Zoo, Christmas, and More...

This was an amazing week.

Last Friday, the 19th, Bon and I took Reese to the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights. We are big fans of being diligent about spending solo time with each of our kids moving forward, and this was Reese's first opp. Mamaw Beth stayed with the TruDawg for the evening, we had an amazing time!

Christmas was unbelievable, have a GREAT clip of Reese I will try and get up here on the blog. I am very much looking forward to the addition of the Blackberry Storm to make video and photo uploading a lot more simple...

Expect some big news regarding 2009 to be posted here on the Stadium early next week...






What an amazing week with the family...

You wanted more pics, you got 'em...

Learning to fail...

Learning how to fail again, sometimes, is not a bad thing necessarily...

I did not pass my Series 7 exam today, will have to go get it again in a few months.

OK, allow me to elaborate, and vent/whine...

I took 21 practice exams with my study software, on the last five exams I averaged an 83, so needless to say I was feeling pretty good. But, alas, the material on the exam was no where near the same as the practice exams, so I went down in a blaze of glory. You know what the worse part is, the time I have not been able to spend with Bon and the kids, I cannot get it back and it was clearly not well spent...

I will put this on the back burner, and address it again in a few months, there will be some other things that need focus the next few months.

On to more important matters, tha fam is rockin'

Gizmo is awesome, and has become quite fond of having her picture taken, I will post some new ones tomorrow.

Tru-dawg is now in the crib, in our room, as he has outgrown the bassinet. Actually, he had spent the last week or so sleeping in the swing every night due to a little congestion/cough he was knocking out. He had his 2 month appt at the doc last Thursday, and had grown 2 1/2 inches in a month! He is now at just over two feet long, and weighed in at 10lbs and 9ozs. He is one chill baby, if he is not hungry, he pretty much just hangs out and laughs at the three of us. His "voice" is starting to come out too, making some funny noises that are not cries.

Bon, as always, is amazing, she was/is so supportive of all of the "projects" I want to tackle, and basically was a single Mom for the last week as I studied.

Peace out...

Great Time

Need a Blackberry?

My gently used silver Blackberry 8830 can be had for $125, post a comment on the blog here or shoot me an email at furniss13@gmail.com if interested. I will be posting on Ebay in a few days.

Link HERE

Overview

The BlackBerry® 8830 World Edition smartphone is the stylish way to get things done. It’s the first CDMA BlackBerry smartphone capable of roaming globally on GSM®/GPRS networks*. So you can travel the world with full mobile voice and data coverage, without having to change smartphones, phone numbers or email addresses.

The BlackBerry 8830 World Edition gives you phone, email, organizer, web browsing and instant messaging. And then it goes a step further, providing GPS*, BlackBerry® Maps, a media player for your video clips and music, and expandable memory to ensure you’ve got the room you need for your media files.

Did Someone Leak Treasury 4.5% Mortgage 'Plan'?

It's truly amazing to me that a lobbyist who really needs something from the government would leak just the possibility of that something to the media, when that leakage would only harm their industry. Of course, I'm talking about the Treasury proposal/possibility/plan to buy mortgage debt at a rate that would allow lenders to offer buyers a 4.5 percent interest rate on the 30-year fixed.

Read more about it HERE

Definition of Lame Duck...

Now here is an idea..

CONVERT PAULSON'S LAST $350 BILLION INTO TAX HOLIDAY, SAYS U.S. CONGRESSMAN

Press Release : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 28, 2008

Convert Paulson’s Last $350 Billion

into Tax Holiday, says U.S. Congressman

"Billions of Dollars for Taxpayers, but Not One More Penny for Executive Bailouts"

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As millions of Americans are hoping to maximize their holiday shopping budgets on today's Black Friday bargains, one U.S. Congressman is fighting to prevent more outrageous spending sprees by Washington with taxpayer dollars going to executive cronies.

With $350 billion of the $700 billion bailout still available to Paulson pending Congressional approval, a conservative Texas lawmaker is proposing to put that money towards a tax holiday from both personal income tax and FICA tax for Americans during January and February of 2009.

He stated, "By instating a temporary tax holiday, we could electrify the American economy and provide overwhelming relief to taxpayers, all for less than the cost of the current failed Paulson-Pelosi bailout system."

Read more about it HERE

Scary...

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security

By Spencer S. Hsu and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 1, 2008; A01

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.

But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.

The Pentagon's plan calls for three rapid-reaction forces to be ready for emergency response by September 2011. The first 4,700-person unit, built around an active-duty combat brigade based at Fort Stewart, Ga., was available as of Oct. 1, said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of the U.S. Northern Command.

Read more HERE

Happy December!

(Check out this sweet action shot of Jum)

Well, I had the privilege of watching Notre Dame and the Bears get kicked in the head this weekend...

Enjoyed Turkey Day with some of Bon's family in Frankfort...

Bon knocked out 98% of the Christmas shopping on Black Friday! She is awesome, stayed well within budget, got some great stuff, and Truett went along for the ride, like a rockstar...

We have a new bed, from Ikea, the story goes like this. We were gifted a new mattress, decided to pass our bed and mattress on to Beth for her new place. We tried to use Bon's old water bed frame, but that did not work out so well. So, on Friday night, I walk into Ikea at 8:57 to try and pick up a new bed. The elderly greeters at the door tell me, we close in 3 minutes, I said, "Uh, OK, this is what I need," they proceed to send me to the upper most quatrant of the megaplex, where the lady there tells me, "Those are right up front, near the checkout."

Awesome

So I run down, get what I need thanks to some helpful Ikea "co-workers", and exit the parking lot at 9:32pm.

We absolutely love the bed, it is much more functional for Reese to jump in and out of!

The Christmas tree went up last night, Reese absolutely loves the decorations.

Been studying for the Series 7, trying to get right...

Peace out

Photo Time

Reese and I walking at the pumpkin farm

TruDawg Weighs in at...

8lbs 5ozs, five weeks old, still has huge mitts for hands, built like his Uncle Jase right now...

New Beginnings

I apologize for the delay, things have been a little hectic.

First of all, let me address the election. I clearly disagree with the policies of the President-elect, but this is still the greatest country in the world. I hope he keeps it forefront in his mind that 50 million people did not think he was the right choice for President. I will pray for him, disagree with him, and start planning my own run for public office in 2010...

I spent this past weekend with my bro SBraine in Richmond. It was an honor to be there as he was baptized on Sunday afternoon. He has an amazing testimony, and I know God is going to use him and his infectious personality to spread the love of Christ. It is an amazingly humble feeling to see Christ work on someone you care about, and watch them publicly commit their heart and life to serving Jesus Christ. I am so proud of you Steven, your impact on my life is more than you may ever fully realize.

There has been some great stuff happening behind the scenes for us that I cannot quite share publicly yet, but stay tuned, God is definitely at work in the Furniss house!

Truett has his one month appointment today, we are taking bets on his weight

Happy Election Day

God's will be done...

This is actually hillarious!

I am trying really hard...

...to not turn the Heatstadium blog into a total crapfest on Obama, but this video was too good to pass up

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am 32 today, and got the best card from Reese, a Diego card for a 3 year-old, Bon wrote a 2nd over top the 3, and it had a sheet of Diego stickers inside!

Trick or Treat will be a blast tonight!

My favorite Halloween song...

What an afternoon!

I just voted, picked up some more McCain-Palin yard signs for people at work, and filled my gas tank for $17.75!

Props to $$$

I have to send a quick shot out to my older brother, S-Braine, or as I refer to him, $$$

He was sent the book, "The Shack" by a random person. We still don't know where it came from, and it has changed his life. (Find out more info on the book HERE)

As he read it, things started to make sense and he felt a connection to Christ growing. We had an amazing conversation afterwards, and I am so very proud of him. He has been thru more than his fair share of crap, and to finally come to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior is an amazing journey.

He even found a "baby 4 Corners" in Richmond and was able to attend there this past Sunday.

Praise God for a sweet addition to the family of Christ Followers!

How many warnings do we need?

Our nation and the way of it will change dramatically if this man is elected President

I love Mike Singletary!

I couldn't pass this up

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I chuckled.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I chuckled as he had given away his political preference.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama spreading the wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside.
The server angrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the server inside as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was very grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he had not earned, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn - even though the actual homeless recipient needed the money more it appeared.

I guess spreading the wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.

Seriously?

Bonuses in my industry separate the studs from the duds, this is unreal..

Barney Frank Wants To Zero Out Bonuses

John Carney | Oct 22, 08 2:35 PM

Barney Frank wants to stiffen limits on Wall Street compensation, calling for a ban on bonuses that would apply to “all firms.”

"There should be a moratorium on bonuses," Frank said yesterday, according to Bloomberg. "They have a negative incentive effect because they are the ones that say if you take a risk and it pays off you get a big bonus...and if it causes losses...you don't lose anything."

The Congressman’s remarks go much further than anything enacted so far. The current rules, included in the bailout legislation, would increase the tax burden for companies receiving government aid that pay more than $500,000 to top executives and would require board’s to consider whether an executives compensation package encourages excess risk.

Frank seems to be calling for an outright ban on bonuses to anyone, not just top executives. This would devastate Wall Street, where most of the annual compensation is paid out in bonuses. It would also create economic havoc in New York, where the state and city governments and local businesses are already preparing to get hit from much lower bonuses.

This is most likely just political posturing. A general bonus moratorium would turn Wall Street inside out. Very quickly, most likely, banks would simply structure pay to work on much higher salary levels to avoid any such rules.

Trophy for 2nd place, huh?

One of the hot buttons for me was nailed in an article in the WSJ yesterday, involving trophies. In my opinion, a huge portion of the attitude problems in our society come from an enormous sense of entitlement people get growing up. They feel like they deserve something for nothing, no need to earn it.

I tell Bon when Reese and Tru get trophies for participating I will throw them out, and she says "You will not, that is ridiculous!" While she agrees with my position, she thinks throwing out trophies they may be given is a little over the top.

There is nothing wrong with losing, it builds character, I won 7 varsity football games in 4 seasons, and kids need to learn that they need to pick themselves up and do better to strive to win. Rewarding mediocrity does not tend to generate a passion to succeed.

The Wall Street Journal article is HERE

Board #2

Mad props go out to the Godfather, who has given me an opportunity to serve on a second board of directors, this one for an amazing new company called Filleo. You will now find a link to Filleo, and the other organization, the Greater Cinti Chrysalis Community, on the left hand side of the stadium.

Filleo has an awesome founder, and let me give you a brief summary. (It will not do it justice) Filleo has been created to offer t-shirts with hip designs via web commerce, sounds pretty common right, but these shirts are created by reputable designers and for every shirt purchased thru the site, another shirt is donated to unfortunate children around the world! It sounds so simple, yet profound, if you are going to buy a "hip t-shirt", why not do it thru an organztion that will donate a second shirt to less fortunate kids for the same price!

The vision of the company and founder is said best here:

Our brand name “Filleo” is based upon the Greek word, “phileo,” which means brotherly love, one who promotes virtue, is fond of good, and is a lover of good people. We strive to produce a product that is well liked by those who partner with us in purchasing and donating clothing. We hope to provide hope to the children we serve through the generosity of our customers. We aim to “Fill the World with Love” by using a simple clothing item to open the door to a child’s heart.

So be sure to check back to Filleo in a few days, buy some cool gear, and help children around the world at the same time.

Thanks Godfather, and thank you Jed

Bon is a soldier

She has Reese and Truett at the grocery store right now, just doing
her thing, she is an amazing mother, I am blessed

Wow!

I just filled my gas tank for $25!

Thank you for attending Heat Stadium!

I am shocked, I went back yesterday to review the Heat Stadium traffic on Truett's birthday and am amazed.

We had 185 unique visitors on that day to the blog!

We are humbled by our amazing circle of friends and family, and I may have a new revenue stream, can you say advertising on the stadium...

Also, on the links you will now find Jase's new blog, Slim's Posse, where you can find pics of their family.

Truett and Reese are good...

Where did "Truett" come from?

A lot of people have asked us where we got the name Truett.

Well, there are two sources:

http://www.truettcathy.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truett_McKeehan

Watching Football...(Well sort of)

Truett and I tried to take in some of the Oklahoma-Texas game yesterday, looks like he prefers the pro game...

Dr Again

This morning we went to the Dr. for the second day in a row. They have
been concerned with Truett's jaundice so he had to go back and get
more blood drawn.

The good news is thathe weighed in at 6lbs 6ozs yesterday, and was
back up yo 6lbs 8ozs today.

Last night was better, but still pretty rough, I am napping when Reese
does today!

Have a great weekend everyone

Superpower

Truett has already shown us his superpower, urination thru osmosis.

He has done it three times, and every time he gets hardly anything in his diaper, but manages to soak thru 4 layers underneath himself, it is amazing.

Night #2 at home was pretty rough, I am estimating at about 16 hours sleep since Sunday, and Bon is not much further ahead.

Reese is doing great with her little brother.

Grandma Kathy comes in to see Tru-dawg today!

We are home

Truett took his time yesterday to prove to them that all of his
"plumbing" worked, but all is good now, we got home last night at
about 6:30 and night 1 was pretty good. Will post more pics later
today.

Truett is born!

Our beatiful son was born at 1:41pm. Truett Adam was 6lbs 13oz and
20.5 inches long.

Mom was amazing, and pushed for 10 minutes!

What an amazing blessing, to quote George Strait, "I saw God today..."

Water Just Broke!

Moving along, perfect timing on epidural

Epidural is in

Contractions are getting pretty intense, epidural is in place, Bon is a warrior!

Progress

Bon is moving right along, nurses are predicting a late afternoon,
early evening arrival, stay tuned!

Sleeping

Bon is asleep now, baby is doing great

Good news

Bon has actually made some progress on her own! She is dilated about
2cm on her own, so they are going to go ahead and go with Pitocin
(spelling?)

Stay tuned...

Point of Destination

We are in the birthing suite, getting ready to get the party started,
I am a little anxious, not going to lie...

It Begins

We are up and at 'em getting ready to head to the hospital.

Is it a coincidence that the Bears had a blowout win yesterday in
honor of our new baby? I don't think so...

Rock on Sarah

Sarah Baracuda started shaky, but finished out pretty strong. My beefs are that she seemed really nervous early, and missed a couple of huge opportunities in my opinion to bury some serious schmak!

She could have referred to the legislation that created predatory lending, but absolutely loved the personal responsibility comment, preach that over and over! The Biden rhetoric after that is simply not true when you reference non-partisan fact checking websites.



Big shout out to my man Jon Andrews, who now has his blog linked here to the left of Heat Stadium! There are just certain people you click with, and there is no doubt in my mind that if Jon and I lived in the same city we would be hanging out a TON!

Oh yeah, we are heading to the hospital on Monday morning at 5am to be induced! The laptop will be in tow, so Heat Stadium will have all of the latest updates and pics of the birth. Thanks for the idea Jon and Alison!

We will be a family of 4 in a few days...

Oh, and the video below that was pulled off Youtube, has been replaced, hmm, wonder why it was pulled, check this out:

Still waiting

No baby, lots of stories and pics to share about Ike damage, been a crazy couple of weeks. This political mess is consuming me right now, check out this great video T-Bone sent me:

Never Forget

I was sitting in the Bengals ticket office when Kevin walked in and told us that something had hit the twin towers, and they thought it was two planes. We proceeded to the lounge and watched as the horror unfolded.

Bon was teaching at Lebanon and had to manage the process of delivering this information to 8th graders...

I left work really early and met Bon back at the apartment in Landen. We stayed up the entire night watching coverage, and kept wondering, what is next? How has our world changed?

Mixed emotional bag today, Jum has a deployment ceremony today for his second tour. Would he be in the Army right now if this event doesn't occur?

Thank you to all who make this the most amazing country in the world.

Watching this video takes on a little more meaning after having an opportunity to visit the site in July.

New Pics

I finally downloaded a couple of months worth of pics from the camera last night.

Here are some of my favorites:


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

McCain

OK, his speech didn't move me.

As fired up as I was about Sarah's speech, he brought me back to the same old, blah, blah, blah...

He is a hero, I get it, but some of the ideas he threw out last night still have me scratching my head. (I still have a big issue with his stance on immigration)

The comment about paying people the difference in what they used to make to what they make while getting new job training at a community college? Huh?

So if I get whacked at the Enquirer, decide to go to community college, and take a job at Walmart as a greeter, John McCain wants to pay me the difference!!! Hmmm, sounds like some kind of expanded welfare program.

No thanks John, I think most Americans have the capacity to pick themselves up and turn themselves around without sapping more money from the national debt.

(This is the clip)

I am in political "love"...

Bon and I had the pleasure of watching Sarah's speech last night together, wow.

(In this clip you will see her youngest daughter lick her hand and fix the babies hair, absolutely awesome)

She is not immersed in Washington crap, and spits truth, welcome to the new leader of the Republican party

In case you missed it...

4 Horsemen

Check out this pic from when Jum was home, one of my favorite of all time...

4 Day Weekend

As I wrap up a great 4 day weekend with my girls, I have had some time to really dive into the race again. Sarah Palin has me completely rejuvenated!

I have found my policy clone in Palin. As I continue to research, I can honestly tell you that I agree 100% with all of her stances on issues. I love how she has rebelled against other Republicans, and has truly lived out the McCain "maverick" matra.

While I am Republican by default, I disagree with most of the Democratic platform, I also do not believe in blindly following a party when they are wrong.

Bush's tax cuts were great, but tax cuts only work when you cut spending too! Revolutionary I know. Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, and a Democrat, actually followed that formula and his state is thriving! My girl Sarah has done that as well in Alaska. She has fought big oil, turned money away from Congress when it made no sense, and has completely revitalized ethic reform in her state.

This is fair warning, you are going to see mass Palin love on Heat Stadium and in my day to day.

And while I disagree with all of Obama's policies, I must also give props when it is due. I had already planned to post his "I don't want them punished with a baby" piece when talking about his daughters and the possibility of teen pregnancy. Then I logged on to politico.com, which is a great non-partisan site for news on government matters., and found the following reaction from Obama when news of Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter's pregnancy broke:

Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown reports: At a press avail in Monroe, Mich., Barack Obama on Palin: "Back off these kinds of stories."

"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18 and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."

Well done Barrack.

I just applauded two "lefties" in one post, what the heck is going on...

Celebrate

It is not even my birthday, but I am giddy.

Just when McCain could not have driven me any further away, he does
something like this and totally redeems himself!

Sarah Palin, VP, absolutely love it.

Congrats McCain, you just won yourself an election...

Politics

God Bless America, you cannot make this stuff up.

On Mad Money last night, Jim talked about a stock for a company which delivers natural gas to vehicles. Not really something that there is a big need for right now, but a fairly powerful politician from California owns a nice little chunk of the stock, and there just so happens to be a new grant in legislation there which would put over 200,000 vehicles on the road that run on...wait...no...natural gas!

Read more about it from the WSJ HERE

Also, Beck has some great stuff going. While talking about sporks today, he emphasized the need for us to create a bigger carbon footprint for ourselves since the DNC has gone so "green".

Please, do your part, and visit the link HERE

I love his sarcasm, I think that is why I relate to him so well, I usually leave people with the wrong impression until they really get to know me.

Oh yeah, still no baby...

I have returned...

Since my last post, a lot of great things have happened.:

• Bon and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary
• Jum and Katie were in town
• Daddy B was in town
• Rhino and Andy were in town
• Momma was in town
  
• The Mother-in-law has set up camp in our house
• 7 members of our family showed our Blackjack prowess once again, bringing home money from what I call the "Bank of Belterra"
• Reese is just awesome
• The baby is closer to his/her debut
• We scored a Wii, with Rock Band, I nail Boston's "More Than a Feeling"
  

Now on to an experience this past Sunday that has once again brought me back to a better perspective in life.

It was amazing on many different levels, and will have a lasting impact on the 4 Corners community.

Please watch the video below for a great lesson in grace, following Christ, and unconditional love.


Shall We Dance: Guidance from Greg Hodges on Vimeo.

Jum Countdown Continues

(Mom enjoying the drums playing Rock Band)

As another family festival nears there are rumors of gifts and the use of gift cards that may secure a Wii with Rock Band, stay tuned...

This weekend was a festival. We got a ton accomplished around the house again Saturday.

Sunday I got the chance to serve with a good friend, as he launches a new church. Bon took my spot teaching the 4 and 5 year old's at 4 Corners.

Sunday afternoon we hit the pool with some friends and enjoyed a new pizza brand, Marco's.

Reese bedtime update, she is doing pretty well. She has still had some issues with being upset when she first wakes up sporadically, but improving everyday. Going to sleep has become almost seamless, with us sitting outside her door.

Bon had her 30 week appointment today and everything went extremely well. We asked for a confidence level from our doctor on the gender decision and she gave us the 90% level that we have a boy. (Stats class flashback with confidence level and prob crap)

One week until Jum arrives...

Unreal, check this out:

OK, now for the pics

A new one of Gizmo, the National Anthem scene from the game, and first pitch.

Mega-Week

OK, so much to type about the mega-week I will have to post up pics later.

Here we go:

• Sunday night I headed to Athens to hook up with Guido for the trip, took 3 hours!
• Guido and I leave Athens at about 8am, heading to NYC...
• Momma arrives at the house to hang with my girls while I am gone
• We arrive at the hotel in East Rutherford, NJ, it is wicked sweet, it literally was a suite, nicer than any apartment Bon and I have lived in
• We then begin our navigation of the mass transit system, what a learning experience! It took us 2 hours to go 11 miles on the bus!
• Fast forward a little bit, as we are trying to make our way back to the hotel Monday night and end up at the bus station. We have absolutely no clue which bus to take back, where it leaves from, or anything. We finally end up at little automated ticket buying machines, each of us on one about 15 yards apart. As we are yelling at each other trying to figure out what the heck to do, a middle-aged couple sitting on the bench between us offers help. They proceed to tell us how they had just missed their bus, asked where we were headed and said they would be on the exact same bus! They also gave us detailed information on how to get around better on Tuesday, including quicker routes and detailed directions. I do not throw this around lightly folks, but in my gut I truly believe these two were angels. There were just so many things that had to happen for us to encounter them, and the information they gave us was invaluable, I will never forget their faces.
  
• Tuesday we hit up all of the tourist type spots, less the Statue of Liberty. This included Ground Zero, Wall Street, the Today Show, etc. It was a little warm, and I am estimating that we walked at least 10 miles over the course of the day. We hit up the All-Star Game parade for a little bit, grabbed lunch at an Irish Pub, and then caught a flick in Times Square. Reasoning for watching a movie, which we could have done at home, it was hot, we were tired of walking, we had seen all the tourist stuff, and we had time to kill.
• The game itself was amazing, although I think I enjoyed the pre-game ceremony with all of the Hall of Fame legends more than the game itself. Honestly, the game was a little boring in the beginning, although it moved quickly. For the record, beers were $9.50 a piece...
• I bought an All-Star Game t-shirt just to have a dry shirt on, I had completely sweat through and soaked my original shirt of the day, awesome...
• OK, fast forward again, spent all day Wednesday traveling back to the 'Nati. I missed Bon and Reese so much, although it sounds like they had a good time with Momma. They did a great job on finishing Gizmo's big girl room and getting her ready to move in fully. (More on that later) I will never forget Reese's reaction when she saw me coming down the stairs Wednesday night. She starting jumping straight up and down, swinging her arms everywhere, her face turned red, and she was screaming "Daddy, Daddy, Mommy look Daddy's here!" She then ran over and jumped into my arms, not leaving my side the rest of the night, it was awesome.
  
• Thursday night, Bon and I had tickets to see the live Glenn Beck show, which was simulcast all over the country to 350 movie theaters. Reese was an angel for the sitter, as always and we had a great time. Bon was cracking up a ton, and really enjoyed it. I bet there were 200 people in our theater for the show. One of the coolest things was the people we saw that we knew, but had no idea they were Beck fans! Sure he can be a little over the top sometimes, but when you listen to what is on his heart and the true motivation for his stance on things, it is dead on in my opinion. They are producing it on DVD, can you say Christmas presents for Slim, Momma, Jum, Rhino, T-Bone and Daddy B??? It's nice to know we are not the only sick, twisted freaks...
• Friday night, was the first night for Gizmo in her new bed, in her new room. It was an experience. We put her in like normal, and left the room. After two times of her getting right up and walking out, us putting her back in, we stayed with her and explained she had to stay in bed. She cried quite a bit, and finally Bon laid down next to her and sang her entire library of mental songs, including mostly Christmas carols. I sat on the end of the bed. Eventually she was out cold and we exited the room, almost 90 minutes after the initial drop.
  
• Saturday, I thought it was a little warm in Gizmo's room, so after heading over to a family function of Bon's for a little bit, we returned for me to install a ceiling fan in her room. It actually went pretty well and makes a big difference in the temp in there. That night went much better, I sang "Jesus Loves Me" and laid down with Reese. Bon sat next to the bed on a chair, we were out in prob 20 minutes.
  
• Sunday, part II of the room cooldown, buying and installing a new window shade. This actually went pretty well too, and I am 2 for 2 on handyman work for the weekend with no injuries. Nightime 3, Bon and I both sat just to the side of the bed, it was darker thanks to the shade, so that helped, prob 40 minutes total from initial drop. She has figured out she can get out of bed and come into our room as soon as she wakes up, although every time she has awakened she has cried. No doubt still trying to get accustomed to her new surroundings, which is understandable. However, last night she woke up at 2:30am, and where she would have just fallen back asleep in her crib, she started crying and came into our room. Bon took her back in and stood at the door this time, Reese just wanted to know she was there. So the next two nights we are going with the stand at the door route as we transition to the full walk-out again. My hope is that once we roll back around to Friday, and a full week, she will be feeling more comfortable.
  

Ok, I apologize for the large post, but as you can tell, this was a big week in our house! Thanks for reading, and being a part of our lives.

The Official Announcement

I have tried to keep this under wraps, but it is gaining a ton of momentum!

I have decided to take this election into my own hands.

Check out a news report I was just given an advance copy of. Please pass it on...

Wednesday Updates

• Had a rock solid lunch with Mr. Watts at Qdoba, that place is extremely under-rated
• On the way downtown for some training the Corolla rolled over 170K miles
• In the explosion excitement of yesterday, forgot to mention that I had to get a new battery put in the beast
• Bon picked up a new pick today that I am anxious to read, The Last Patriot, by Brad Thor
• Jum is in the Mojave area of Caly for the next month for training. The good news is that he gets to come home from there
• Slim is building himself a nice little lawn mower empire, way to go bro, I am wicked proud of you, keep it up!
  

Video From Explosion

Here is a news video on the excitement in our subdivision last night. I was on the phone with Slim, driving by, as they were getting ready to shoot this live shot.

Good times...

Fireworks start house fire in our subdivision

Homeowner planned Fourth of July display

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP - A cache of large, powerful fireworks caused a fire and explosions today at a house in the Hunters Trace subdivision here.

The heavy-duty fireworks, which were kept in the garage at a home at the intersection of Huntsman Way and Hamilton-Mason Road, started catching fire at about noon. Some of the fireworks exploded, fire and police officials said.

Bill Hengeli, the homeowner, and his brother-in-law were in the garage when the fireworks began to explode.

"I had my back turned," Hengeli said. "I got trapped in the corner. I ran through the center of it all to get out."

Hengeli, who was wearing a T-shirt with the logo "Extreme Pyro," was known for informal but spectacular fireworks displays in his neighborhood until three years ago, when he moved the display to a friend's farm in Indiana, said Buzz Marshall, a neighbor.

"As soon as I heard it, I knew it wasn't right. God was looking out after him," Marshall said.

Fire and police are investigating. No charges have been filed.

No damage estimate has been released, but the fire was mostly contained to the garage, said township Fire Capt. Jim Coggin.

"They were extremely lucky," Coggin said.

Hengeli said he did nothing wrong.

"They can investigate, but it's not illegal to possess fireworks," he said.

The Enquirer will update this story as information develops.

PB

Reese has developed a new found love of peanut butter. She will sit with an open jar and a spoon and just munch away, it is pretty funny.

Mad props go out to Hartsock today, he delivered the message at church yesterday and was straight money.

Plans continue for Jum's trip home and the NYC trip...

Happy Monday

Major Announcement for Cincinnati Beck Fans We are extremely excited to announce that Glenn Beck will be returning to 55KRC THE Talk Station, starting today! We have heard from so many Glenn Beck fans over the last couple of years and know the passion you have for Glenn Beck in Cincinnati. So sick freaks enjoy Glenn Beck every weekday from 9 till noon on 55KRC The Talk Station!

Draft Review

The Heat did it! They landed Huggs recruit and future stud Michael
Beasley last night. That alone would have been enough to get an A
grade from me, but then they went ahead and added Mario Chalmers from
the Jayhawks National Championship team.

Chalmers and Beasley should both be in the starting line-up, which
will make watching games a ton of fun.

Have a great weekend!

Supreme Court Gun Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday, in a 5-4 ruling, for the first time in U.S. history declared the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution contains a specific right to individual gun ownership and rejected Washington, D.C., handgun restrictions, which were the strictest in the nation.

Read the entire article in the WSJ HERE

Guitar Hero

So, as part of the family time extravaganza we got to rock out to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. This was an absolute blast! I even have some sweet pics of Momma rockin' out on drums that I will post up for you later. Although, the game clearly has flaws since it did not recognize my pitch brilliance on "Wanted Dead or Alive"...

This game will def be the first thing we purchase when the Wii is in house. One of the songs we rocked out to that I actually heard on XM this morning and head-banged to was:



The NBA Draft is tonight, look for my review tomorrow. I hope the Heat select Michael Beasley, for the record...

Two Week Hiatus

After some time away, the Heat Stadium is back, and we are bringing HEAVY news and pics...

First thing first, we have had a ton of great family time over the last two weeks. I think it is safe to say I have myself a Daddy's girl...

Daddy B and Aunt Krys were in town, and we got to hang with Momma and the Slim Shady Posse.

Check out the next generation of Furniss below, from left to right, Carleigh, Addie, My Gizmo, and Legend, (even my boy Tru made the pic, behind Reese in Bon's brown top):


Here is another pic from our trip to the Newport Aquarium:


Now, on to the other HUGE news. Thanks to my man Guido, I have the distinct pleasure of taking part in the:


Thru some amazing negotiations Guido has secured two tix to the Summer Classic, so we are taking a roady to the Big Apple. This is an incredible once in a lifetime opportunity!!!

My boy N2, owner of the hated Vendettas club, is giving us a place to lay our head and shower while we are there.

Will be hard to top this post moving forward, but will keep you better updated of the daily blessings that are life in the Heat Stadium...

Guess I am not the only one...

Solid article in the LA Times about the distaste by conservative Republicans in Ohio for Juan McCain, read it HERE

Taken from Hartsock's Blog

Katie Reider is a singer/songwriter, whose brother just happens to be our worship leader at 4 Corners.

She was diagnosed with a rare tumor that spread to her sinuses and jaw. Needless to say, treatment of this is extensive, invasive and expensive...

You can read more about her story by clicking thru the photo.

So some of her friends have setup a website to help with expenses for Katie and her family. They are trying to get 500,000 visits in one year and have each person by an album by Katie for $1. An amazing offer to listen to great music and help an amazing voice sing again...thanks!

(Thank you to Hartsock for posting this on Beautiful and Grotesque and bringing it to our attention)