The adventures of Naughty Wilson and Crazy Lawrence

A couple nights ago I resumed telling the boys bedtime stories. I created this character much like Curious George. A monkey that always seems to get into trouble. After describing the character to the boys and just before announcing his name, Jonas filled in the gap and said, "Naughty Wilson". I laughed cause it fit just perfect.


Then the next day I had to give Naughty a friend, so I added "Crazy Lawrence" to the stories. Here's a picture of the two guys giving their best Naughty Wilson and Crazy Lawrence impression.

From Family

This picture was shot by their cousin Melissa while waiting to watch a show on the Disney Cruise.

Merry Christmas from the Gridleys

We wish you and your family a merry Christmas. Some highlights this year in our family:

• Gordon
  
  • Making good progress on his English Channel swim training for 2012. Up to 12.5 miles. (over 6 hours of swimming)
  
  
  • Still enjoying working with the Scouts.
  
  
  • Established an egg production enterprise for our home. 5 egg laying hens in their own coop in the back yard.


• Cathi
  
  • Ran the Boston Marathon last spring. What a fun trip that was!
  
  
  • Completed her 13th marathon this year (26 total), with two of those being Boston Qualifying time marathons.
  
  
  • Now is serving in her favorite calling so far - Primary Music Chorister.


• Austin
  
  • Is still improving in Table Tennis and won the gold medal in the Class A division at the 2009 Utah Summer Games. Also gold in the 17 & under division.
  
  
  • Busy with Deacons and scouts and earned his Life Rank. Now for the Eagle project!


• Jacob
  
  • Ran in two half-marathons this year and plans to run a marathon next year.
  
  
  • Is doing very well in scouts and is very close to completing his First Class.
  
  
  • Learning how to play the Base.


• Lucy
  
  • Preparing to participate in this summer’s Wizard of Oz/Wicked musical. She's a natural performer.
  
  
  • Enjoys her Activity Day events.
  
  
  • Started taking piano lessons and did fantastic in her Christmas recital.


• Jonas
  
  • Quite a good reader in the 2nd grade.
  
  
  • Such a loving and kind big brother to his 3 younger brothers.


• Isaac
  
  • Very energetic and loves being in kindergarten.
  
  
  • Tall for his age, Jonas and Isaac were on the same soccer team this fall and everyone thought they were twins.
  
  
  • A whiz on the computer, and a two-time farkle tournament champion.


• Sam
  
  • Just watch, this boy is going to be a football star. He's a tank. He’s only five pounds away from both Isaac and Jonas.
  
  
  • Very smart boy, he loves "school". He meets twice a week for playgroup where they learn stuff and have fun.


• Oliver
  
  • Loves playing with his hair, mom's hair. He loves hair.
  
  
  • Learning to talk so well, it’s funny all the new phrases he’s picked up. (And some other ones that aren’t so funny)

Bah! Humbug!

With all the Christmas music on the radio which I usually enjoy, there are a handful that make me want to throw up in my mouth. There are three presets on my car radio with Christmas music-playing stations. This morning I heard #2 from the list below, changed the station to one of the other ones and they were playing it too! So I changed the station to the last remaining station and they were in commercial, when the commercial finished, guess what they started to play? You got it, #2! I wanted to go #2! What is it with you people who like these songs! Cause if nobody liked them, they wouldn't get played!

I'm about ready to throw in the towel listening to the radio, and just play my mp3 the rest of the month!

Gords' Most hated Christmas songs in order of suckitude:
(Links provided in case you need to build up some rage for a new bench press max, or something)

1. Santa Baby
   Santa Baby - Madonna
   
   What's up with this girl who sings in baby talk trying to be sexy. It's simply annoying! If I was Santa and some airhead chic sang that song to me I'd give a good beating for Christmas.


2. Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas time
   Wonderful Christmastime - Paul...
   
   Musically and lyrically, this is one of the most retarded songs ever.


3. My Grownup Christmas Wish
   Grown Up Christmas List - Ayla...
   
   One can only handle so much cheese! What! You trying to make me cry with all the sentimism? Give me a break! Oh, by the way, props for world peace.

This is why I go to the Theater!

Since my last encounter with the theater which didn't go so well, I decided to take Cathi to The Blind Side which came out this week. I liked it. It wasn't far fetched, funny and inspiring. Cathi and I both enjoyed it thoroughly and hope that Sandra Bullock wins an Oscar for her performance in this film. Definitely a must see!

Septoplasty - it's done!

So this morning I got up and went with Cathi to the surgical center in Bountiful to get my polyps removed and my septum corrected. Was there waiting for about 2 hours before finally getting in there. Cathi and I talked and flirted in the prep room for a good 45 minutes. It was fun. They put the IV in and it was my first time with an IV. Not a big deal at all.

When the anesthesiologist got there and explained everything he injected the anesthetic into my IV and I was gone in less than 10 seconds. I don't remember a single thing. Next thing I remember someone asked me for a pain scale. "7" I said and they gave me something and it went down to about a 5.

It took me a good 3 hours after initially waking up to get to where I wasn't dizzy. Right now I'm feeling fine except I can't breathe through my nose, but that isn't something I'm used to anyway. Just trying to control the bleeding. I should be able to breathe through my nose in a couple days.

The kids have been so loving and Cathi has been such a great nurse! I'm sure blessed to have such a great support system.

This is why I redbox

Last night I sacrificed my evening swim to watch the new Star Trek movie. I must be really picky cause I think this movie sucked. The plot and story line was pretty good compared to previous Star Trek movies. But the acting (or rather than directing) sucked.

The characters were all exaggerated. Jim Kirk was a total horndog who had a big head and no real skills except a big mouth. Bones was a complete whiner.

The two characters that weren't completely annoying were the young Spock and Scotty.

I'm so glad I didn't fork over more than $1 to watch this film. What a waste of time. I feel bad for missing my swim.

Square Trade - concluding failure

So I finally have an update to my concluded dealings with square trade. Here's the background.

UPDATE: The technician reviewing the Garmin claimed that the battery was left in too long and that the repair wasn't covered.

My Response to that conclusion: It wasn't like I left the batteries in there for years and left it in a drawer somewhere. I used this thing several times each week and it had a normal flow of new batteries going in. To me if a normal battery leaks and the product fails because of that, is that the product that failed? Probably not. OK I see the point, However.... what happened to going the extra mile. I mean seriously, the repair would cost about a penny, and here's how...

Take a paperclip, straighten it out, and then coil it up so it looks like a battery terminal, then solder it to the battery terminal backing. I did this (except the soldering) before I sent it in and the Garmin was working, but since I made a big stink about it, figured the "professional" should do it, since I paid for the coverage. So I sent it in two weeks ago, and just today was told the technician made his judgment.

So it looks like this actually goes back to the inability of square trade to make a tiny little fix even though they claim it's outside they're responsibility. This 5 cent "extra mile" has the potential to make customers happy, but that's not the goal. It's the small print and the financial risk that square trade wants to protect itself from.

Guess I'll just have to do it myself. Next time, scrap the warranty since they're concern is more about saving a few pennies, than making the customer happy.