Gaining Knowledge

This past weekend was filled with more classes. I am in the process of gaining my mortgage license and attended classes in Columbus on Saturday and Sunday. Once things are finalized here in a few weeks I will be able to help any of the blog readers with mortgage stuff in each of your individual states. How cool is that?

Got a chance to spend Saturday night with Jase, Mom, Funk-E, and Carleigh. Addie was off getting fake ink at the Ross County Fair. One of the highlights of my visit was Frankfort Pizza. I grew up on that nutritional goodness, and man it tasted good.

I actually did learn a ton over the weekend and will drop nuggets as stuff comes up. One of the coolest things that I have already taken advantage of and would highly recommend is the credit pre-screening business. Credit agencies sell credit reports to businesses. (This is where you get the hundreds of credit card offers.) You can register at this website to block this. In addition to creating excess junk mail for you, credit agencies also have a process called trigger data. If I pull Jase's credit report for a re-finance, the agencies see that and sell his info to other mortgage businesses. Jase may then receive twenty phone calls saying, "hey, listen to our deal." Registering on the site blocks that crap too, and any future bright ideas they have. If you do not feel comfortable doing this via the web you can also do it by mail.

Check out my new bio on-line, and the rest of our magazine staff here.

Soulpatch Power

In the last couple of days I have had two guys stand in admiration of my soulpatch and tell me how they have never been able to grow facial hair in that area. Apparently this is a special gift from God...

Ironically, all three of the gentlemen listed as my blog "teammates", Hartsock, Steve, and Trent also have this blessing.

So whenever I get down and think about things I don't have, I will stick out my tongue, feel the patch, and thank God for giving me something special...

The Heat is Chilled...

Folks, it is not often that a new product moves me and gets my 100% endorsement. In fact, the last time it happened was probably the Code Red movement. But it is game on for Miller Chill!

Mad props go out to Bon for picking up a sixer this weekend, and despite her complete rebellion against beer, tried it and said, "if I ever HAD to drink a beer, this would be it." That is all that needs to be said folks, a ringing endorsement by Bon, and Miller Chill has now taken a seat in Furniss lore next to the Grand Daddy, Code Red...

This cannot be for real...

SCLC To Honor Vick At Atlanta Convention

They have to be hungry for PR, read it here...

Big Ern, meet Smooth Addie...

Every time we get a chance to head to Chillicothe it is a whirlwind. Took the trek on Saturday morning and made it to Addie's 4th Birthday party at the world famous Shawnee Lanes. This photo comes courtesy of her Daddy, the real Slim Shady, as she strikes a pose for spectators with an impending strike looming. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and Reese got to pound some cake and ice cream, so all is good. Mom treated us to lunch, always good to see her, and we even got a chance to stop by and see Martha for a bit. She seems to be doing well following her most recent surgery and has endured more pain in her life than I ever want to realize. It was a little difficult to stay awake on the ride home, but we made it.

On to Sunday, I have to tell you Ben is on fire right now. I am going to take the audio from these parenting sermons and play them back to myself about every six months just to make sure I am staying straight. We had a pretty good push for the first sports sign-ups and I hope some folks are able to grow in their faith through these groups as I did.

Most of yesterday afternoon was spent on Economics homework, and chilling with my girls.

Peace out...

Mid-day Update

Need an afternoon pick me up like I do? Check out this video of Reese taken one year ago this week!


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Downer Day

Obviously are prayers go out to those in Minneapolis and the bridge collapse yesterday. One of Bon's college roommates lives there and has some family, so we are hoping they are all OK.

Another story from the 'Nati yesterday that just blows my mind involves a murder-suicide. You can read about it here.

We did a whole lot of nothing last night, just chilling and watching Reese entertain us. She is definitely growing up!

Peace out...

Welcome to August

Another month gets rolling today.

Bon and I had a solid dinner last night, celebrating the Ocho at Benihana. I had some lobster and Bon scored some sweet chicken dish with plenty left over for lunch today. Reese had a phenomenal time with Blake, The Godfather and Carrie.

Be sure to check out our 4 Corners link to the right. Ben had a great message Sunday that you can listen to or watch, there are some pics from Sports Camp, and also a list of school supplies which can be purchased to help out some families in the community.

Does anyone want to buy some advertising?...

The Ocho

Bon and I are celebrating our eight year anniversary today. Does not seem like it has been that long, honestly. Going for a nice dinner tonight and Reese gets to spend some time with her boy Blake. So it is a win-win for everyone.

Speaking of Reese, she had her 18 month check-up yesterday and passed with flying colors. She is right where she needs to be and gives the docs a good laugh when she is in there.

Join along, and celebrate the Ocho...

I am Parrothead

The last few days have been a whirlwind, the concert, Beth in town, etc.

Let me start with the Thursday tailgate. Great time, great food, plenty of adult beverages and cornhole. The rain held off for all but 15 minutes, which was not bad at all. Buffett's crew has a guy who walks around the tailgate area during the day, taping people, and putting them on the big screen during the show. Well, wouldn't you know it, Pipes and Spencer made it. They were imitating a pug with a special talent for consuming beer, classic! We all made it back to the house in one piece, the concert was a lot of fun, and Reese enjoyed the parade of boys out of the basement the next morning. She sure does like dudes. I would definitely go back to another Jimmy show, very laid back, good tunes. He even played a cover of "Brown Eyed Girl", one of my favorites for obvious reasons.

While Beth was in town she decided to take over the Reese Saturday night and give us an opportunity to hit the town. We had a cool dinner, ran into some friends from church, and then went to a movie! Ocean's 13, and it gets two thumbs up! It is tough to beat any original in a series of sequels, (although Red Dragon also comes very close to Silence of the Lambs for me), but this flick totally crushed Ocean's 12 and is definitely buyable when it comes out on DVD. Reese had a ton of fun with Grandma and gave her a ton to laugh about.

Back to work today, looking for the Benjamins...

Peace out!

In honor of Reese enjoy this clip with a little extra funk:

Margarittaville

Been a little since the last post, but the madness has just begun...

Pipes and BG are en route to the house. Guido, Spencer, Fischer, Ondrus, and Austin are hooking up with us in the morning as we head to Riverbend to start tailgating at 9am! Everyone keeps telling me that I am in for a treat, being a Jimmy virgin, I am not sure what to expect, but the hype is strong to very strong. Expect a full report on Friday.

Last night I had the honor of helping out with the 4 Corners Sports Camp. Thanks to Swartwout for letting me help. It was a great time and some of the kids had skillz! Including a girl who gave me a vision of Reese in five years, dominating boys at their game, she scored 4 TD's!

Afterwards, hooked up with some great guys at TGIF for some grub and drinks. The burger was awesome! We had the chance to talk some business and play a little name that tune with the 80's music being played. I am very blessed to have numerous solid dudes in my life.

Keep prayers up for a couple of grandparents, Bon's grandma Martha and the Godfather's grandpa. Both are having pacemaker procedures.

Peace out...

150K

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Corolla has rolled over 150,000 miles! When we bought it eight years ago it had 32K, clearly she has been a champ. My goal is to get her to at least 200K and then we will see what is happening.

Friday night had a solid dinner with the Godfather fam, and when I got home I just felt like mowing, so was able to knock that out. Saturday we did a lot of chillin' and painting, finishing up the cornhole set with a sweet Notre Dame logo. Had a short visit with Beth who is now up in C-bus with Grandma Martha preparing for surgery. We are keeping the weiner dog for a few days, so Reese is having fun with that.

Our home will be invaded in just a few days as 7 guys will be crashing with us and we will be making our way to Jimmy Buffet on Thursday night. I believe our tailgate party is starting about 9am, good times...

Peace out

Tragic

A later post today will detail our latest and greatest, but wanted to pass on this tragic story.

Former major league infielder and current Tulsa hitting coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday night after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box in a game against Arkansas.

Unbelievable. Coolbaugh was knocked unconscious and CPR was administered to him on the field after he was struck in the forehead. The 35-year-old was still alive when he was put in an ambulance, but stopped breathing before arriving at the hospital. Coolbaugh, who played in 44 games for the Brewers in 2001 and the Cardinals in 2002, hit 256 career homers in the minors before retiring after last season. He had just taken the job as Tulsa's hitting and first-base coach on July 3. He is survived by his wife and two children, with a third on the way in October.

Worldwide

One of the cool new features I have added to the blog is a stat tracker, that shows me how many visitors I get a day and where they are coming from. I have been pleasantly surprised with the popularity. The blog is getting about 20-25 unique visitors a day, and spanning from Alaska (obviously) to Boston and down to Pensacola, Florida. I would have never have dreamed that so many people either thought our life was a) interesting or b) entertaining.

Keep 'em coming, tell all your friends, as Toby would say, "Let's spread this love like dandelions"

As Hartsock and I were shooting the bull yesterday, a couple of "Kwan" references and Jerry Maguire came up. This lead me to a hilarious video clip, with one of my favorite animals...

Back to Class

I return to school tonight after playing hooky last week. Apparently I did not miss much, but we will see how it goes.

Our whirlwind tour continued last night as Clark stopped by for the evening. Bon made a rocking dinner and we got him squared away on some technical stuff for something he is working on.

It sounds like we may have another visitor this weekend as well, we love it, the house is getting plenty of play.

Thanks again to the guys from CCM who for some reason asked me back to play some softball Tuesday night, I had a good time, but still need to get some work in the cage.

For the record, if I owned the Atlanta Falcons Mike Vick would be cut yesterday. Killing dogs? Seriously, get a brain in your head.

Reese turned 18 months yesterday, (applause), we have a cool video to post here as soon as I get it downloaded. You will also get to enjoy Bon's singing skillz.

And last, but certainly not least MAJOR PROPS go out to my boy, $$$, commonly referred to as S-Braine. He has a business about to launch which is off the charts sweet. I will post more info as it goes live and have added the link to his site in our "Sponsors" listing. I hope you all will help us spread the word and support him when the time comes.

Keep it real for now...

Power Packed

Wow, a lot went on this weekend, no way I could do it justice here.

Let's hit the highlights:

• Daddy B and Aunt Krys, nuff said really, always a pleasure
• Slim possee and Grandma-ma rolled down as well
• Tossed the pigskin with the fellas, did some grilling
• Bon made kabobs
• Reese got some new kicks (Croc style)
• Aunt Krys experienced Jungle Jim's and gave her another reason to move here
• Saw a ton of family at Jamie's that I had not seen in a long time
• Daddy B cooked up some unbelievable food, as usual
• When he moves back I anticipate gaining 15 lbs.
  
• Got home wicked late last night
• I administered the Heimlich maneuver to Jase after he repeatedly choked at Cornhole
  
• Reese is re-adjusting today after 4 days of big excitement
• Great message at church on Sunday, check it out at the church's website (link to the right)

Peace out for now...

My "Special" Holiday

Many of you know that I have a special affinity with the #13, it is my favorite number. It was my football number and I use it on any other jersey or t-shirt which requires a number. Heck, if Bon would go for it, I would have 13 kids. So I always look forward to the 13th of every month, especially when it falls on Friday.

Had a great time with familia de Guido last night. (I am on a Spanish kick right now, sorry) Hayden looks like a little dude and Reese is a big Jackson fan. Always good to see them, and I swear Reese said Uncle Guid.

Today she gets Auntie Rie! This is a stellar week in Reese's early life, let me tell you.

Peace out...

7'9" of New Husband

Worlds tallest man just got hitched, awesome!

Had a great dinner last night with a group of friends at a quaint little Mexican joint. I could definitely see myself going back but I think I will try something different on the menu. Reese had a good time where she stayed and passed out on the way home. I have said it before and I will say it again, holding Reese while she sleeps is one of the coolest things I get to do.

Big excitement tonight as Hayden Grooms makes his debut to the Furniss Family. Very much looking forward to seeing the Guido clan tonight at Casa De Fuego (our house).

Keep it on the down low that I am skipping class y'all.

Two Cars in The Garage

Bon is awesome, I got to tell you. Monday night we had started a little side project, finally organizing and cleaning up the garage. We got a little over half way done I would say and left the rest for yesterday. Well, during Reese's nap yesterday Bon went out and pretty much finished it, leaving only the hoisting of materials into the storage space above the garage. So, after I mowed last night we took care of that, and then I pulled both cars in the garage. It may not seem like a big deal, but I am stoked, I ain't gonna lie.

Looking forward to dinner tonight with a group of friends at a restaurant we have heard raves about.

I registered and received the books for my mortgage class in August, so that is exciting.

Life is good...

Reese, meet Tobymac

What a weekend!

On Saturday Reese made her King's Island debut. (I am sure this was the first visit of many in her life). We rolled up, rode a couple of rides with her, and hit Spirit Song. She was less than thrilled with the rides, clearly she is ready for something more exciting. Unfortunately, at her current height her options are limited.

First band she saw was Building 429, she was OK with it, but fell asleep in the middle of their set.

Then came Tobymac...

It was like she recognized his music instantly, we play it in the house a lot. She started clapping and dancing, and eventually ended up on the bench breaking down some moves for everyone around us to witness. We had a great time.

Yesterday Squibb and I shot down to the Reds game to take some clients. We were sitting three rows behind home plate and got some major face time on the tube. But, I got to tell you, it was HOT! And we both have a tint of red to our complexions this morning. Dang bullpen blew a two run lead in the top of the ninth, or we would have been out of there an hour earlier.

A lot going on this week, including a weekend with Daddy B and Aunt Krys, yeah!

Enjoy this video from Tobymac...

Hooligans

Quick story for you. Jase and Amber had their house vandalized a few days ago. Some young hooligans decided to spray paint vulgar stuff on houses down their road and smash some mailboxes along the way. The mailbox smashing I can live with, I've been there, but spray painting houses is too much.

(Seg-way to another story) In high school we were out smashing mailboxes one night and one of my boys took a big swing with the "aluminator" and struck a concrete lined mailbox! His whole body jiggled like you would see in a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

Which all leads me to my point that was recently stated on the Herd talk show a few days ago. The comment was, "Wow, since Zach Randolph got in trouble in Portland, you know he will get in trouble in the NYC."

Colin's response, "Which two cities do NBA guy get in the most trouble in?, Portland and Indianapolis. Why is that? Cuz there is nothing to do but sit around with your entourage, guns and dogs."

Similar story to the concrete jungle known as Frankfort, OH. The reason crap like this happens unfortunately is because there is nothing else to do.

Can someone put a couple of nightclubs or at least a stop light in the thriving metropolis that I grew up in? Please, save the next generation!

I'm out...

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July everyone!

We had a phenomenal time last night, what can I say our neighbors rock! I would say there were approx. 75 people here for our block party and the fireworks display was strong, to very strong. Mad props go out to Brian.

One of the coolest things is that the family who sold us our house and the family next door who recently moved out both came back.

Reese was less than thrilled with the show, falling asleep in Bon's lap about halfway through. How she fell asleep with that noise level amazes me. We took the monitor over to the central party point and was able to hang out and chat into the wee hours this morning. I took a 2 hour nap today if that tells you anything.

Back to work tomorrow.

Keep it real...

Are you kidding me?

A-Rod's wife sports vulgar tank top
/ Associated Press
Posted: 17 hours ago

The wife of Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez wore a white tank top with foul language on the back when she attended a game against the Oakland Athletics.

A common two-word obscenity ending with "you" was clearly visible when Cynthia Rodriguez, her 2-year-old daughter and an unidentified older woman took their seats Sunday in the players' family section at Yankee Stadium.

A front-page photograph Monday in the New York Post shows the back of the tank top with the obscenity printed in Old English lettering between the shoulder blades. The first letter of the first word is visible; the three other letters are intentionally blurred. The second word is 'You.' The paper's headline read: "F-Rod."

The Yankees had no immediate comment, team spokesman Jason Zillo said Monday.

According to the Post, the team's policy prohibits banners or signs that are not in "good taste" and also warns that security guards will eject any guests "using foul language" or "making obscene gestures." Zillo would not address whether the message on the shirt violated the policy.

Picnic Fun

We had a great time on Saturday with a group of friends at Sharon Woods. Great weather, good food and fun times.

Church was rocking Sunday, Greg did a phenomenal job. It was the first time Bon and I had sat together in service in weeks.

The weekend without homework was strong, to very strong, and I am looking forward to no class on Thursday night!

Big Birthday props go out to my grandma today, the big 6-9.

Keep it real,

(But first check out this crazy story)

Chicago Woman Born With Tiny Arms Denied McDonald's Service for Using Feet

Monday , July 02, 2007

A woman has filed a lawsuit against a McDonald's franchise, claiming that employees in two suburban Chicago restaurants refused to serve her because a birth defect forces her to use her feet as hands.

Dawn Larson was born with Holt-Oram Syndrome, which left her with diminutive hands just six inches from her shoulder, according to a report Monday in the Chicago Sun-Times.

"I drank my baby bottle with my feet," she told the paper. "Nobody ever taught me how to do it, I just did it. I can ride a regular 10-speed bike. I can swim. It has not been a problem in my life at all. It didn't stop me from having four boys. I've never dropped one of them."

In her lawsuit filed last week against the Rockford, Ill., McDonald's chain, Larson claims staff refused to serve her after she paid by credit card with her left foot for $23.59 of food last November, the paper reported.

"What's the matter with you? . . . You ain't got no arms. ... Let me see your arms," an employee allegedly told Larson with a tone of disgust, withdrawing the bags of food from Larson's outstretched foot, the paper said, citing the lawsuit.

The food was eventually given to Larson's son, but she says the incident occurred again three months later at a different McDonald's in Rockford. Both are owned by McDonald's Restaurants of Illinois Inc., the Sun-Times reported.

"We care very much about our customers and take this allegation seriously," Larry Taylor, director of operations for McDonald's Restaurants of Illinois Inc., told the paper. "We do our very best to serve our customers with the utmost care and respect. We have a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination in our restaurants. We have not seen the lawsuit and, as such, it would be inappropriate to comment."

Oh My Goodness!

Time to celebrate my friends, my Stats class is over and the Spice Girls are back!

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will.

Gizmo?

Bon has returned from her Walk to Emmaus weekend, and Reese and I are so excited. We missed her terribly, although, as expected, it sounds like she had a phenomenal time. Thank you to everyone who sent her a letter.

I have been working on a couple of big school projects, as this Thursday is our final class of Stats. (This has been my least favorite course in the curriculum)

Thanks to Jum, I have decided to try out a new nickname for Reese. When she giggles it sounds just like Gizmo from the Gremlins movie. I asked her if she likes the name and she said, "NAAHHHH". I swear she has a southern accent sometimes.

I been saying it all along...

Firstborn sons have higher IQs, Norway study finds

By Ishani Ganguli2 hours, 13 minutes ago

Firstborn sons have higher IQs than their younger brothers, and their social status within the family may explain why, researchers reported on Thursday.

A study that used military draft records for more than 240,000 Norwegian men found that firstborns had an edge of 2.3 IQ points on their next oldest brothers, who in turn beat brothers born third by 1.1 points on average.

Men who had been raised as the eldest, whether they were born first, second, or third, had IQs to match their first-born peers. The same was true for those raised or born second, Petter Kristensen and colleagues at the University of Oslo report in the journals Science and Intelligence.

"This study provides evidence that the relation between birth order and IQ score is dependent on the social rank in the family and not birth order as such," Kristensen's team wrote in Science.

Their studies confirmed what many scientists had suspected for more than a century -- that firstborns have an edge.

But attempts to prove the effect have been disputed, in part because the circumstances of each family are different.

To compensate for this, Kristensen's team studied brothers raised in the same families.

And some scientists argue that birth order IQ differences arise in the womb, while others point to family interactions.

Emmaus, Part II

First off, I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Katey's Dad Chris. It is way cool that many of you, who have never met him, continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He is doing well, following his final surgery yesterday and all signs point to an almost full recovery.

Took Jum and Katey up to Beaver Junction this morning where my man Slim took over and transported them the rest of the way. It was great to see them, cannot wait until they are moved back here.

Reese and I are flying solo this weekend as Bon heads on her Walk to Emmaus. We will miss her terribly, but this experience will be awesome for her.

Can this be for real?

http://www.diet-water.com/index.htm

Keep it real...

Throw Some Up

We need some prayers for my sister-in-law Katie's Dad, Chris.

He was in a severe motorcycle accident yesterday and suffered a long list of injuries which include: a broken arm, neck, back, compound fracture of his wrist, dislocated hip, and bleeding on his brain. Witnesses say a van pulled out in front of him.

He is in UK Medical Center.

Camp

There is OU Football Camp tonight at King's high school, so I am going to swing over and hang with Guido for a while. Definitely looking forward to seeing him and any possible future Bobcats.

Just a little head's up that the blog may be getting a little deeper at certain points in the near future as Bon and I face some different things.

The first one, which is not as serious, but interesting, is who I decide to throw my support to in the 2008 election. I am still trying to do the research before I come public, but it seems to be a little tougher this year to decide. No one is a slam dunk at this point. For those of you who may not know, I intend to run for public office someday, I feel it is my American duty.

Another will be possible job changes and where we believe God is leading us to make an impact.

And thirdly, is just dealing with the time crunches in our daily lives and how a possible new baby would affect that. Let me be clear, there is no baby currently on the way, we are just talking about it.

I leave you with this funny anecdote about how goofy I was as a kid. I once shaved my football number in the back of my head. (My head was carrying a mullet at the time as well)

Peace out

BTW, check out this pic of my girl which appeared one year ago on this blog

New Church

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Four Corners has moved into the new digs, and Sunday was pretty strong. You can check out a video of the transformation here:

http://4cornerschurch.com/etc/Extreme_Makeover.mov

It is amazing to see the amount of work people put into this process, and for no personal gain, giving of themselves for something bigger. Straight up God work, awesome to see.

I also have a pretty funny story for you. I walk in the house yesterday to get lunch with my girls when Bon says, "Hey turn around again". Now either no one had noticed, or they had failed to tell me, but I had a huge hole in the right cheek buttocks area of my pants. Now I am pretty sure it was not there when I pulled them on yesterday morning and I did not hear a rip throughout the morning, so I am really unsure of how it got there. But needless to say, someone probably got an eyeful of boxer briefs yesterday morning.

Also, we will have a new neighbor this weekend, looking forward to meeting her. All we really know is that she is a huge Nascar fan.

Peace out

What a Blessing

I can relate

Wanted to touch on a subject which has been in the sports news headlines. The leap from Billy Donovan to the Magic and back again to Florida. You can get more details at this link: http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6875046.

While I completely agree with my boy Colin Cowherd, I can agree with the other side as well. Cowherd says that you should think about all factors before deciding to sign a contract and once you sign a deal, you need to honor it.

In contrast, I know how it feels to make a decision and regret it fairly quickly. My first day at Dave Ramsey I knew I had made a mistake and needed to find a way to rectify it. Sometimes things sound better than the really are, and once you leap into the water, you may find that the temperature just is not right.

Funny side story. I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for Mr. Dipes, N2, Trey and Natureboy, having lunch at Willie's yesterday. Some of the homes down there rest on a fairly steep hill, so I assume using a standard lawnmower is not an option. The reason I say this is because he was mowing the yard with a weed trimmer. I wish I had a camera with me to post that photo up for you all, classic...

Peace out

Drenched

The Reese was feeling a little under the weather last night so I stayed back with her to chill while Bon went to the new church digs to throw up some colors (paint). We had a great time, including the popular bath festival. Last night she decided to take one of her toys, which can hold water, and douse me with aqua. My shirt was literally ringing wet, but she had a blast and even busted out the deep laugh where you don't breathe for a second, so it was all worth it.

You know, it is very difficult to beat holding your child in your arms. I love spending time with her.

Be sure to check out the newly inserted blog links which can hook you up to Hartsock, Steve and Trent. All good stuff to read.

Heading to the Emmaus reunion tonight with The Godfather.

Peace out

Weak

Now, I am no Hercules, but I could not let this one go. At the pre-draft combine for the NBA the guy in this photo, Kevin Durant, who is 220 lb's, could not bench press 185 pounds one time.

The R-I-C

Almost too much to write after my weekend trip to Richmond, VA to see my main man, $$$.

It was really good to see him and crush Madden '05, old-school style. Got the chance to see the kids who are growing like crazy and bust out some old tag lines. "Why are you being so sensitive?", classic S-Braine-ism. Cannot wait for him to come up and visit us, I know alot of peeps would love to see him and he needs to meet The Reese.

Side note, he has a phenomenal business idea which I will tell you more about as I am able.

Bon is off playing volleyball tonight so I am trying to catch up on some homework now that "monkey" has gone to sleep.

There are also some big things shaking with 4 Corners as we are headed to a new location this week, very exciting stuff. If anyone needs proof that God is real and he works in amazing ways, I would like to share some stories with you.

I did not find drugs under my seat on the Skybus flight, it is legit.

You see a lot of interesting things on airplanes and in airports. For example, a couple of people get up to stand in line at the door to get on the plane, so everyone else does. I got a kick out of staying in my chair and reading my latest edition of Entrepreneur magazine while they all stood there for 20 minutes.

I also realized how unhappy most people seem, it is pretty sad.

Check out the new link to the right for your very own mullet gear, it's a little business that Slim is running.

Peace out, for now

That Floor is Beautiful

(Photo is not the actual office...yet)

Mad props go out to Jase for helping me throw down the new flooring in our office, and to Bon for doing 95% of the painting. I am telling you all, the amount of work Bon does on a daily basis makes me look like a posh Miami grad.

Lots went on this weekend, hangin' with Slim's possee, we had a great time.

More to come, stay tuned...

New Rubber

We were outside last night, playing with Reese and hanging out when I noticed that my tire had gone a little too flat. Talked with the guys at the shop and they said they could get me in at 7am this morning. So I put on the donut last night with Bon's help and headed over to Big O Tires at the crack of dawn.

I had some dry-rot issues and I honestly could not tell you the last time I bought new tires. It was easily five years ago. So after reviewing their bald state with the technician I decided to take the plunge and put new tires on the beast.

She is riding like a dream...

Better Than Ever

What an amazing weekend.

As most of you know I went on the Walk to Emmaus this past weekend and words cannot describe my experience. I learned things about Christ, myself, and others that have changed my life. I could never thank The Godfather and Carrie enough for their role in this experience.

I did miss my girls a lot, but I know I will be a better husband and father for them moving forward thanks to this experience.

In addition, a few weeks ago I had scheduled a client experience at the Reds game last night, not realizing it was the date coming off of Emmaus. We had a great time though, sitting four rows behind home plate and you could get a pretty good look at Squibb and I on TV. (I saw us on the Sportscenter highlights this morning)

Getting back in the swing of things now with a renewed focus and passion, to all of you who read this I want to thank you for your friendship.

The Heat is on...

Hiatus

The blog will be taking a break until next Tuesday, so I wanted to leave you with something to enjoy...

Check this out...

From 1998 this appeared on CNNSI's web-site!

Things like this link pop-up when you google your own name...


Getting Picky About the NFL Draft

Posted: Wed April 15, 1998
Peter King's NFL Mailbag

The most exciting time of the offseason is at hand, and SI's football guru returns to answer your questions.

What is the status of the Sean Gilbert trade?
—Dave Bristol, Wilmington, N.C.

I talked to Washington coach Norv Turner Wednesday, and he told me in no uncertain terms that Carolina has to include its first-round pick in any trade package for Gilbert. I think the Panthers, who are holding out for a lesser package of picks, will have to give up the first-rounder. Carolina has little choice. By not getting this done before the draft, the Panthers risk paying higher compensation in 1999 draft terms or Washington killing the deal entirely. I see this getting done by midnight Friday, the night before the draft.

Given the fact the Patriots are not in a rebuilding mode, does it make sense for them to trade up for better picks?
—Len Berkowitz, North Easton, Mass.

Len, it makes sense for the Patriots to do two things in this draft—get a very good corner and a cornerstone running back. I don't think they'll trade up to get Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson, nor do I think they'll trade up to get Penn State running back Curtis Enis. If I were them, I'd trade up with Dallas at No. 8 and try to get Florida's Fred Taylor. When was the last time you saw a 230-pound running back who could run a legitimate 4.35 40—on grass?

Looking at the big picture, if I'm Bobby Grier on draft day, I don't pay a ransom for anyone. With the 1998 and '99 drafts, New England is in the unique position of being able to provide a talent base for the franchise for the next decade. The Pats have 10 picks in the first three rounds of the next two drafts, and if fewer than six of those picks make an impact, then Grier has failed to take advantage of hitting the lottery with all of the Jets draft choices.


Do you think that the Bears would be best served to pass on Randy Moss, just for the reason that they don't have a quality QB to keep both he and Curtis Conway happy?
—Jeremy Furniss, Frankfort, Ohio

I don't think there's any way the Bears take Moss, nor should they. This is not a throwing team. They don't have a strong-armed quarterback, and who knows how long Erik Kramer's going to be there anyway. I like what I think they're going to do: take the best offer they can get for the fifth pick Saturday, either from St. Louis or Jacksonville, then move down and get a player who can serve as the nucleus for their defense.

Game on

Looks like my trip is on, and you get to see a new pic of my girl.

An e-mail I received on Friday:

Skybus is pleased to announce that we've received our federal certification to fly!

Mom's Weekend

Happy Monday everyone. It was a jam-packed weekend that started Friday night with a mowing festival as soon as I got home from work. She ran like a dream and we had no issues, which was awesome! It was the first time I had used the bagger, we had a lot of dead grass kind of laying around. 3 hours later I finished the 8th 42 gallon bag full of grass that now rests against the side of the house until trash day! I am still sore.

Saturday started off with a visit from Mom and Grandma and lunch at Johnny Carino's. We all dig italian and wanted something a little different than Olive Garden. It is always good to see my momma.

Saturday night I headed back to Johnny Carino's again to hook up with a group of friends from 4 Corners. We were not able to secure a babysitter for The Reese, so Bon stayed behind. Although this time, they had a balloon magician at the restaurant! He could make 500 different animals! (credit for that statement goes to Trent). I feel terrible that Bon could not make it and she missed hanging out with everyone.

One last thing, a shout out to my man Justin Swartwout, who was stricken by the 4 Corners four-wheelin' injury bug. He severely broke his leg, and I am guessing will be out for softball this year. Take care dawg.

That is all for now, tomorrow I will review the movie "Pursuit of Happyness" for you

Friday Music Pick

Looking forward to Mom and Grandma coming to see us tomorrow and also mowing with my OWN mower tonight!

Enjoy the show, love these guys...

Miss Photogenic

Starting her young folks, love the Notre Dame pink!

Have to throw some mad props to Kim DeVilbiss. She came by the house last week and took some pictures of Reese, which turned out PHENOMENAL! We are extremely pleased. They turned out much better than any pics we have ever had taken in a studio. We will continue to use Kim in the future and I 100% recommend her to take pictures of your families/children.

To schedule a sitting, you can call or email Kim:

(513)541-2632

kimdevilbiss@fuse.net

Technology Rocks...

The Oakland A's said fans will be able to download tickets to their cell phones beginning Friday. As part of a deal with Major League Baseball's Internet unit, the A's said fans who buy tickets at Oaklandathletics.com can choose to have the bar coded ticket delivered to a mobile phone. The bar code is then scanned at a gate at McAfee Coliseum.

W Story

Now, I try to keep my political views out of the blog and keep it a "happy place", but I just could not let this one go. This was forwarded to me from a friend of a friend who is currently stationed in Mosul.

Jack Tilley, a Sergeant Major of the Army, was with a group of people who recently were visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC. He saw a Special Forces soldier who had lost his right hand and suffered severe wounds of his face and side of his body.

Sgt. Tilley wanted to honor him and show him respect without offending, but what can you say or do in such a situation that will encourage and uplift? How do you shake the right hand of a soldier who has none? He decided to act as though the hand was not missing and gripped the soldiers wrist while speaking words of comfort and encouragement to him.

However, there was another man in the group who knew exactly what to do. This man reverently took the soldier's stump of a hand in both of his hands, bowed at the bedside, and prayed for him. When he finished the prayer he stood up, bent over the soldier, kissed him on the head, and told him that he loved him.

Sgt. Tilley was awed by the powerful expression of love for one of our wounded heroes he was witnessing! "What a beautiful Christ-like example!" he thought, moved to tears.

What kind of a man would do such a thing?

It was the wounded man's Commander-In-Chief, George W. Bush, President of the United States. This eyewitness account was told by Sergeant Major Jack Tilley at a Soldiers Breakfast at Red Stone Arsenal, Huntsville, AL, and recorded by Chaplain James Henderson, who was stationed there.

No Cheesesteak?

Bon has returned from her weekend excursion in Philly. She had a great time, and Reese and I managed to keep the house from burning down! We had the chance to head over to Chi-town and see Slim's posse and my mama. Reese had a rock solid time with her cousins and slept the whole ride home. One of the great pleasures in life I have learned, is when my baby girl has fallen asleep in the car for the night, I take her out to carry her upstairs, and she gives the greatest "Daddy I feel safe in your arms" hugs. It is absolutely priceless.

Reese got the chance tonight to see her Mom in volleyball mode. We headed over to Sports Express and watched Bon and Jill kick some tail. We came away very impressed.

Warning, I am on the verge of chopping my lettuce. It is getting a little long and it is summer. (Not real conducive to flowing locks...)

Peace out

Big Things

I apologize for the delay, a lot going on lately. Working on two papers for a final class tonight and had some car issues yesterday.

As I was driving around doing my thing, the car started making a weird noise. It was like little people were typing morse code inside the engine. I decided to take it by Oil Express and have them check the belts and hoses. It was not them, but something much more exciting, one of my spark plug wires had blown the end out and was not attached to the actual plug. Upon further investigation he revealed that the other three wires were fried and it was not going to be long until I was stranded on a road somewhere. They were extremely helpful and cut me a nice deal. If you live in the 'Nati I highly recommend them.

According to Sibcy Cline's web-site, the house next door to us is no longer available, sold already! Clearly they were informed of their potential wicked sweet neighbors and knew they had to buy.

At 12:01 a.m. tonight I will be watching Spider Man 3 with a group of friends...

Reese is having pictures taken this morning...

Bon is leaving us tomorrow for the weekend, I sure will miss her...

I give the Bears a "B" on their draft, Greg Olsen was a good pick, but nothing else moved me. I will give them a free pass this year.

NFL Draft

One of the beauties of blogging is that it stays here, in black and white, forever and ever. So 5 years from now you can come back and look at my draft preview and realize my genius.

It is nearly impossible to predict who everyone will take, because some teams are ignorant. What I will do is give you players that I think are legit, and players who are druts (turd spelled backwards).

Legit:
Calvin Johnson
Joe Thomas
Amobi Okoye
Patrick Willis
Michael Bush
Steve Smith
Brian Leonard
Tony Hunt

and, oh yeah, Brady Quinn!



Druts:
JaMarcus Russell
Gaines Adams
Levi Brown
Marshawn Lynch
Leon Hall
Ted Ginn
Kevin Kolb

26 hours...

Guinea Pig

So, I get a call from Slim and he drops some knowledge on me about a new airline called Skybus, (www.skybus.com).

If you check this site out you will see one-way fares for $10, insane! They only fly to a select number of cities at this point, and are actually based in C-Bus.

Fortunately, they fly to Richmond, VA. This means a dirt cheap trip to see $$$, aka S-Braine. I am very much looking forward to seeing him, we have not had a chance to hang out since ISP days, about two and a half years ago.

Skybus also flies to Greensboro, so as long as the airline is legit and I am not smuggling drugs on the trip, we will take a family trip to the NC and get a rental car to transport us to Fayetteville.

I am currently in class and watching a movie.

1 Day, 16 Hours until the fiesta...

Check back tomorrow for my draft preview

Rolling

Not much new going on today, Bon did a ton of work on the house yesterday and I managed to almost drown Reese in the bathtub. (Not really, she drank some bath water and got a little choked, but freaked me out!)

So in order to still provide entertainment, I have decided to provide some tunes for you to enjoy...

3 Days until the Draft baby!!!

Congrats...

To Guido and Emily who welcomed son #2 to the world yesterday, Hayden was born in Athens and all are doing well.

Weekend Update

(Look Chubbs, outside!)

A busy weekend is behind us, and it all started Friday night. I came home from work intending to knock out the mowing for the weekend. I got a good piece of the back yard knocked out and down she went again. The mower was not working. It may be a hidden talent, if I were a wrestler would I be the "Mower Killer." So big ups to The Godfather, who bails me out AGAIN, and loans me his mower to finish the job. Now we take ours to the shop tomorrow and hope the warranty covers it.

As I finished up today something struck me, it was the sound of a subdivision, the symphony of mowers, ahh...

Mad props to Trent and Michelle, who hosted our posse on Saturday and made some amazing BBQ ribs! We had a great time and are looking forward to the expansion of our group and getting to know each other better.

I also got the opportunity to meet some guys on the street and play a game of cornhole this evening, I am definitely a little out of practice, but it was nice meeting them.

I now have a 100 foot extension cord if anyone needs to borrow it...

Scholarship

So, this is my ticket to South Bend...

Biz is tough

OK, we are approaching our first hurdle in the new biz. The name we wanted is already taken. So now it is time to get the creative juices flowing and try to come up with something else. This should be interesting, I really, really want to stay away from using our family name in the business moniker.

Swing and a Miss

Props to the Godfather and the guys from CCM for picking me up for a softball double-header last night. My performance, was, lackluster at best. At the plate, two words for you, "swinging bunt". I did not get one hit out of the infield and struck out to end the second game. I see some batting cage work in my future. I must step up my game with a possible 4 Corners squad on the horizon.

Where to Start?

OK, I hope you all have had a chance to enjoy the video. Some of this is going to be pretty random, I apologize.

Last Tuesday I woke up with a little belly ache. This soon turned into attack of the aliens on my intestines! I will save you the details, but, the floodgates were open at both ends if you know what I am sayin'

Shout out to Daddy B, (for those of you who may not know he is my biological uncle, but has unofficially adopted me), he has completely torn his rotator cuff. Surgery is on the horizon and 4-6 months off of work. For those of you who know him, this is going to be a problem. He loves to work! The silver lining is that he will have a bionic shoulder once our business gets rolling!

An 82 year old client actually said to me last week, "Is that your real hair?"

I have not been able to mow my yard for 15 days, or use my new trimmer which was purchased 14 days ago...

On the horizon is the "Heat Endorsement Links", these will appear on the left side of the blog page and will link up to some of my favorite businesses...

Reese has yet to grasp spacial differences, she thinks Bon and I should be able to sit next to her in a box...

My favorite weekend of the year, the NFL Draft is twelve days away...

Reese Vid!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

One of the amazing things Bon has been able to do with Reese at home is teach her some sign language. She has got "more" down pretty well, which is touching the index finger and thumb of each hand together. In this clip, she decides her baby doll wants to do it too.

A ton to talk about expect a big update later tomorrow, don't want to take away from the video, let's just say I spent alot of time with our toilets for a couple of days...

Easter Update

OK ladies and gentlemen, the significance of the photo to the left is this: if you have ever wanted to be our neighbor, now is your chance. One of our neighbors have just put their house up for sale. I encourage anyone who reads this blog to seriously consider it...

Friday night we had a great time at the Godfather Casa, celebrating with Blake. Thanks folks, Reese had a good time.

Saturday was the festival at our house with 30 in attendance I believe. This required me to pick up some tables and chairs from a party center, which went very well. I think everyone had a good time, I bailed at 4:00 to head over to the gym to set things up for Easter at church.

Easter service was phenomenal, Reese adapted well to her big poofy dress. I have a ton of pics from this weekend and will try and get them posted in the next few days. Yesterday Reese figured out how to enjoy a ring pop on her own, that was cool.

Back at work, need to find some $$$ for April.

Keep it real

Hillarious

ESPN Radio host rips Cincinnati

THE ENQUIRER

Wednesday on his nationally syndicated sports talk radio show, "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd spent several minutes lambasting Cincinnati after reading a story about a woman - whose name and hometown have not been made public but Cowherd assumes is from Cincinnati - who Tuesday caused a CVG-to-Hawaii flight to land in San Francisco.

Click here to listen to the mp3 of Cowherd's rant about Cincinnati.

Excerpts from Cowherd's assault on Cincinnati included:

• "What is it with Cincinnati? ... For how small a city it is, is it me or does Cincinnati have a disproportionate number of bottom-feeders and low-level gutterballs?"

• "Jerry Springer, Pete Rose, the Bengals, Bob Huggins, wild chick on an airplane, Larry Flynt ... They're not serial killers, they just have no class."

• "I mean, I live in a city that's essentially the same size, Hartford. We don't have half the problems, half the weirdos."

• "I mean, it's just boring. People get in trouble. It's just boring."

He proposes coming up with a new slogan for Cincinnati.

"Because the Queen City doesn't really sum up their dysfunction."

Cowherd said listeners submitted the following slogans:

• "Cincinnati: You're under arrest."

• "Cincinnati: We need more razor wire."

• "Cincinnati: We're what happens three hours after you eat at Taco Bell."

• "Cincinnati: Just like Vegas, without all the really great stuff."

• "Cincinnati: Step out of your car, please."

• "Cincinnati: 'Cuz losers need somewhere to live as well."

Opening Day and an Oil Spill

Since yesterday was such a beautiful day, after getting home from church I decided to mow the yard. The first time I have ever mowed my own yard mind you, and we have a brand new mower thanks to Clark. So everything is going well, moving along and I decide to add more oil when I have some difficulty getting it re-started. Of course I did not read the manual for the mower and poured in WAY too much. It starts back up and starts smoking violently and spewing oil out the side into the grass. (This photo is not actually from our yard) I decide to turn it back off, and after a quick call to Slim decide to drain all of the oil out and start over. All of that went well and I eventually got her running and full strength again. The yard looks great and Reese had fun watching me doing it, so that was cool. Chalk it up to another life lesson...

Also, when we pulled in the driveway from church the neighbor we had not met was outside doing some yard work, so I decided to introduce myself. The best part is that he was wearing a Muhsin Muhammad Bears jersey! Turns out he is from Chicago and a big Bears fan. Awesome...

Go Tribe and the Reds I guess...

Crazy Story

Judge bars Bears fan from naming self 'Peyton'

Associated Press

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) - Chicago Bears fan Scott Wiese is no Peyton Manning after all.

Macon County Judge Katherine McCarthy ruled this week that Wiese can't legally call himself Peyton Manning because it would be too confusing and might infringe on the privacy of the Indianapolis Colts quarterback.

That's fine by Wiese.

The 26-year-old was only trying to change his name to make good on a bet he lost when the Colts beat the Bears in the Super Bowl.

"I had told the judge that I was not doing this because I wanted to change my name, but I was doing it because I was honoring a bet," Wiese told the Decatur Herald & Review after Monday's ruling. "I think she understood that."

A few days before the February game, Wiese signed a pledge in front of a bar full of people that if the Bears lost, he would change his name to match the Colts player who led Indy to victory.

Manning had a big hand in the Colts' 29-17 victory.

Wiese's parents, Debbie and Steve Wiese, were pleased by the judge's decision.

"Wiese is our family name, and we're proud of it," Debbie Wiese told the Decatur newspaper. "I also didn't want to go through the rest of my life calling my son 'Peyton Manning."'

Just a little tune...

...to move your rump, from the Heat archives

Check back tomorrow for info on my two latest man crushes, riveting blogging!!!

Home Away From Home...

Home Depot has become my favorite hang out, (including three times on Saturday). I am about to add a line item to our budget strictly for them. The projects are going good, glad to be back at the office and away from manual labor!

Clearly if I opened with this I did not win mass flow at Belterra on Friday. My Benji ($100) was gone in about one hour and forty-five minutes. I sat in the loser's lounge and waited on my co-workers to finish. It was a good time, even though I came out with the goose egg.

Was sitting in a restaurant today and heard the same waitress introduce herself as three different names to different tables. Pretty creative, it reminded me of my days at Elder-Beerman in college where I went by Xavier. Pronounced Za-v-a. I still have the name tag!

Good times, good times...

Blackjack

(I hope I don't get this guy as my dealer)

So, our office won a sales contest in the fourth quarter of 2006 and we get to "cash in" today. We will be transported to Belterra this morning, given $100 to gamble with, and provided lunch. It should be alot of fun, I work with some cool people. This is the first time I have gambled since Dragonfest. For those of you who do not know that story, myself and four other members of my family sat down at a blackjack table, between us started with about $300, and walked away 2 hours later with $13,000. So, stay tuned for the results post.

Bon had a bad night on her picks, losing two Final Four teams and falling to second place. I was able to pick up some points by picking 3 of four last night.

I am missing my girls this morning, as Bon took The Reese to Chi-town yesterday morning and will be coming back today. She got to see a lot of her family members and spent the night with my mama, sounds like Reese put on a show.

(Matt Lauer just gave an OU shout-out, sweet!)

Bears Make a Move!

Great news, the Bears have made a trade! They have acquired SS Adam Archuleta from the Skins for a 6th round draft pick. I have always been an AA fan, and my rationale is a little scary. I think as a species in general, we gravitate towards others we can relate to. Well at 6', 215 pounds, AA is someone I can relate to. Had I been allowed to show my safety skillz back int he day, maybe I could be him right now! (See, twisted, I told you)

I also need to correct myself, Bon is currently in first place in her pool, not second.

Big shout out to the crew from Four Corners, had a great time last night.

We've had some drama at work lately, but nothing that has really affected me. All I will say is that I am very thankful for my current position.

Tool Time

Already big update, sorry for the delay. The finance class I just finished up with was the toughest one to date, and I have started the home improvement process.

Yeah, that's right, for those of you who have known me for a long time you know how comical it is that I have willingly tackled a construction project. Let's just say I am "mechanically challenged".

Needless to say, it is a great learning experience for future endeavors and Bon and I are having fun with it when Reese decides to sleep.
I even rented a truck at Home Depot to bring the drywall home. Mad props go out to the Godfather for coming by on short notice and helping me get it off the truck.

Happy belated Birthday to my Momma, she turned the big 5-1 on the 14th and next time I see her she will receive a phenomenal gift! (Not really, but want to bait her to visit)

Bon and I are having dinner tomorrow night with some friends from church and looking forward to it! There are eight families all together in the group and we have a good time when we get together.

Now to the tournament, congrats to Vandy, I am very happy for my friends who are still there. Bon and I are in separate pools this year, (she fears me head-to-head and we prefer to both be winners). Currently we both stand in second place, she picked 14 of the Sweet 16 and I have 13. We will see how it shakes down next weekend, hopefully I bank some flow...

No class this Thursday, will actually get to stay for the entire church meeting, celebrate!

Happy Birthday Bon!

Happy 30th to my Ambassador of Kwan, Bon I love you, I wouldn't want to do this without you.

Also, a funny story, I go to leave class last night and have no keys. Can't find them, retraced my steps 5 times, I know I had them walking in. So Bon had to get Monkey out of bed and come and pick me up at school. Luckily, I only carry three keys so it is not world changing to replace them. Just makes me feel like I am losing my mind!

American Idol

OK, time for some American Idol commentary.

The men suck, and there are a couple of girls who could get a record deal tomorrow. I am a big fan of Melinda, Lekisha and Gina. And any night you hear Mary J. and Evanesence you know it is good...

Speaking of music, there are some songs that make me break down and lose it. Even while I am driving, I am not going to lie, I am a sensitive man.

You have got to listen to this new song by Mark Schultz. If you aren't moved by it, I must inform you that you have no soul.

Good night...

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...