's Canyon.

Darth Vader: Oh, for the love of the Emperor... 10 years old, winner of the Boonta Eve Open... the Only human to ever fly a Pod Racer... right here baby!

Luke looks down the shaft. Takes a step towards it.

Darth Vader: I was wrong... You're not my kid... I don't know whose you are, but you sure ain't mine.

Luke takes a step off the platform, hesitates, then plunges down the shaft.

Darth Vader looks down after him.

Darth Vader: And get a haircut!

Tasty ice cream or yogurt or whatever

Listen,

I don't know if I have talked at all about Hana's favorite dessert... Red Mango. I'm sure there is more than one of them in the greater Salt Lake area, but the one we go to is by the Target in the Fort Union area. It is very very very tasty. They just introduced their 4th flavor; they have original, green tea, pomegranate, and the new tangomonium. Hana likes the pomegranate, but I like the original, straight up with no mix-ins. It is quite refrshing. Last night we went there and ran into my dad's long time best friend Jim. He was there picking up something for his wife... what a great guy. Anyway, after I had to share mine with Evan (I swear he ate half of it) I had to go back for seconds. It is that good. Hana informed me that a large is only 9 points. I'd give them a 10...

In other news, I have been playing a lot of Star Wars Battlefront 2 on my computer recently. It is a sweet game where you get to play as a variety of characters and run around and shoot the bad guys (or good guys, thus appropriate). I really enjoy this game and feel it is a great stress reliever. Hana thinks it is too violent to play with Brady since all you do is run around and shoot people. I informed her that you also shoot droids, wookies, and other aliens... this recieved one of her patented eye rolls. Because of this, Brady and I only play when she isn't home. (Hana, if you are reading this, I am just kidding about only playing this game with Brady when you are not home... we play when you are home too.)

Lastly, Hana and I are rewatching (or in some cases watching for the first time) the old Terminator trilogy. The first one kinda sucked, and I did not need to see Gov. Schwartze...'s (you know who I am talking about) bare backside, nor did I need to see it again in the second one. I swear, if I have to see it again in number 3 I am out. I want to see the new Terminator movie, but I wanted to remember what happened in the previous movies just in case that it is important... it probably isn't, but I'd hate to spend money to see the new one and not get it. I am weird like that. I still think Arnold's best work was in Twins.

That is all.

Penguins Win!!!

Listen,
What an amazing final that was... game 7 went down to the final seconds.
Congratulations Penguins!!!

Lord Stanley, Playoff Beards, and Softball

Listen,

I've got a lot to say today... here we go

Topic 1
The Stanley Cup Finals have been amazing thus far. If you are not a hockey fan now would be a great time to start (Hana, I am talking to you). This year is a rematch of last year’s final between the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins. If you’ve been following me long enough, you know that I am a Penguins fan. Right now they have 2 of the top 3 players in the league, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The craziest part about how amazingly awesome these 2 player are, is that Crosby (man I love that name) won’t turn 22 until August and Malkin will turn 23 in July! Insane I tell you… Last year Detroit won the best of seven series in six games. Now the series is tied at 2 and game 5 is Saturday night. Anyone interested in watching give me a call. If you haven’t watched a game before let me invite you over to see your first. You will not be disappointed. You may think I am joking, but I am serious. We can get some Wing Coop and enjoy a great game. Speaking of Wing Coop, they deserve a post of their own… maybe another time. Here are some action shots of the superstars:

Topic 2
One of my favorite NHL playoff traditions is the growing of playoff beards. I don’t know when or why this started, but I think it’s great. I think it is so great that I decided to grow one of my own. This decision was further aided when I did not shave the day of Game 3 of the Finals. The Penguins were down 2 to zero in the series. After they won game 3, I decided I better not risk shaving again until they lose. It seemed to work well because they won game 4 too. If they win the next 2 games in a row then I may be stuck with the beard until the season starts again in October. There is another great reason to come over Saturday for game 5; you can see my awesome facial hair. I really have no business trying to grow facial hair. Seriously, it looks pretty (really) lame, but I need to help the Penguins win the cup any way I can and if not shaving will help then by gum, I will not shave. By the way, did I tell you that Hana is the biggest Red Wings fan in Utah as of last night?

Topic 3
Ward softball started up last night. This is the one ward sport that I like to play. I used to be a decent baseball player… when I was 12. Two separated shoulders later and nearly 20 years later and I am pretty lousy. I wouldn’t say I am bad, I am just not great. Anyway, when they announced the games a few weeks ago, I made the comment that I played catcher in little league and liked to trash talk. After the meeting, one of the guys came up and told me that the team needed a catcher and wanted me to play. Going into last night’s game, I was just worried about throwing the ball back to the pitcher without making him chase it around too much. We had an awesome game… against my parents’ ward no less. We won 37 to 9. Yes, 37 to 9. It would have been even more fun if I had known anyone playing my parents’ ward team, but I didn’t. We had just decided to play one more inning (just to run up the score) when the automatic sprinklers came on in left field, thus putting an end to the slaughter. I finished the game 2 for 5 and more importantly managed to avoid making a complete fool of myself throwing the ball back to the pitcher. By the end of the game I actually had gained a bit of confidence… I’d forgotten what that feels like. Ever since messing up my shoulders in high school, throwing a ball has never been the same. The best part is that I don’t even feel sore this morning… Thanks Aleve!

Listen,

My parents bought Brady the absolute coolest toy for his birthday. It’s a Star Wars Galactic Heroes Millennium Falcon. I will not go on and on and on about all the cool features and sounds and everything. You just have to see it to really appreciate how freaking awesome this toy is. What makes it even better is that he absolutely loves it. I thought his love of Star Wars and Star Wars Toys was about at peak possible level… This has taken it to a whole new level.

This got me to thinking. What was the coolest toy I had growing up? What is the coolest toy you ever remember playing with? I can remember several toys that I had growing up that were really cool. Here is a list (in no particular order) of some of the coolest and most fun toys I remember having as a kid:

1. Transformers – especially Optimus Prime and the set of construction vehicles that joined together to form 1 really bid guy. Jeff and I each had some dinosaur transformers that were pretty sweet too.

2. Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. I could never have too many of them.

3. Robotix - if you don’t know what these are I am sorry

4. M.U.S.C.L.E. men

5. Star Wars Toys in general, but specifically my MircoWorld Hoth and Bespin Sets

6. Atari 2600 – Favorite games: Maze Craze, Missile Command, Joust, and Asteroids

7. My Boglin

8. He-Man and the Castle Greyskull

9. Thundercats action figures.
I know wht you are all thinking, "What a spoiled kid!"

I worked dang hard for all those toys. I deserved each and every one of them.

Thanks mom and dad for being so awesome.

Some holidays...

Listen,
Every once and a while we have these things called holidays. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Just in case, let me give enlighten you. They (meaning other people) have set aside certain days each year where we are to celebrate, commemorate, or remember a certain event, person or groups of people person. Not to over-generalize, but it seems like holidays fit into one or five basic categories:

1: Major holidays. These are the big ones… Like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day where most people get the day off of work and you have family events or gatherings. People tend to have family traditions associated with these Major Holidays. There are words associated with these major holidays. For example if I say “Turkey” you think of Manny Ramirez… I mean you think of thanksgiving. If I say “Fireworks” you think of Independence Day. And lastly, if I say “Presents,” you automatically think of Hayley. Major holidays are a big deal. These should not be taken lightly.

2. Kind-of-major holidays. These are the kind of holidays that you get out of school for when you are a kid. If you are an adult and have a really good job you get to take the day off for these too. (Note: I do not get these off at my job) One these holidays the banks are closed and so are government offices. They are recognized as federal holidays, but most people still have to work them. These are days like Presidents Day, Human Rights Day, and Veterans Day. I am going to group Easter in with these because it’s a “religious holiday” and kids usually get spring break that coincides with Easter. When I worked at Albertson’s we had to work Easter Sunday (jerks). Maybe it belongs in the next category.

3. Minor holidays. These are days that are “special,” but I have a hard time considering them holidays if you don’t get out of school or work (or church for that matter). These are like Halloween, Valentines Day, Super Bowl Sunday, and Days 1 and 2 of the NCAA basketball tournament. These days probably warrant a day off, or the day after them off.

4. Fake holidays. These are just dumb. Examples include Flag Day, and Arbor Day. Give me a freaking break. These “holidays” can pass without even realizing they happen. I will give a prize for the first person who can tell us when these “holidays” occur. I am serious, I don’t know what the prize is yet, but you will get a prize.

5. Stupid holidays. These include holidays that are too stupid to be considered fake holidays. These include Earth Day, Groundhog Day, April Fools Day, and St. Patrick’s Day. Any holiday that includes pinching someone for not wearing green is really really really really stupid. (And yes spell checker program, I did mean to say “really” 4 times)

By know you are probably thinking something to the effect of, “Bob… what the hell? Why on Earth are you talking about holidays?”

It is because it’s Mothers Day on Sunday, duh. (Should “duh” have question marks after it?) I was trying to figure out where Mothers Day and Fathers Day fit. Mothers Day seems to be a bigger deal than Fathers Day, but let’s face it, there would be no mothers without a father. I’m not saying that moms don’t deserve more credit, but to quote my sister-in-law Kristen, “I’m just sayin’…”

I want to wish all the moms our there a happy Mothers Day on Sunday. Except for crappy moms… you can have a crappy day or all I care… you know who you are…

I especially want to wish the 2 most important moms in my life a particularly great day and say thank you for everything you do.

To Hana: You are amazing and I honestly don’t know where I would be today without you. I cannot express how blessed the boys and I are to have you. Thank you for putting up with us and our manliness.

To my mom: As a parent now myself, I just wonder how on earth you did it. With 3 crazy boys and 1 nasty little girl (yes you Hay) you made it all work. I admire your strength and patience. You truly are incredible.

Go hug your mom. You would suck even more than you do without her.

Busted...

Listen,

So I know that baseball is not on everyone’s list of things they care about, but it is on mine so here you go.

So, if you know me, you know that I am a Dodgers’ Fan. I’m not sure when it all began, but I can never remember a time in my life that I was not a fan of the Dodgers. Most likely, it’s a result of my dad’s love of the Dodgers. Some people may not even recognize me without my Dodgers hat on. Go figure…

Anyway, last fall I posted about the Dodgers making a trade to get Manny Ramirez. For those who don’t know, many people feel that he may be the greatest hitter of this era. He hits for power and average. He has a reputation of being a little lazy and times, but people put up with it for the most part because he is just so freaking good.

So, the Dodgers got him and he led them to the playoffs where he was amazing. He was hitting homeruns like a machine and really seemed to provide a much needed spark to the team. The fans loved him, the players loved him… life seemed so good.

This summer he signed a new contract to make something in the neighborhood of $22 million a year and many Dodgers fans were happy to have him securely on the team.

The Dodgers have been playing amazingly well so far this season. In fact, they just broke the record for most consecutive home wins to start a season. The record had previously been held by the Detroit Tigers who set the record in 1911… yes, you read that correctly 1911. The record had stood for nearly 100 years and my Dodgers just broke it. As I read this story on ESPN.com this morning I was almost giddy with dreams of World Series Champs and all that. Then, just before 11 o’clock I get a text from my sister-in-law Mandy telling me to check out ESPN.com…

It was like a sucker punch to the gut… a slap in the face… a kick to the groin…

Manny Tests Positive

MLB suspends Manny Ramirez 50 games for drug violation

Give me a freaking break for crying out loud…

Why do I love sports?

Why do I even care?

Why?

...

...

Why?

Have you hear of Pandora.com

Listen,
If you have not heard of Pandora.com you defiantly need to check it out. You go and enter your favorite song or band and it sets up play lists with music that is similar to it.

It is really cool and free. Anyone who listens to music should give it a try.

I typed in one of my favorite bands, Death Cab for Cutie, and it proceeded to play 4 songs in a row that I really like, one of which was from a band I had never listened to, but really liked.

Try it, you'll like it...

You are welcome

Weekend Update...

Listen,

Things have been kinda hectic 'round the household the past few weeks... Lots of projects to keep us occupied.

First off, we purchased a wood swingset/clubhouse/child entertainer from Toys-R-Us a few weeks back. It came in 4 large boxes each full of unlabeled/unmarked wood. Not to mention 4 gallon-sized bags full of screws, bolts, and assorted hardware. It took Hana and me 3 hours to sort and label all the pieces. This inloved measuring each piece and matching it up with measurements and scaled pictures in the instructions. Amazingly enough we only mislabeled 2 pieces which were only different by 1/2 inche in width and 1/4 inch in thickness, so even though they ended up in the wrong spots, they still worked just fine thank you very much... With the help of my dad the 3 of us finished a week ago Satuday (the 18th I believe.) It took the better part of 2 Saturdays and a few hours here and there throughout the week to get it done. Brady loves it and has lots of fun playing on it. I would post pictures, but I am at work and have no access to them. I'll try to get some on here soon... maybe

Second, I found out in early March that my department at RxAmerica was going to be dissolved and incorperated into CVS/Caremark. That meant that my job was no longer going to exist. Forntunatly, most of the other departments are being incorperated into CVS/Caremark. They (the big wigs from CVS/Caremark) told us that we would have the opportunity to apply with other departments and that we would be given "priority" to those posistions that were or would be available. Fortuneatly for me, I found out last week that I would be joinging the Clinical Operations Department doing essentially what I do now. Good news for me... bad news for those of you who enjoyed my blog more when I worked in a retail pharmacy

Third, we had a break in our sprinkler line right after the main sprinker valve. We hired Hana's step-nephew Andrew to dig down and fix it. He had to dig a big freakin' hole about 4 feet deep and 4 feet wide to get down there and replace the valve and pipes. He worked very quickly and was reasonable in his price... if anyone needs any help with sprinkler repairs, I would recommend him to help. Let me know and I can get you his contact information.

Forth, It was my little sisters birthday yesterday... Coming up with a gift idea for the person who literally has EVERYTHING is not an easy task. Hopefully, she has fun painting some sort of ceramic thing at Color me Mine. Happy freakin' Birthday Hay....

I was going to apologize for the length of the post, but why should I? It my damn blog... you should be apologizing to me if you got bored...

A whole box of clones...

Listen,

I just wanted to share a funny/sad story from yesterday. My apologies in advance to Misty if this is to boring for you...

Many of you know about my wife's obsession with Gymboree. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Gymboree, it is an over-prices kids clothing store at the mall. I remember when Hana was pregnant with Brady, we used to go in and she would stare longingly at the clothes, wishing we could dress our new baby in such cute, 0ver-prices outfits. Well, we found out that if you shop "right" at Gymboree, you can actually get a lot of clothes for a pretty good price using their Gymbucks program. I will not go into detail, but it is a promotion where if you spend so much money during a certain time period you get coupons for $25 off a $50 purchase. Anyway, last week was time to redeem our Gymbucks. This means Hana spends the week prior to the big day going through the kids clothes, assessing needs and so forth. She then creates a cart on the website and at exactly Midnight (eastern time) she quickly enters in the coupon codes and a few days later, we get a big box of clothes delivered right to our doorstep.

Yesterday our box of clothes arrived. Hana brought the box inside and Brady asked what it was. She told him it was a whole box of clothes. She was a little bit suprised by his reaction as he started jumping up and down hugging her saying things like, "I am so excited, hurry hurry open it!" and "this is the best day ever thank you, thank you!" She got the scissors and opened the box. Brady reached into the box and pulled out some clothes, tossed them aside, and pulled out more clothes. After emptying the box, he looked up at her with a worried look and asked, "where are all the clones?" He thought she said it was a whole box of clones to add to his Star Wars Collection. She tried to explain that it was a box of clothes, not clones. He was heart broken. The immense joy and excitement of getting a whole box of clones came crashing down with one fatal swoop.

Luckily, Hana had bought a pair of pyjamas with a glow-in-the-dark stegasaurus on them, which helped heal his wounds, if only a little.

With his birthday coming up, I guess I know what to get him...

My sister is getting what?!?

Listen,
To me, my little sister will always be 12 years old. I guess its because that is how old she was when I left on my mission. I don't think that makes any sense, but I guess having spent those 2 years away just froze her at that age in my mind. My parents will always be in their early 40s, I guess for the same reason.

I remember that when I was younger my dad used to lie about his age. I was probably 8 to 12 years old when he would tell people he was 27. He would have actually been in his mid to late 30s I believe. I remember being a little excited about turning 27 because if he lied about being 27 there must be something great about it. I turned 27 in 2005. That is the year that I graduated from pharmacy school and Brady was born... pretty good year I guess.

Anyway, back to the point of this post. Last week, my little sister announced that she is officially engaged and will be getting married this summer. This was pretty shocking news to me. Not that I felt she would never get married, I always knew she would, she's really quite an amazing person. She has been dating her now-fiancee Tim for a few months and he seems to be a good guy who will treat her the way she deserves and all that, it is just hard to believe that my little baby sister, who will forever be 12 in my mind, is getting married...

I went through similar feelings when she got her drivers license, graduated high school, and graduated from college. It just seems impossible that,
1. She is old enough to be doing all these "grown-up things"
2. That I am old enough for her to be old enough to be doing all these "grown-up things."

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a very close, special relationship with my sister. An outsider may think that I don't like her, or even despise her cause I give her so much crap all the time. But I do it out of love, this sounds weird I know, but I give her a hard time because I love and care about her so much. If I didn't care, I would just treat her like anyone else and ignore her. You can ask Hana, the more I love a person the more of a jerk I seem to be to them. If I treat you really nice and respectful-like then you can bet that:
1. I don't like you
2. I am uncomfortable around you (see number 1)
3. I am patronizing you (see number 1)
4. I don't know you (see number 2).

I am really excited for Hay and Tim.
I guess that's all I have for now

I need my monster...

Listen,

Over the weekend Hana and I took the boys to a book store for a story time book reading thing. We normally don't "do" things like this, but the story being read was by Hana's brother's wife Amanda. (I guess saying my sister-in-law would be quicker/appropriate). She was down from Washington (state) and arranged the whole thing. Anyway, shewrote a children's book that was published and released last week. Its titled "I Need My Monster." I just wanted to give a quick congratulations to her on her great story. Brady carries it with him everywhere he goes and begs people to read it to him. Since buying it he has read it (had it read to him) like 10 times. Its a fun story and the illustrations are amazing.

So congratulations Amanda. I don't think you read my blog, but if you do.... thanks for the great story.

Here's the link to it on Amazon

Meat is very good

Listen,
Some of you are familiar with my enjoyment of sports and sports uniforms. There is a blog that I enjoy reading called Uniwatch. The guy who writes it occasionally writes for ESPN.com as well.

He recently wrote a fun piece about meat. Its a March Madness bracket style meat playoff. I enjoy his writting style and this article was pretty amusing.

To read it click here.

And for your enjoyment I have included picutres below of some of my favorite meats: