Beautiful...

Bummed

I will begin today with some sports commentary. The Bears have traded Thomas Jones, one of my favorites, for Jack Squat! I have never been a Ced Benson fan, from his draft day tirade of insanity to his brokenness that will not survive a 16 game season. He cannot catch the ball and will not pass protect. Good luck Rex! We traded our best offensive player to flip 2nd round picks, what??? Clearly I need to enjoy this Super Bowl off-season, things look to be heading back to status quo. 5-11 here we come!

Adam Schein said it best here: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6533778

I am feeling a little better today, back at the office...

Big ups to Funk-E who made it through with flying colors and is resting at home...

Birthday

(Reese and Blake chillin' in their pajamas)

Happy Birthday Jum!

Morning update, my cough is worse, but it seems like the girls are doing better, so that is all that really matters.

I finished my Finance final last night and got it e-mailed in to the professor. Now I get to focus on our group project which is a financial analysis of Apple.

24 tonight...

I'm Back

I have honestly been wanting to sit down and update this thing about 15 times since my last post, but was hesitant because I didn't have any new pics downloaded. Well, I still don't but I wanted to throw up a Reese Retro Pic which was taken right around a year ago. Time has flown by.

Where to start? In the present, our entire family is afflicted with various degrees of what I like to call "The Crud". Which sucks, it is Reese's first illness above a runny nose and the first time she has had a cough. For the most part she has maintained her spunky attitude, but it has definitely curbed her appetite. (For everything but raisins that is)

Happy Birthday-eve to Jum, the big 2-6 tomorrow.

Big prayers go up for Funk-E, my sister-in-law, we are thinking about you.

Have had preliminary discussions about trying to get a flight down to Richmond to see SBraine, amazingly it has been two and a half years.

(Pause for coughing fit)

Work is still rolling, my pod-mate is leaving so Squibb gets a chance to shine, as I know he will. He has been an absolute stud thus far, I am so glad they gave him this opportunity.

Big fantasy baseball draft next Sunday, stoked...

Lastly, but certainly not least, I am really pumped about Four Corners right now. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to get more involved with the staff and am thoroughly excited. This church is on a course of greatness and I am enjoying the ride...

Revelations

This is a photo of the newest member to the Furniss Male Order, (FMO for short), Jake, the snake. Jum has scored a new pet in the form of a Ball Python.

I have come to realize some things over the last few days...

I am WAY out of shape and this must be addressed. The Y that Bon goes to is minutes from our house and I think it is time to bump up to the family membership...

Installing light fixtures is fun...

Last night was also the first time I had evered shoveled my own driveway, ah milestones...

Kudos go out to Bon who showed off some master negotiation skillz with DirecTV. The receiver in our bedroom is on the fritz already and Bon was able to get us Showtime for free for two months, in addition to a new receiver.

Looking forward to tomorrow and temps above freezing...

No Video

I was hoping to be able to post my tv appearance, but it has yet to be posted on the WCPO archive list. A number of friends got to see it, so it has been a pretty cool experience. Sitting in class now, ready to get started, I sure do miss my girls on Thursdays...

TV Time

Like you always hear, the early bird gets the worm.

Since I was the first one to arrive at work this morning, channel 9 decided to interview me and ask me about my commute. If I make the cut I will be airing on the news at noon today. (My television debut)

There is definitely some ice on the ground, but I really did not have any trouble this morning, except for the fact that I have an overzealous neighbor who makes me look bad by shoveling his driveway at the crack of dawn!

Congrats Mary

Big shout out to Mary J., one of my all-time favorites, for winning 3 Grammys last night! We caught bits and pieces of it, just a tough match-up for them since "A Time to Kill" was also on.

On a side note, for some reason I was wide awake at 3:30 this morning.

I am off to gather nuts and wood, the white death part II is coming...

Silence Lifted

I come to you now, after the completion of my self-imposed one week ban on communication. This is mostly due to my extreme disappoint and the inability to fully describe my feelings after Sunday evening. (Slightly melodramatic)

Reese is on Day 4 of a cold that has her nose running like Payton down the sideline against Detroit. (Fast and looking at lots of green)

Had my annual review at work and did not get fired, that's a positive.

We enjoyed our first day of sledding down our hill in the back yard yesterday, it is the perfect slope to give kids a thrill and to throw Bonnie like a broncing bull

Update coming tomorrow morning...

A Little Motivator...

4 Days until Domination...

Played some good hoop last night, I am clearly now a 15 feet and in player. (After air-balling three from downtown)

Big shout out goes to an old friend from Vanderbilt/Nashville who has accepted a job in the athletic department at Miami of Ohio and has purchased a home minutes from us. We are pumped to hook up with him again, Bon loves his t-shirts...

Part II

I feel extremely blessed to have Bonnie in my life. I could go in to great detail with the number of recent examples, but they are extremely numerous.

Busy weekend ahead with Reese's 1st Birthday party on Saturday and the football game of the decade on Sunday night.

Happy Birthday props go out to Amber today. Keep it real Funk-E.

Enjoy the second clip...

Clarification

I always kind of cringe when I tell people I am a "Christian" because of the preconceived notions that a lot of folks have. I am a "Christ-Follower", living my life for Jesus, with Jesus, and not by societal "rules".

Holla out to Dave Foster in Nashville and the guys at Four Corners, this is AWESOME!

Miami Anyone?

For the first time since I was 9 years old, Da Bears are going to the Super Bowl! It was a great game, of course, and as I type this I am watching the AFC game.

Now to the real important stuff. The move went awesome, with the Magnificent 7 carrying stuff, myself and six other studs, we knocked it out in a couple of hours. Super Mad Props go out again to The Godfather who delivered a sweet truck for us. We absolutely love our new house and have some great pics of Reese already to send to you.

A nice surprise today, one of our neighbors plowed our driveway and sidewalk this morning after the white death came overnight. We took Reese out to play in it, and I think the fact she was layered like the Michelin Man took the fun out of it for her. She did not like that very well.

24 tomorrow night, in the new house, holla!

Idol Returns

I forgot to mention in the last blog entry about the re-arrival of American Idol. We absolutely love this show in the Furniss casa and this year's start has not disappointed. And it all started with this girl...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 1st Birthday to my baby girl, Reese, I love you, this year has flown by. Slow down the aging process for Daddy. There will be a big birthday bash scheduled once the move is completed.

In addition to that, lots going on in the last week or so.

- We are in the process of moving, the big move will come this weekend with all of the furniture and the official move of the beds

- The Bears are playing in the NFC Championship on Sunday!

- Have had a great visit with Jum, will be hard to see him go back to Alaska

- Our office has earned a company sponsored day trip to Belterra, with gambling money being provided! How sweet is that

Having Jum in town kind of got me out of blogging, but I am back.

Go Bears!

Was that a week that just past?

Wow, what a week, things have been crazy. Jum and Katie arrived on Wednesday, (see photo of Reese meeting Uncle Jum for the first time), and if you have never seen me cry, you missed an excellent opportunity. You know what one of the coolest things is? It's like Jum never left really, it's like we have been hanging out everyday for the last 13 months, we picked up on the same jokes and shared some funny stories, I am very blessed to have both of my brothers.

The house is nearly in our possession, looks like Thursday we will get the keys and start moving some smaller stuff and cleaning this weekend. The "big move" will be next weekend and we will finally be engulfed in our new home.

Don't want to overwhelm you on the first post back in a while so I will leave you with this...

GO GATORS!!!

Happy New Year!

Anybody who thinks much cannot change in a year, I will tastefully disagree. One year ago we knew two things, we were going to have a baby sometime, and we were moving to Cincy soon after.

Most of you know the story for 2006, but if you missed anything it is all pretty much logged here in the archives. It has been an amazing journey and we are extremely excited about what God has planned for us in 2007 and beyond. Honestly, at the end of the day I just want to enjoy my family and touch as many people's lives as I possibly can through Jesus Christ.

One of the biggest things I learned this year is that I do not, nor will I ever "own" anything here on Earth, I simply want to be the best manager of what God gives me.

I absolutely love Bonnie and Reese more than anything in the world, what a phenomenal year 2006 was. It will be hard to top on shear number of milestones, but I have learned that through God anything is possible. (I think there may be a verse a little similar to that in Luke somewhere).

One song meant a lot to us towards the beginning of 2006 and has become kind of a reminder of where to keep our focus moving forward...

"Walk by Faith" by Jeremy Camp, you can listen to it by clicking below...

Tube Socks and a Cigar...

Ladies and gentlemen, the great Reese Karnak! She predicts presents before opening them...

Just a great shot of our wonderful Christmas, we had such a great time with Reese, and I am sure it will only get better as the years go by. As far as I am concerned, you know you are getting old when you get a mower for Christmas and are extremely excited about it. My first mower, what a milestone...

Our Gift

We got the best gift of all this Christmas, and it came early! New for 2007, a basket full of Reese!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

My Favorite Christmas Song...

"Last Christmas, I gave you my heart"...

I can joke about alot of things, but on this one I am dead serious. I know making this fact public puts a SEVERE ding in my street cred, but I have got to give George Michael his props. I mean, The Cheetah Girls just re-made the song, is there any other greater form of flattery?

Enjoy...

Congrats to one of the good guys...

Grobe earns coach of the year honors

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Jim Grobe held Wake Forest together after a couple of potentially devastating injuries, refused to let his players feel sorry for themselves and turned the perennially downtrodden Demon Deacons into champions.

For orchestrating one of the most surprising turnarounds in college football - and the best season in Wake Forest's 105-year football history - Grobe was honored as The Associated Press Coach of the Year on Wednesday.

I can't put into words how satisfying it's been," Grobe said in a recent phone interview. "It's just now that we're starting to appreciate what we've done and to enjoy it a little bit."

In his sixth season at Wake Forest, Grobe took the Demon Deacons (11-2) from worst to first in the Atlantic Coast Conference without their starting quarterback and top tailback. Wake Forest set a school record for victories and won the ACC for the first time in 36 years.

"This is one football team that appreciates the opportunity to go to a bowl game and especially appreciates the opportunity to play in the Orange Bowl," Grobe said.

Italian and Hoop

What a great night, Bon and I had the chance to get some nice Italian at a restaurant called Johnny Carino's with six other couples from our church. We are all in a similar place in life so it is definitely a blessing to have that available to us and build those friendships.

Tuesday also happens to be the night of church basketball now, so Mr. Hartsock and I ran over after dinner to get our hoop on. What little skill I ever had has now clearly vanished and I should now look into "Over 30 leagues". I was taken to school all night by Joel, including the game winning shot at the end, he dribbled between my legs, crossed-over, and took it to the rack. Amazing! I then proceeded to pick up my shorts and head home...

I have aged...

Just for kicks I google my own name sometimes, apparently I am a wicked sweet businessman in England. See my altar-ego's photo at left, (Jeremy Furniss, part two).

So my plan is to fly to London in a few years, flash the ID around and use my name to help me gain world domination.... (Boo Ha-Ha)

Sweet Sorrow

Congrats to The Godfather who has knocked the ThunderCats out in the semi's for the second year in a row. He owns the Sharks, thus the photo to your left. He had the better week, and I wish him the best in the championship, hopefully Jum gets a shot at redemption.

The Bears secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs yesterday and Reese started clapping when Rashied Davis made a big-time catch in OT. (She is learning already who the good guys are)

Should be pretty slow this week in the office, leading up to a weekend of family beginning Friday night. We took some more pics of Reese this weekend, so will try and get those up ASAP.

Peace out...

Gas Fun

Our service project was awesome, I really enjoyed it. We hooked up almost 200 cars with some free gas, and it was great to see the reactions that folks had when you ask them, "Can I pump some free gas for you?" I thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to doing other things moving forward.

We had Reese's dedication this morning, kind of bad timing on her part, she woke up wicked early this morning and was falling asleep in the car on the way to church. So unfortunately she was pretty tired throughout the service and a little irritable. She was out in two seconds on the way home, but overall it was another great experience. (We are full of them lately)

Big day in sports today, ThunderCats in the semi's...

GO BEARS!!!

Strike a pose...

More proof that these are strange times...

I have been asked to model, not really, here is the scoop. At our church, like most, there are Sunday bulletins. With each teaching series our pastor does there is a new theme. With each new theme comes a new cover shot for the bulletin.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have been asked to appear on said cover. If you visit our church for about 5 seconds you realize they do everything with a twist of sarcastic humor. Why else would they ask me to do this, huh? Well the new theme is related to having a gameplan, so a few of us are lacing up the tennys and hitting the hardwood for some photos. Should be hillarious!

Also, we have a little service project on Saturday, let's just say there is a gas station in town where an unknown consumer will pull up, get some hot chocolate, their windows washed, by me possibly, and pumped a tank full of gas, FOR FREE!!! All courtesy of the crazy guys at 4 Corners Church.

Peace out homies...

Bet you didn't know

As a tribute to Steve Carr, who about this time last year revealed his "top 5 things you may not know about me", on his blog, I have decided to give some inside info.

I am a Pink fan. The Sunday Night Football intro on NBC always fires me up. I guess it is the perception that she doesn't give two craps what anybody thinks which is cool. If you have yet to see her True Hollywood Story on E, I highly recommend it. Some of my other music favs include: Mary J. Blige, Usher, Tim McGraw, Big & Rich, Tobymac and Sugarland.

Bon had the chance to do some Chrsitmas shopping last night, while Reese and I chilled here at the casa. We had a great time, and I was able to hit the sack pretty early.

Another day, another day closer to moving...

I could have caught him...

The Bears game was awesome, how sweet is Devin Hester?

I haven't seen speed like that since Aaron Hough was sprinting down the sideline of Bostic Field. For the record, I plan on donating enough money one day for the field to be renamed, how about the "Reese Dome"?

Man, I have not been this excited about the Bears in a long time, they are so much fun to watch.

Update

A new pic of the girl, she has grown alot, it seems like her retired clothes pile gets bigger every day.

Big game tonight, the Bears are on Monday Night Football, definitely want to see a strong showing from Rex.

Church was awesome yesterday, solid message and got to meet some more folks. We are having Reese dedicated next Sunday, so that is very exciting.

Bon and I had an epiphany over the weekend and have decided God is putting it on us to launch a second company in about 5 years. More to come on that, but want to plant the seed. It involves bringing multiple family members on board.

Christmas is two weeks from today, amazing!

GO BEARS!!!

Welcome Home

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, our back yard. Perfect for cornhole, backyard football, snowball fights, and even some sledding for the little ones.

God has truly blessed us, and this is just the beginning!

All able-bodied males within a 60 mile radius, (and Uncle Bruce of course), expect a phone call in a few weeks...

Closing Time

Bring on the righty, the wild thing, it is closing time!

We are closing on the new house at high noon today. Cannot thank The Godfather and Buff enough for their help with this entire process.

Big shout out to "The Rock" Stu Detter, yep another friend, another nickname. Stu and I go back to the OU days, selling Tommy Hilfinger to folks at the Elder Beerman in Athens. It was great to get an e-mail back from him and hope to get together with his family soon, they live in Piqua, which is not far away at all.

Mad props to SBraine on getting his blog up and running, he has some phenomenal kids.

Took the whole day off, so hope to catch some more 24 this evening.

Peace out!

24 and the wig

Reese loves bath time, or maybe it is being without clothes... Anyway, she was running around in excitement for her bath and ran over, gave me a great hug, and then sat in my lap for this great photo op. She gets her skin tone from Uncle Jase at this point...

Some of you also get a look at my wig for the first time in a while, some folks are buzzing at the shear volume of hair I am carrying around these days. Everyone seems to like it and my boss doesn't seem to mind, so rock on! You only live once, now if I could talk Bon into letting me get tatoo sleeves down each arm...

Other big news, we got the first disc of 24:Season 5 last night, holy crap! This show is unbelievable. The new season starts on January 15th I believe, if you have never watched it, start that night, it is awesome.

Mad props go out today to N2 for hooking me up with a TJ "Whozyourmomma" autograph for the little boy we are buying the house from. (Yes, the 5 year old is the one making it happen)

In my simple way guess you could say I'm living in the Big Time...(Big & Rich)

We are back!

So many things to update you on, closing on our new house Friday, a Whatif Sports Championship for the Cincinnati Heat, an old friend getting hired into our office at the Enquirer, Jum is back in Alaska, ThunderCats are in the playoffs, Reese is as cool as ever, Bon is rockin', etc.

You will get DAILY updates here on what is going on with us, or just random thoughts from my mug.

Be prepared...

Happy October!

There is so much going on, I am a slacker.

Reese is walking completely on her own, across the room, starting, stopping, changing direction, it is awesome! My little girl also has her first tooth. We have taken some new photos that I will try and get up later today. I also intend to get a video clip of her moving and her new dance skillz. She danced throughout the church service yesterday and entertained everyone surrounding her, she loves music.

The Bears are the best team in the NFL.

I will be 30 in 22 days.

Bon and I had a phenomenal time this past Friday night, we went a murder mystery dinner on a train in Lebanon with the eats from the Golden Lamb restaurant, it was delicious. Mad props to Brian and Carrie for taking care of The Reese for the evening.

More mad props go out to Brian and Carrie for giving Bon a new cell phone. We found out what baby slobber can do to a cellphone once it gets inside. It is now...inoperable.

Live From Fairbanks

Check out the webcam from Fairbanks City Hall

http://arcticcam.com/cam/

Newsweek Story About Jum's Brigade

MSNBC.com

---

Straight to the Heart

Battle Cries: For U.S. troops and their wives and children, the Iraq war's invisible costs just keep on piling up.

By Michael Hastings

Newsweek

Sept. 18, 2006 issue - Toward the end of July, Capt. Brad Velotta began daydreaming a lot. He thought about making the summer's last run of salmon in Alaska's Russian River, where bears lumber down from the woods and chase fishermen out of the water. He thought about getting a kitten for his 3-year-old daughter, Sophia. Most of all, Velotta hoped to see his 83-year-old grandmother Mary one last time before she died of cancer. "She thought she could hold on," says Velotta's father, Albert, at the family home in Alexandria, La. Her grandson was supposed to leave Iraq on Aug. 2. "She thought it would only be a few weeks more."

But it wasn't. On July 26, Velotta learned that he and his unit, the 172nd Stryker Brigade, were going not home but to the core of Iraq's sectarian blood feud: Baghdad. After a solid year of battling the insurgency, from Mosul to Tall Afar to the westernmost reaches of Al Anbar province, the 172nd has been extended until after Thanksgiving—if not later. Velotta, 29, Blackhawk Company commander in the 172nd's 4-23 infantry battalion, gave a tough talk to his squad leaders: "I know it f---ing sucks. But you don't have the option to not be motivated. You don't have the privilege to be worn out. This is Baghdad. This is graduate-level s--t."

No one has to tell the 4-23 that every war is cruel. Its members freely admit they've been luckier than a lot of units in Iraq. The 172nd has lost fewer than 20 of its roughly 4,000 troops in the past year, and the 4-23 has had no one killed in action. Their record in the field, along with their almost indestructible armored vehicles, made the 172nd an obvious choice to clean out Baghdad's sectarian death squads. "We were victims of our own success," says Capt. Phillip Mann, the 4-23's intelligence officer. Even so, the war's emotional and spiritual costs keep rising for them and their loved ones back home. Velotta's little girl tells of bad dreams that he's going to die. "No, baby," her mother says. "He is coming home"—wishing she could be sure of that. The wedding of Spc. Shawn Mott and Nina Herrera was set for Sept. 16. Eight hours after she mailed the invitations, he called to say he had to go to Baghdad instead of flying home. "I was so scared to call you," he told her afterward. "I thought you'd leave me."

The Army says troop morale remains high. For the first 11 months of fiscal 2006, two out of three soldiers who were eligible to re-enlist have done so—a rate unchanged since 9/11. But whatever the numbers say, the strain is showing. Capt. John Grauer, the 4-23's chaplain, describes the scene when the order came down: "There was a rush of soldiers trying to get on the phone to call home. Some literally threw up when they heard the news. Some were extremely angry ... Some went to sleep for a couple of days, hoping maybe it was all a bad dream." It was tough for Grauer to tell his wife, Tyra, and their two girls—especially Morriah, 9. "She started crying," he says. "That's when I put the sunglasses on." Behind the shades, he wept.

Back home, the news hit hard. Some 172nd wives are too proud to complain. "At least our husbands are out there saving the world," says one. "They're not wussies just sitting there on the couch." But at Fort Richardson, Alaska, the 4-23rd's home base, chaos erupted at the announcement of the extension. Some wives had already packed up and shipped their household goods to their husbands' next duty stations. There were families without a place to live; children pre-enrolled in schools thousands of miles away; parents scrambling for winter clothing they had given away; household goods in storage; airplane tickets for vacations that could not be taken—not to mention thousands of broken hearts. Grauer says soldiers have told him, "This has killed my marriage, It's been my third deployment in five years, and we've only spent 15 months together."

Staff Sgt. Chad Denton is on his second deployment. "It takes its toll," says his wife, Beth, back home in Anchorage. "You just don't know each other anymore." The Dentons have five children, 1 to 13 years old, and the two middle sons, 6 and 8, are having trouble. "They need their dad," Beth says. "I keep telling him, 'I know you guys are getting blown up, but I'd rather be on that side, doing what you're doing, than on this side, being mom and dad'." Telling her about the extension was "brutal," says Chad. "At first she said she couldn't believe it. I guess there are three stages: denial, shock ... " His voice trails off. He doesn't get to the third stage.

The 172nd is in the thick of Baghdad's largest military action since 2003. U.S. and Iraqi officials call it the Battle of Baghdad. Gen. George Casey, head of all Coalition forces in Iraq, told 172nd officers it's "the defining moment, the defining battle of the war." This summer's sectarian violence was the worst Baghdad has seen since the war began, with roughly 1,800 killings in July alone, according to the Iraqi Health Ministry. Large parts of the city have fallen into virtual anarchy. Privately, senior U.S. officials say the Iraqi government has only a few months to stop the killing or collapse.

The Stryker teams are supposed to hold the line. They spend their days searching bad neighborhoods for weapons and evidence of death-squad activities. But Baghdad, like much of Iraq, is suffering from "whack-a-mole" syndrome. The militias keep popping up elsewhere. "With two Stryker brigades, one on the east side, one on the west side, we could secure Baghdad," says a 172nd officer, who asks not to be named disputing Coalition strategy. Even then, he adds, it would take more than four months to finish the job. As things stand, many 4-23 members say the sweeps are no more than a temporary fix. Some argue that the aim is only to make Iraq look good before the Nov. 7 U.S. elections—"fighting for the House of Representatives," as Sgt. Brian Patton describes it.

Meanwhile, families are falling apart. Back in Alaska, one 4-23 wife has a suicidal child in the hospital; another suffered an ectopic pregnancy and had to beg her husband's commander to let him come home to care for her. Another wife attempted suicide. Her husband was sent home, but his career, the other wives say, is over. Gossip is running wild: who drinks too much, who has a compulsive-gambling problem, whose kids are left untended.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld got a taste of this rage and frustration in August when he met with family members of the 172nd at Fort Wainwright, near Fairbanks, Alaska. In a video of the meeting obtained by NEWSWEEK, one woman asked him why the 172nd was spending most of its time clearing houses, instead of patrolling the streets in the relative safety of the big armored vehicles. "My husband hasn't set foot in his Stryker since he arrived in Baghdad," she said. "Over 90 percent of the house clearings are being handled by the Iraqis," Rumsfeld responded, whereupon women in the audience began shouting "No!" and "That's not true!" Flummoxed, Rumsfeld shot back, "No? What do you mean? Don't say 'No,' that's what I've been told. It's the task of the Iraqis to go through the buildings."

The 4-23's soldiers say they, not the Iraqis, do 95 percent of the searches. "I'd like to punch [Rumsfeld] in the gut," says one seasoned NCO on his second Iraq tour. "He treats us like we're not human. He acts like he's not destroying families."

Baghdad in August breeds thoughts like that. Outside it's 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Inside a Stryker armored vehicle it's 130, sometimes 140. Team members sweat more than seems humanly possible. Their mustaches leak with sweat. Their soaked pants leave damp marks where they sit. The sweat collects in the protective goggles they wear, pouring off the eyebrows and into the lenses. Each soldier has to wear 15-pound side plates, 20-pound body armor, and a three-pound helmet that feels like it's baking the brain. When the vehicle stops, the teams dismount and go to work, climbing stairs, scaling walls, breaking down doors—always watching out for snipers and booby traps.

The unit has had plenty of close calls. Capt. Benjamin Nagy, who goes by the nickname Ox, has been hit by 15 IEDs. Chaplain Grauer has been IED'd seven times. Strykers routinely drive away unscathed from explosions that would kill everyone in a Humvee. Sometimes Velotta's men, sick of the drudgery of house searches, say things like: "Please, can someone just shoot at us?" But a single call over the radio can turn the tedium into something far worse. In the Adamiyah neighborhood, a soldier from another 172nd unit, the 4-14, recently became the extension's first loss. He was shot in the face by a sniper and died a week later after being evacuated to a hospital in Germany.

Postscript: Mary Velotta died on Aug. 19. Her grandson missed the funeral.

With Scott Johnson in Baghdad, KAREN BRESLAU in Anchorage, John Barry and Michael Hirsh in Washington, Catharine Skipp in Alexandria and Margaret Friedenauer in Fairbanks

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757928/site/newsweek/

The Strut

It appears in this photo that jeans cause Reese to strut...

Reese is doing extremely well and is getting the crawling thing down. Last night she went from the kitchen to the back bathroom without stopping and then pulled herself right up into a seated position, it was awesome. Not sure what her aversion to crawling previously was, but it looks like she has overcome it.

I also need to review this past weekend's checklist:

Notre Dame win- x
Bears crush Packers- x
ThunderCats crush Jum- x

The Enquirer has a policy that when distributing tickets to clients for events, priority is given to cases where the rep goes with them. I have a client who is from Cleveland who wanted to take his daughter to the Browns-Bengals game Sunday, so I get to go for FREE. Not a bad deal...

Things are going really well at our church as well, we have started connecting with some couples there and have dinner plans in the next couple of weeks. I have been given the honor of helping them with some advertising/marketing ideas and will be helping them set-up the stage a couple of times a month. (We currently meet in a high school auditorium.) The children's director will also be in touch with Bon regarding helping with the kids during service.

It was awesome this past Sunday where a father baptized his 13 year old daughter, it gave me goose bumps. I definitely look at things differently now that I have my own little princess.

Love you Reese.

Pure Joy

Oatmeal cereal, good for your health, and good for your skin...

Dream Team

So you know about my speeding ticket a couple of weeks ago, going 45 in a 20mph school zone...

Well, similar to OJ Simpson I had my own "Dream Team" with two of the finest attornies in the world. They have managed to get me out of points on my license and get me dropped to a non-moving violation. I can't thank Schad and the Godfather enough, I owe them big for this one. They are getting the judge to overlook that small weapons charge against me a couple of years ago as well...

One of the funniest things that just keeps popping into my head is at the end of the movie Kingpin when Bill Murray's character wins the tourney and collects the $1 Million prize, he says, "Finally, Big Ern is above the law".

That's kinda how I feel...

#1

A win is a win. Notre Dame held on to beat Georgia Tech 14-10 Saturday night. The defense played very well in the 2nd half but the new kicker missed a couple of short ones. Saturday it does not get any easier as they face Penn State on NBC at 3:30.

Mad props go out to Momma for hosting us all day Saturday, we had a great time.

More props go out to Jum for scoring us the entire Disney collection, 130 movies, on DVD for Reese. I know they will get used a ton, you da man.

Thursday night marks the beginning of the NFL season, I love this time of year...

Celebrate!

Want more proof that prayer works? Try this one on for size...

Our pediatrician called and after reviewing Reese's EKG has determined that she sees no abnormalities and at this time sees no need to proceed with further testing for the elongated Q-T interval.

We feel humbled that God has shown his grace to us again and answered our strongest prayer.

The Spectrum

Newest pic of the recovered Reese...

Since it has been a year since Katrina I started reflecting back on my trip down to New Orleans for clean-up and the amazing goodness I saw in so many people. I will never forget the faces and the people we met in that week. I can't believe it has been a year, a conversation I had with a gentlemen and his wife who were volunteering from Missouri and staying with us is what really pushed me over the edge when it came to wanting to start my own business.

They told me stories of their lifestyle and how the freedom the business allowed them to have was a blessing to their children and friends. Not financially, but in time. They didn't have to use vacation to go to New Orleans and help, in fact they offered that any of their employees who wanted to go could ride with them, have no travel expenses, and not have to use vacation time. I will do that for my employees someday...

On the flipside, there has been a terrible story in the news here in the Nati, for those of you who are out of town you can read about it at this link:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060829/NEWS01/608290340

Absolutely mind-blowing, this child never had a chance. I've given Reese an extra squeeze and kiss every night.

Weekly Update

Alot has gone on in the past week, here are the highlights:

- Reese has her first cold, I guess making it seven months was a good run. Bon has been phenomenal at taking care of her. She has the vapor machine in her room, Bon put some blankets under her crib mattress to prop her up a little at night, and she gets the Baby Vapo-rub applied to her chest. It is very sad to hear her trying to breathe and sounding like Darth Vader.

- One of the hardest things to do is to wipe the nose of a baby, I read somewhere that most kids don't figure out how to blow their own nose until 4 years old!

- Work and class are still rolling on, going very well. I am extremely proud of Mama she is really doing well with her classes and is proving to be a great role model for her 3 little girls!

- This is the last football-free weekend until February, I am extremely fortunate that Bon likes it, Notre Dame plays Georgia Tech next Saturday night.

- Last Saturday we attended my cousin Jamie's wedding in Chi-town. It was good to see some of our family, and we got the opportunity to hoop it up. The game abruptly ended when the Doc went down with a "cramp". I think we were about to beat him...

- Wednesday we took Reese for an EKG so they can take a look at the Q-T interval to see how things look before proceeding with other tests. For those of you who may not know Long Strand QT Syndrome is a heart condition that has taken the lives of a few people in Bon's family, including her brother. It is hereditery and Bon may be a carrier so we are trying to do our due dilligence.

- Thursday I took an alternate route to work due to some minor traffic congestion, on the new route there is a freshmen school which had just begun class that morning. I had no idea and was going 45 MPH. Well a Statey was sitting in the school parking lot, speed limit of 20 mph apparently, so I was pulled over. The bad part is that instead of just getting a ticket I have a mandatory court appearance since it was 15+ mph over in a school zone. So I go to court on September 12th. More updates on this to follow...

Watch this video clip, awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1cxOg_UnG8&search=Notre%20Dame%20Football

Go Irish!

Another Anniversary...

Saturday marked the one year anniversary of Dragonfest and the birthday of my late grandfather.

For those of you who do not know the story, last year on August 12th we headed down to Daytona Beach to share a weekend with Rhino in preparation of Jum going to boot camp.

We, (Jum, myself, Rhino, Daddy B, and Andy), headed to a casino boat with our sights set on a blackjack table. We arrived, sat down at the table, and Andy says to the dealer, "You can go ahead and give us the money now and save some time, because we are going to win it." The dealer laughed, I'm sure he hears that alot.

Well, about 2 hours later, we all stood up from the $5 blackjack table and walked away with over $13,000 collectively. (See photo of what 132 $100 bills looks like.)

It was a night we will never forget, I can't believe it was a year ago already. Here's to you boys, let's do it again soon...

Happy Friday

Another week down, and definitely looking forward to chillin' this weekend. Bon and I should be receiving the final two installments of the first season of 24 tomorrow. This show is the real deal. I think we will be in great shape to catch up by the start of the new season in January.

Another NFL pre-season game tonight on TV, which is always exciting. I know some folks do not like the se games, but I really enjoy watching the scrubs.

Lastly, if you want to play a good prank on someone go to the web-site www.snakesonaplane.com and you can set-up a personalized message to someone from Samuel L. Jackson. It is pretty sweet, I highly recommend it.

Chillicothe PR

Funny story, I am listening to the radio in the shower yesterday morning and this guy calls into the DJ's, one male and one female. The caller asks the female DJ out on a "date", she says "where do you want to take me?"

His response, the Ross County Fair!

The male DJ then interjects, "Chillicothe, right?, isn't that where they have the big biker sex party every year?"

Wow, good thing I am from Ross County, Missouri...

Yes he does...

Back by popular demand, a pic of Reese, now 6 1/2 months old and cool as ever. She is wearing my favorite bib in this one, "My Daddy Loves Me," truer words may have never been spoken.

Props today go out to Miss Russell on her wedding day, congrats, you deserve the best.

The first NFL preseason game is on TV tomorrow night, and so it begins...

Anniversary

Bon and I celebrated our 7h wedding anniversary Monday night. We had a lovely dinner at a wicked nice Italian restaurantee (as the Grumpy Old Men would say) and had a wonderful time. It does not seem like 7 years have passed. A lot sure has changed, and I anticipate a lot more changes in the next 7. Bon is the greatest blessing I have or will ever be given.

Work is going extremely well, and it seems like I need to do a better job of making this a priority. There are a ton of interesting things I come across or think about that seem "blog worthy" but they never make it up. Mad props to Steve Carr who does a phenomenal job of making his blog a must-read on a daily basis.

More props go out to Momma who aced her first 2 accounting quizes and is providing credibility to the fact that she is the first ever employee to agree in principle to work for Momentum Financial, we got a steal folks.

Off to my homework, got class tomorrow night.

Bad News

Rumsfeld OKs Stryker brigade extension

By Rod Boyce
Published July 27, 2006
Posted in Local

The Defense Department and military commanders announced today that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has approved an extension in the tour of duty of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, which has been in Iraq for nearly a year and which was in the midst of having soldiers return to Alaska.

Rumsfeld, according to an announcement on the Defense Department’s Web site, has approved an extension of up to four months. The announcement made no mention of the brigade’s destination in Iraq.

“The Secretary of Defense approved a request by the Commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) to extend the deployment of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team operating in Iraq for up to 120 additional days,” the announcement said. “The Department recognizes the continued contributions of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team and their family members. This extension reflects the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people.

The announcement comes as just as the 172nd’s return to Alaska was under way. Some the nearly 4,000 troops form the brigade have already returned while others were scheduled to arrive later this week and early next month.

Some of the brigade’s soldiers who recently returned to Alaska from Iraq will be sent back to Iraq, said Col. Michael Shields, the 172nd’s commander. Shields spoke Thursday from Mosul, Iraq, to a news conference that began at about 12:20 p.m. Alaska time at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks and Fort Richardson in Anchorage.

Shields said the brigade has “left a legacy of success” in Mosul, where it has been stationed for its time in Iraq. Now, he said, “It’s time to close that chapter and open a new one.”

Shields declined, however, to answer a question about what mission the brigade will have during its extension or where it might be stationed. There has been intense speculation that the brigade will be sent to Baghdad to help curb rising violence in the city. President Bush said earlier this week that the United States would be sending additional forces to the city.

“This is a temporary measure to create a more secure environment in Iraq,” Shields said. The duration of the extension, he said, will be determined by events on the ground.

“Obviously there are financial, emotional and physical hardships associated with this,” Shields said. “There are individual and family issues associated as well.”

The brigade deployed to Iraq in August to the Nineveh province in northern Iraq.

Celebrate

Just got word a few hours ago that Justin is on his way out of Iraq and heading to Kuwait!

He should be in Alaska in a few days and will be able to give everyone a call from his new digs. It will be another month before he gets here, but just knowing he is back on this side of the pond is a huge relief.

Bon and Reese are doing phenomenal, we think Reese may be getting some tooths though, (yes I know the correct word is teeth, but I like tooths).

She has been a little more irritable and her gums have a whitish tint to them.

Big props to Daddy B, it was good to see you Saturday, and it was nice to play some hoop just like the old days.

Peace out...

Update

Not alot new going on here, back to class tonight. Mad props to Momma who started class yesterday, you are never too young to get educated...

Reese had her 6 month birthday Tuesday, which was very exciting

We are addicted to 24. Thank goodness for Netflix, we have started from the very beginning and after one disc, we want another!

We have gotten a little lazy with the photos, so I will try and get some more up in the coming days, she is growing very quickly!

t-8 days for Jum in Iraq.

Peace out...

Concert

As difficult as this may be to admit, I may have a man-crush on Tim McGraw. Bon and I had the opportunity to go and see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill last night. What makes him so cool, is that he just seems so legit, seems to be a good husband and father, and owns an arena football team. My only complaint about the concert is that Faith took up too much time with her solo act. They did some duets to open, then Faith performed for an hour, Tim for an hour, and then they rejoined for duets in the encore.

Mad props to Miss Russell, AKA Aunt Amy who stayed with the Reese last night while we went to the concert. Unfortunately she had to battle with the great protector, Chubbs. Apparently Chubbs planted herself under Reese's crib and did not take kindly to Amy getting close. She likes to hiss and growl, all show.

That's all for now...

Chillin'

- Congrats to Rhino for landing a gig in Indiana. Well deserved dawg, and the fact that you are 40 miles from Notre Dame brings a smile to my face...

- We had a great time w/Mom as she got a chance to come down and stay for a few days this week.

- The Reese is doing well, she has started some cereal and continues to grow. Although in the last week or so she has started an anti-sleep campaign. I am typing this right now at about 3:20 in the AM because she woke up and just fell back asleep. She refuses to nap during the day for longer than 10 minutes and is now waking up in the middle of the night or at 5AM. We hope this trend does not continue.

- Bon has a day of festivities scheduled with the girls so it is Reese and Daddy's day of fun. Let's see what we can get into.

- Work and school are still going extremely well, Jum should be back state-side in Alaska in about 2 and a half weeks, and NFL training camps start in a couple of weeks. Life is good...

Happy 4th!

Thank you to all the service men and women around the world.

Mad props to little bro, see you soon...

Tidbits

OK I am going to do this bullet style, lots to update

• Our excursion was awesome, big shout out to Daddy B and Aunt Krys, you are the greatest
• Reese is an awesome road warrior
• She has a new high chair as you can see in the pic, courtesy of my classmate in the MBA program who works at Evenflo. The only thing better than a nice high chair is a free high chair, and this one was both!
• I am the sports curse. Many of you know my history of being associated with losers and how when I leave them they become successful. In my sweeping commitment months ago to allign myself with teams permanently I chose the Knicks and Indians. Neither team is doing very well right now...
• We tried Berries N Cream Dr. Pepper last night, I highly recommend it.
  
• Mom is coming down to visit for a couple of days, so we are looking forward to that.
• Big shout out to my boy SBraine who has things going back in a positive direction right now, very happy for you dawg.
• Mad props to Rhino who has officially passed his board certification and is now legal to work as a chiropractor, well deserved brother!
  
• Adam Dunn got one lucky swing last night and Bob Wickman should be released

That's all for now, keep livin' the dream...

Call me Narrow-minded...

but I just do not get the whole soccer thing. I know The Godfather and Steve were very excited for it, but I have never had one smidget of interest in the sport. I guess part of it comes from the fact that it was not a sport people in Ross County grew up playing. Only two schools in the conference had varsity teams, and there was not the youth explosion of today. I will admit that soccer may be a better sport for young kids than baseball or tee-ball. At least in soccer you are running, albeit for no reason in some cases as the game ends in a tie, but I digress.

I am a firm believer against organized sports for kids at a young age, especially multiple sports. Get out and play with your friends, play games in the sandlot! I did not play organized sports until I was 10 years old and I think that worked out perfect, so thanks Mom. You see so many kids get burned out b/c they start playing soccer/tee-ball at 4 years old!

OK, enough on that tirade. We started our 3rd MBA class tonight and it was solid. I am going to enjoy learning from this instructor for 11 weeks.

I just printed out our directions to NC tomorrow night, we are extremely excited. I may blog some little snip-its while I am there, in between thunderous volleyball spikes off of Jase's melon.

Peace out...

The Rhino

I have come to realize that many people in my life have nicknames. Case in point, we spent the last couple of days with my cuz, Rhino. He was in town for a couple of interviews as he tries to decide where he will start practicing as a chiropractor.

We enjoyed some LaRosa's and Guinness before game 6 of the NBA Finals last night, it was great to see him. Mad props to D-Wade and the Heat, is it a coincidence that a team called the Heat won the title the same year Reese was born...

Bon and Reese are doing phenomenal, today was solid at work. I go back to class tomorrow night, which is exciting. I was able to maintain my 4.0 through the second class, so far so good.

We watched "Just Like Heaven" the other night, starring, Reese Witherspoon, and I would recommend it. I am usually not one for corny romantic comedies, but it was solid. Tonight we are watching "Red Eye". Evaluation on that one will be coming shortly.

Keep it real...

Unbelievable Story

OK, here's the story. It is amazing how God shows up. After my huge mistake on Friday I had come to the conclusion that we would have to cancel our trip to Daddy B's this weekend. This was devastating as I knew it was my fault and all of the responsibility fell on me.

As I was getting ready to make the call Bon said, "Let's give God Monday, if it is his will that we make the trip you will make the sale you need to earn your commission and bonus for June."

You see things were looking bleak for June, our fiscal month ends on Sunday and with newspaper deadlines I needed to get the order secured today. The morning was a flop and I had a "routine" meeting scheduled for 2PM. This was our first meeting, and I had no hope of this being the deal we needed.

But God took over, she bought not one full page ad, but 2! One on Thursday and one on Friday! Not only did this allow me to hit the bonus level, it pushed me over to receive additional compensation. Without hitting this we would have been hard-pressed to even meet our monthly bills.

Bon called out the faith doctrine again and nailed it! All the glory goes to God as we can now recover from my mistake and proceed down the road to NC...

The Face of Happiness

Happy Father's Day to all my peeps out there. The ones I know who may be checking the blog include: SBraine, The Godfather, Jase, Steve, Guido and of course, Daddy B.

God has a funny way of humbling people. Just when I think I have everything rolling and on top of stuff I get smacked in the face with a screw-up. I made a money mistake and was hit with significant penalties that have made a serious dent in the portfolio to say the least. We are now leaving it up to God to make some things happen tomorrow if it is his plan for us to still make the trip next weekend. Otherwise, we are in serious Barney. (Barney Rubble, trouble)

The Floor Jungle

That darn monkey! Straight Grabill attitude folks...

Just chillin at 3:30AM, feel like I should go grap a couple of sliders at White Castle. Reese is and will stay asleep, she is not the cause. We were so run down last night we went to bed at about 8:45 and all of a sudden about 2:45 this morning I was wide awake.

God is funny though, b/c I had missed Jum on-line for about a week, and guess who showed up on-line as I fired up the cpu.

Had an awesome meeting yesterday with a local computer store owner, his business is called Skunk-a-rific, www.skunkarific.com. He was as cool and unique as the name of the shop, I really enjoyed meeting him and learned alot while I was there. He was showing me how on Internet Explorer and Outlook there is basically programming code writen into each page. This bogs down your system and makes you an extremely easy target for hackers. The solution, Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird. I have now installed both on our laptop and will no longer be running the other two. It was very simple to do and they even have some cooler features than the Microsoft products. I love learning cool stuff, although the Godfater, (aka Brian Furnish), has been singing the praises of Mozilla for a long time. Let me just say, I would hate to be on the bad side of The Godfather, this guy knows his stuff and I'm convinced could take you out (whack you) if need be...

If you are going to drink...

Drink from a Bear's cup!

This just in, Reese is AWESOME!

Have not received word yet on my final grade for the last class. We actually get this week off, which will be nice, before we head into Managerial Accounting for 11 weeks.

Reese and I had some good bonding time tonight as Bon was doing some water aerobics at the Y.

Got a call from Rhino today, (my cousin Ryan), who is a chiropractor (spelling?) and is looking at a couple of opportunities in the 'Nati. How awesome would that be to have him here?

Not much else new, gearing up for Father's Day...

Update

(Jum is on the far left)

Let's see what has happened since the last update...

Reese had a routine Dr. visit where she had to get 4 shots! She is doing great on all of her development benchmarks and weighed in at 14 pounds, 25 inches long.

Tonight is my last class in my second course of the MBA program, we turn in our finals.

Everything else is still running like a dream, looking forward to our trip in a couple of weeks to N.C...

Oh yeah, and today from NetFlix we get "Two for the Money" with Bon and I's favorite actor, Matthew McConaghey.

There were 3 in the bed and the little one said...

Roll Over, Roll Over!

What a few days in mi casa. The Reese decided it was time to roll over, and tonight she performed the "barrell roll". (Roll over, back onto back same direction, over again same direction, she actually covered some ground with that manuever)

Everything else is awesome, Bon actually said it best yesterday, "Does it get any better than this?" We could not ask for anything more than what God has blessed us with. We have some crazy relatives, but who doesn't? When we look at our collective life together, the 3 of us, it doesn't get any better than this.

Big shout-out to John and Sally for hosting the cookout yesterday, we had a great time. Even though the Furnish family cheated to upset Bon and I in cornhole, it was fun.

This is the last week for my second MBA course. We have a take home final that I worked on for most of the day, but finally stopped when I got a brain cramp.

We are also finalizing plans to visit Daddy B and Aunt Krys in a few weeks w/Jase's posse, ROAD TRIP!

Peace out, keep livin' the dream...