Surgery #1 in the books

Most of you know I flew down to Winston-Salem Thursday to have a muscle biopsy at Wake Forest University Medical Center, what follows are some of the details:

• Bon and Reese stayed back home, it just did not make sense to us for them to travel down for this procedure, especially being 18 weeks pregnant. There was a ton of just sitting around and waiting, not real conducive to a 2 year old.
  
• This meant that my man, $-Braine, aka Steven, got the call of duty, and stayed with me throughout the entire process, driving me everywhere I needed to go.
  
• I fly in Thursday, Steven picks me up and we head straight to the hospital for some paperwork and to get my vitals. BP is good, weight is good, 198, and they are amazed that I have no history of health problems, nor am on any medication. Quick shot out to the Godfather who picked me up Thursday morning at 4:30am in order to get me to the airport in Dayton on time. I meet with the surgeon and he gives me the option of an epidural or going out cold, with general anesthetic. The safe kind of course, given what I am there to be tested for. I vote against the epidural and put my trust in them using the correct gas to put me under. This also means a breathing tube will be inserted during the surgery, and has left my throat a little irritated ever since.
  
• Friday morning we get up at 4:45am and start getting ready. We have to be at the hospital at 6am, surgery at 8am. They call us back in groups of 4, leading us back to surgery prep areas. The nurse throws me a bag and a stylish gown, with implicit instructions. Without knowing for sure if I can leave my underwear on or not, I take the risk. Having to remove them was one of my major sources of stress leading up to the surgery. I know, I am so weird.
• So with that behind us, the nurse then begins to insert the IV into my hand. Biggest stress inducer #2, I have a huge aversion to needles. The nurse was great, joking with Steven and I the whole time about it, mind you I never lookd down. Once she gets it in, my stomach starts doing crazy flips, I break out into cold sweats, and I am very close to passing out. Steven in his tender nature says, "Dude, do you need me to get you a bucket?". And then follows with asking this nurse, "That's just saline at this point right?", to which she responds "Yes." That made me feel even better...
• After consulting with the anesthesiologist for about fifteen minutes, and getting my bearings back, I get to put a sweet shower cap on and start back to the operating room.
  
• I get moved to the O.R. table and they start the real thing thru the IV. About a minute later, I am out, and wake up in recovery which seems like 5 seconds later. I get to take my first look at the surgeon's handy work, pulling the gown back to reveal the sutchers and incision that is between 5 and 6 inches long. The nurse tells me everything went great and honestly said the following: "We didn't have any trouble at all, you had plenty of muscle to spare."
  
• After moving to my own recovery area for about 20 minutes, Steven gets to come back and I get my orders for leaving, along with a Rx for Vicatin.
  
• About 4pm my phone ring showing 336 area code, it is the hospital, they have the test results. Dr. Tobin says that "I have great news, your test is negative for Malignant Hyperthermia, and there is no chance that your children will have the disorder either. "
• All of the pain, time and money are such a small price to pay to hear those words. I have really appreciated the phone calls from family and friends checking up on me, and the prayers leading up to the surgery. Praise God for another tremendous blessing.
  

Another Draft in the books

After giving my last post proper respect in regards to length on the top spot of the blog, we will turn our attention to a little draft recap and a long story about school.

The Bears did OK this weekend, I like a couple of the picks, but cannot understand how we failed to draft a quarterback. It could be worse, we could be the Bengals, who clearly have no idea how to run a draft.

Now to the school story. Upon trying to get my application packet together for the CPA exam something didn't look right on the transcripts. According to my calculations there were not enough graduate accounting courses in the Indiana Wesleyan program to allow me to sit for the Ohio CPA Exam. To make a long story short, I was right. I have to take one more class to be able to sit for the exam. After deliberation with Bon and looking at some different options, we have decided I will take the class in the fall, when I can be fully reimbursed for it by the Enquirer. Yeah it sucks cause the baby will just be getting here, but it is one night a week for ten weeks. This sets me up to spend 2009 focusing on knocking this out.

Apparently I was the first to go through this program and attempt to sit for the Ohio CPA exam.

"Always the guinea pig, never the guinea." (Screech, Saved by the Bell)

Heat will Expire?

I think everyone knows how much we love 4 Corners and Ben's messages. But there are still certain Sundays that move us beyond a normal conversation on the drive home and cause us to keep reflecting on it for days, this past Sunday was one of those days.

In my daily "business" it is very easy to forget that one day I am going to die.

Bonnie, Reese, and everyone I love is going to die someday.

There is no getting around it.

Ben was amazing in describing what the Bible says about that moment when each of us leave this life. You cannot hear a message like this and not think about your own eternal destination, and that of your loved ones.

Obviously if you check out Heat Stadium, you are a friend or family member of ours. I would like to ask you to PLEASE find 35 minutes in your day to watch and ponder what Ben had to say on Sunday.

I pray that 4 Corners keeps cranking out thought provoking messages which can change lives.


11:59: Hell from Greg Hodges on Vimeo.

Weekly Tirade

Time for a dual-partisan political rant, please review the two positions below and then see my opinion after:

• Create the American Opportunity Tax Credit: Obama will make college affordable for all Americans by creating a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. This universal and fully refundable credit will ensure that the first $4,000 of a college education is completely free for most Americans, and will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students. Obama will also ensure that the tax credit is available to families at the time of enrollment by using prior year's tax data to deliver the credit when tuition is due.
  

PITTSBURGH — John McCain called Tuesday for the federal government to free people from paying gasoline taxes this summer and ensure that college students can secure loans this fall, proposals aimed at stemming the public’s pain now from the troubled economy.

In the longer-term, the certain Republican presidential nominee said he would double the tax exemption for dependent children and offer people the option of choosing a simpler tax system.

“We know from experience that no serious reform of the current tax code will come out of Congress, so now it is time to turn the decision over to the people,” McCain said in a sweeping economic speech at Carnegie Mellon University a week before Pennsylvania’s primaries.

To help people weather the downturn immediately, McCain urged Congress to institute a “gas-tax holiday” by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day. He also renewed his call for the United States to stop adding to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and thus lessen to some extent the worldwide demand for oil.

Combined, he said, the two proposals would reduce gas prices, which would have a trickle-down effect, and “help to spread relief across the American economy.”

Now, while these both sound like decent ideas on the surface, I believe they are merely empty campaign promises, let me explain. If I am the President of a university, or CEO of Exxon, I know that the market has dictated a certain price for my goods/services. I can raise tuition/gas prices instantly to make-up the difference of these government subsidies. Which means, I make a lot more Benjamins, Obama and Juan McCain gain some political approval, and the American people gain nothing. In fact, we prob get our taxes raised to pay for this crap! Yeah...

Do not get me wrong, I am all about capitalism, and if Exxon can make $30 Million in a quarter, rock on, do your thing, but I get a little bent when politicians use smoke and mirrors to appease the masses, when the truth is that it will not change one thing in our daily lives.

Great Article!

Well worth the read:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120787271551406585.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today

Ready for the weekend

Ok, here is the funny story from the move. (Btw, if you google basin images, this is what comes up, so...)

As Slim and I are loading a few things in the truck and bopping thru the house, Beth asked us to get the "antique wash basin" upstairs.

Slim and I head upstairs, look around, and I see what I call a basin in the floor. Slim and I look at each other and say, "well it doesn't really look like an antique, but ok." So it gets loaded on the truck, without Beth seeing us.

So she calls Bon later that day and says, "Hey I just noticed the guys forgot the antique wash basin." Bon says, "Jeremy said they got it, that's odd".

After some Laurel and Hardy type conversations we came to realize that Slim and I had carried off the new sink for Beth's soon to be remodeled bathroom. We were right, it was not an antique...

Other random thoughts

• Props to the Godfather for hooking me into a new role as Treasurer for the Chrysalis Board. Last night was my first official meeting, and I think I am really going to enjoy it
• I have my first mortgage lead, let the fun begin
• We have picked a girl's name, and are now set either way
• Eric Rockavella has every reason to not like me much right now, I hit his car and tried to hit his face in softball batting practice
• We scored a recliner and fridge for the basement as a result of the move
• I found another Glenn Beck follower this morning at breakfast, I knew I liked you Brad

Hitting some yard work this weekend, keep it real

About time!

ConocoPhillips, BP propose Alaska pipeline

Last updated April 8, 2008 9:20 p.m. PT

By KRISTEN HAYS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

The concept of a multibillion-dollar pipeline to bring huge natural gas reserves to U.S. markets from Alaska's North Slope has been knocked around for more than 30 years. ConocoPhillips and BP said Tuesday that they have linked arms to make it happen.

"The time has come now with the value of gas increasing and the need in the United States for that valuable commodity to bring that gas to market," said Jim Bowles, president of ConocoPhillips' Alaska division.

The companies would build a pipeline from Alaska to Alberta and possibly into the Lower 48 states.

What's more, they bypassed an Alaska bidding process, eschewing state incentives and putting forth their own plan to lock in customers, gain approvals from U.S. and Canadian governments and build the pipeline.

"We're not asking for anything," Bowles said in Anchorage. "This project is moving forward on its own."

Gov. Sarah Palin, who championed last year's bidding under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, wasn't insulted. If it means a viable project will get moving, all the better, she said shortly after the companies unveiled their plan.

"Choices allow for competition between projects," said Palin, who discussed the venture with the companies before they announced it. "If it can result in finally more exploration and more development that is safe and sound, at the end of the day, that is all good."

The pipeline, with a cost estimated at $25 billion to $42 billion, would be the largest-ever private sector construction project in North America, ConocoPhillips said.

The Houston-based oil giant and London-based BP aim to spend $600 million to solicit customers to make long-term commitments to use the pipeline. That process, called an "open season," would occur in late 2010 and early 2011.

After that, they would seek approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and its counterpart in Canada, the National Energy Board, before starting construction.

Meanwhile, they will open a headquarters in Anchorage that will employ 150 by the end of the year. Eventually, the project will have 500 workers plus "several thousand contractors," said Doug Suttles, president of BP's Alaska division.

"We are starting now. We're off," Suttles said.

The only proposal of five in the Alaska bidding process that was chosen for further review by Palin's administration was from Calgary-based pipeline giant TransCanada.

That plan is for a 48-inch pipeline to run 1,700 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Alberta, where it would tie into existing pipelines to reach U.S. markets. TransCanada estimated a cost of $26 billion to $35 billion.

The ConocoPhillips/BP plan calls for a similar route.

Tony Palmer, a TransCanada vice president, said Tuesday he supports "alignment" with ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, BP, the state of Alaska and his company.

A project to bring the North Slope's natural gas to market in the U.S. has been discussed since crude oil started flowing from the $8 billion Trans-Alaska Pipeline in Prudhoe Bay in 1977. The Energy Department says the North Slope has proven gas reserves of 35 trillion cubic feet, but geologists say as much as 200 trillion cubic feet remains undiscovered.

Whirlwind Adventure

(For those of you who are not aware, Jason and I flew to Tyler, Texas and drove a 26 foot Penske truck back to the Nati this past weekend)

Alright, now that I have recovered from sleep deprivation, here are the stories from the whirlwind adventure:

Jase and I began with a one hour delay in Dayton, that rolled into a four and a half hour delay at the Atlanta airport. We finally left the ground at 12:30am, landing in Dallas at 3am. This put us at Beth's house at 4:30am.

So, at that point the decision was made to just go ahead and start cranking, I mean how much good is one hour of sleep going to do?

So we started loading things up and somehow caught our second wind. The moving truck rolled down her street at 11am, headed to Cincinnati.

We made it all the way to Jackson, TN, when darkness settled in. This was the clear indicator to call it quits for the day, we were working on 40+ hours without sleep.

Needless to say, it did not take long to get to sleep once the hotel was secured.

Up and at 'em early we left Jackson at 6am Sunday morning. After a couple of hours we rolled thru Nashville. It was a little surreal, I had not been back since we moved two years ago.

Pretty uneventful ride, brought us back home just after 1pm Sunday afternoon. It was so good to see Bon and Reese again, they are sunshine of my life.

Thankfully we had 4 studs waiting to help on the back end and helped us unload in about 35 minutes at the storage facility! Big props to T-Bone, Godfather, Miley, and Engel, thanks guys!

Thanks and appreciation are not strong enough words to give proper kudos to Jase. He was awesome, a soldier the whole way thru, I could not have done it without him! The original Slim Shady, you rock!

I am back to normal today, well, normal for me. Check back in a couple of days for a funny story from the move...

Peace out

I got this e-mail as we passed thru Hope, AR, coincidence?

Dear Skybus Customer:

We regret to inform you that Skybus Airlines will cease all operations effective 12:00 a.m. Saturday, April 5. As a result, your Skybus flight has been cancelled.

Skybus will not be processing refunds directly. To arrange for a refund on your reservation, please contact your credit card company directly. If you purchased flight insurance for your reservation, please refer to your insurance confirmation from AIG for information on filing a claim.

Skybus struggled to overcome the combination of rising jet fuel costs and a slowing economic environment. These two issues proved to be insurmountable for a new carrier.

We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on our customers, as well as our employees and their families, vendors, suppliers, airport officials and others in the cities in which we have operated. Our financial condition is such that our Board of Directors felt it had no choice but to cease operations.

More information will be made available on the Skybus web site (www.skybus.com).

Biopsy

I finally have scheduled my muscle biopsy.

Here is the background:

My maternal grandfather passed away over 30 years ago unexpectantly while in the recovery room following routine surgery. After some investigating it was determined he had a disorder known as Malignant Hyperthermia, which is basically a deadly allergic reaction to anesthetic.

This condition is hereditary and we were all tested as kids almost 20 years ago. The initial test is a standard blood test, and the results showed that Mom and Jum were positive, Jase and I were negative. However, it is possible to carry a false negative. The only true way to test is to have a muscle biopsy done at an approved hospital with the proper testing instruments.

Thus, Jase and I are having these tests done at Wake Forest Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC. We want to know for sure so we can proceed accordingly for our girls, and future children. Amazingly, none of us have ever needed surgery, and thankfully they have actually developed a safe anesthetic to use if they are made aware of the condition in advance.

So they will be taking a 3 inch cut of muscle from my left thigh and testing it, and will be able to give me the results within an hour after the procedure.

One bummer in all this is that we cannot have it done at the same time, so we must go separately.

Please keep our families in your prayers as we prepare to work thru this process.

Peace out

WebMD describes it as follows:

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder in which affected individuals are susceptible to adverse reactions to certain anesthetic drugs.

The characteristics of a malignant hyperthermia episode are variable and include muscle rigidity, high blood pressure, increased levels of carbon monoxide in blood or exhaled gas, rapid irregular heart rate, rapid deep breathing, blue skin, acidity of the blood and muscle damage. Body temperature can rise rapidly, but sometimes only occurs late in an episode.

When an episode is not recognized and treated, internal bleeding, brain damage, skeletal muscle degeneration (rhabdomyolysis), and kidney and heart failure can result.

Back to School

Congrats to my Momma, who started college yesterday, we are so proud of her. As Jum and I were reflecting on the phone a couple of days ago, we both kept reverting back to this movie clip in our minds:



Way to go Momma!

And congrats to the Tribe on their Opening Day victory!

Sad State of Affairs

Anyone want to purchase a vacation home in Detroit city limits?

Go to the Wayne County auction site here and look at houses selling for a couple of G's

Firestarters

I have the privilege of being in a men's Bible study group with some rock solid dudes. We are currently reading a great book, and I wanted to share the premise with you all, the blog readers. It is called "Choosing to Cheat" and is written by Andy Stanley. (Click on the title and you will be taken to the Amazon page to purchase it)

And while I have learned a lot from the book, I have also learned a lot from the other men, hearing their personal stories on how they thrive or fail on "cheating" their families.

In our society these days it becomes very easy to become busy with many different things, sometimes, in the end, it is our family that suffers.

As a matter of fact, in a conversation a couple of weeks ago Bon was talking to a gentlemen who said "your children should be your number one ministry." That really hit home for me, and I have taken a little different perspective with Reese, and have come to realize that her spiritual growth and well-being needs to be my highest priority.

I think the summary from Amazon gives some good insight into the book and would recommend it to everyone:

Book Description
Work. Family. Church. Hobbies. Fitness. Housekeeping. Socializing. Sleep. With only 24 hours in each day, we simply can't fit everything in. And what we choose to cheat is a clear announcement of our values. When you come home an hour earlier, miss a round of golf, or let the dishes sit while you play with your child, you make your family feel valued and secure. Bestselling author Andy Stanley helps you restore your vision of what really matters - and guides you in making courageous decisions about your time.

Who are you cheating?

You love your family. You love the challenges of your job. But there’s not enough of you to go around. Somebody isn’t getting as much of your attention as they want or deserve.

This little book presents a strategic plan for resolving the tension between work and home—reversing the destructive pattern of giving to your company and career what belongs to your family.

But be forewarned...you will have to cheat.

Story Behind the Book

Andy has spent hundreds of hours with men and women who have cheated their families for the sake of their career goals. They all admitted knowing there was a problem. This is not a struggle relegated to some diminutive segment of society. We all wrestle with the tension between work and family. Regardless of which side of the equation you are on, you know what it is like to deal with the endless cycle of guilt, anger, jealousy, and rejection. But there is a solution. Strangely enough, the solution is similar to the problem. Both involve cheating. Simply put, you must choose to cheat at work rather than at home.

Great Story

$500 'tip' pays for her prom

THE ENQUIRER

Needing money to help pay for her senior prom, 18-year-old Kelsey Tolliver was selling newspapers on Easter Sunday inside University Hospital.

That’s when she got an Easter gift and her prom wishes fulfilled by a stranger.

“Some man walked up to me, smiled, told me Happy Easter and to keep the change,” Tolliver said today.

She looked down and believed the man gave her $4 for the $1.50 Sunday newspaper, an amount she considered “a pretty good tip.”

After a moment, though, the bills felt too thick to be just four $1 bills.

She counted it – and lost her breath.

In addition to the smile and Easter greetings, the man had given her $500 in $20 bills and the four $1 bills.

“By the time I looked up, he was gone,” Tolliver said from her mom’s Springfield Township home.

“I really didn’t know what to do. I wanted to cry but I couldn’t do that because I was selling newspapers and that would look bad. I wanted to scream but that would look bad, too.”

Tolliver is staying at her mom’s Springfield Township home this week because her school is on spring break.

She usually lives with her dad in Patriot, Ind., about 60 miles away. She attends Switzerland County Senior High.

Tolliver can’t imagine why the man – described as white with light brown hair, about 6 feet tall and in his mid-20s – would give her that much money.

“He didn’t look like he worked at the hospital. I’m guessing he was a visitor,” Tolliver said.

She’d never seen the man before – and hasn’t since.

She said she gave half of the money to her stepdad and used the rest to pay for her dress and other items for the April 12 prom at General Butler State Park in Carrollton, Ky.

“I already had my prom dress in layaway and I only owed $80 on it,” Tolliver said. “I went yesterday (Monday) and got it out.”

In addition to the $120 red dress, Tolliver also used the money to help pay for her silver shoes, purse and other accessories as well as for her share of the limo ride. She and eight or nine friends are attending the prom as a group.

“I just want to thank this guy. Bless his heart,” she said.

Easter Weekend

This is my princess in her Easter threads yesterday.

Unbelievably big ups to a couple of our great friends who treated us to an amazing dinner Saturday night. Thank you very much, we had a phenomenal time.

Congrats go out to a couple of the friends of Heat Stadium, T-Bone, aka Trent, and Chuck, who were both baptized yesterday.

I am currently beating Bon on our brackets, scoring 10 of the Sweet 16, including WVU and Huggs! Saw on ESPN this morning that of over 3 million entries they received for their contest only 2 had predicted all of the Sweet 16 correctly.

Look out Series 7 and CPA exam, you are now under radar lock...

I am legal

I just passed my Loan Officer exam, and can now legally service your mortgage needs...

Poor girl...

Wednesday night at about 10:30 as I was closing up shop on studying for the LO exam for the night, Reese sat up in bed and vomited all over the place.

With Bonnie needing her rest, I stayed up with my baby girl all night. Bon may have squeezed out a couple of hours, so her night was not a cakewalk either.

It was one of those nights I will never forget. The way she looked up at me so helplessly, wanting to hold and hug me while she was in the midst of a vomiting fit. She even has some busted blood vessels in her face from the episodes, so sad. She was finally able to keep a little bit down yesterday, and slept thru the night last night. She is very lethargic this morning, definitely not the normal Reese, but is much better.

A funny story about the spirit of my girl, in the midst of all this she asked to watch Shrek 2. During the scene where he storms the castle at the end and they are singing "I need a hero", she was able to stand up and bust out about a 15 second dance routine.

Have a great Easter everyone!

Peace out...

Pure Joy

What you don't realize from this picture is that she is moving at about 20 mph, with a wicked powerful workhorse pulling her thru the snow!

Big News

Some of you may have noticed the numeral 3 that sits to the left of the blog in my personal profile and talks a little bit about who we are.

Well, sometime around September 28th, that image will be replaced with the numeral 4.

Bonnie and I are expecting child number two, and could not be happier.

We will be finding out the sex of the baby in mid-May. Reese will be a great big sister!

"Let's spread this love like dandelions"- TobyMac

Bread, Euchre, and Good times...

What a rock solid weekend that was.

It all started Friday after work, grabbing some grub and beers with Squibb. From there I met up with Bon and a group of our friends to hang out for a couple of hours at Panera, which was awesome. You know, having friends that are not afraid to spit truth and share is really what it is all about.

Friday night was also the debut of Lauren as Reese's sitter. She was phenomenal, and it sounds like they had a great time. Lauren was on the Chrysalis weekend that Bon had a chance to serve on, and Bon absolutely loves her. I have a feeling she will be getting a fair amount of calls from us.

Saturday morning, Mom got a chance to come in for a visit. We celebrated her birthday a day late with some lunch at the Olive Garden. And, um, Reese likes their bread sticks a little bit, she was crushing.

Saturday night Bon and I hit up a euchre tourney with some old friends from Lebanon. I seriously think Bon laughed non-stop for 3 and a half hours.

One of the things that is extremely satisfying and brings Bon and I peace is the fact that both nights Reese did not fuss, never cried, went right to bed and behaved well for Mom and Lauren. In fact, as Bon and I were leaving Saturday night she says, "Bye Mommy, bye Daddy," and shut the door with authority as she ran back to play. Bonnie is a tremendous mother, and I am amazed almost everyday on what she is teaching Reese.

And if that was not enough, Momma rolled with us to 4 Corners yesterday. It meant a lot that she came, now she can get a mental picture of the church we talk so much about. She met some of our friends as well. Thanks for coming Mom!

Great story by my boy Beck

Glenn Beck: Too bad, Michigan and Florida

By Glenn Beck
CNN

Editor's note: "Glenn Beck" is on Headline News nightly at 7 and 9 ET.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What do these stories all have in common?

• A woman who says she lost more $1 million gambling in Atlantic City sues some casinos for $20 million, claiming they should've stopped her compulsive gambling.
• People who bought houses they couldn't afford with loans they didn't understand want their lenders to change the terms.
• Congress authorizes a war and then tries everything it can think of to get out of it.
• Our country gets addicted to oil and then blames OPEC when it doesn't like the price.

These stories prove how personal responsibility has all but vanished in America, and our government is leading the way.

Remember the kid from that interminable 1980s commercial whose father caught him using drugs? The father incredulously asked, "Who taught you how to do this stuff?" and the kid responded, "You, alright? I learned it by watching you."

Well, we are that kid and our government is that drug-using father who doesn't think that anyone notices his bad habits.

Our government is leading us by example, and I don't mean that in a good way. For years, it has spent us into oblivion, mortgaging our future for programs we can't afford, and Americans have happily followed suit, running up credit card bills and home equity loans for things they never should've bought.

Unfortunately, we're also learning something else from our government: how to avoid taking responsibility for our actions.

From Eliot Spitzer's alleged hooker craze to the revelation that Arnold Schwarzenegger commutes to work in a large private jet even as he preaches the dangers of carbon dioxide emissions, there's never been a shortage of "do what I say, not what I do" hypocrites in politics.

But that same attitude has seemingly spread from individual politicians to an entire party.

Democrats aren't happy that delegates from Florida and Michigan won't be seated at the national convention because those states broke clear party rules. Well you know what? Too bad. We don't say that enough anymore. Too bad. You agreed to the rules; you broke them. Now you've got to deal with the consequences.

"But Glenn. ... Neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will have enough delegates to win the nomination. We don't want this to be decided in some backroom by superdelegates."

Too bad.

"But Glenn. ... You don't understand. If we don't seat delegates from those states now, then we might lose their votes in the general election."

Too bad.

"But Glenn. .... The voters in these states are going to be disenfranchised if we don't let their voices be heard."

Too bad.

If you want to talk about disenfranchised voters, then let's talk about why just 17 percent of Americans have a positive view of Congress. Let's talk about why we still have wide open borders despite most Americans wanting them sealed. Let's talk about why we keep selling out our sovereignty and our security by borrowing billions of dollars from-less-than friendly countries, such as China.

Americans aren't disenfranchised because our leaders won't count votes in a couple of states. They're disenfranchised because our leaders aren't doing their jobs. They're disenfranchised because after working hard to support their families and to raise kids who understand the difference between right and wrong, their leaders do exactly the opposite.

In the cases of Florida and Michigan, I've patiently listened to all the moving arguments about why there should be a "do-over," but quite honestly, they're not arguments at all. They're excuses. If this race wasn't so close, or if these states offered a combined 36 delegates instead of 366, do you really think anyone would care? Of course not.

But no matter what you think should happen, you have to admit that Clinton's idea that we should simply count her "wins" in Florida and Michigan is completely ridiculous.

In fact, if you played a rimshot and a laugh track behind her every time she recited that line, people might actually agree to a two-drink minimum to see her speak. How could you possibly count the results from an election when your main opponent wasn't even on the ballot (at least in Michigan)? You can't -- unless you think the rules are simply there for your own amusement.

Last year, when the punishment against Florida was first approved, Donna Brazile, a member of the Democratic National Committee rules panel, said she hoped that the harsh consequences would "send a message to everybody in Florida that we are going to follow the rules." And Brazile knows a little something about that ... she ran Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000.

Voters in Florida and Michigan should ask themselves one important question before they blindly follow their party: Why did no one seem to care about "alienating" them last year when the rules were intentionally broken? It's only now, when their vote really matters, that everyone is suddenly so concerned about "enfranchising" them.

Florida and Michigan have a golden opportunity to stand up and say enough is enough, to send a message that it's time to not only take responsibility for their actions but for those of our leaders as well.

After all, what would it say about personal responsibility in this country if we allow the two states that broke all the rules to end up having the biggest say of all?

9 Days???

Has it really been 9 days since I last posted? Yikes!

Well, we survived the white death during that time, we have some cool photos of Reese getting pulled down the hill on her sled. I will try and get those posted soon.

March is my family's dominant birthday month.

Happy belated to my beautiful wife, who turned 31 this past Sunday.

Today is Rhino's birthday, and tomorrow is my wonderful Momma's. She is coming down for the weekend and spending some time with us, which will be awesome!

Things are nuts at work right now, gotta run!

Peace

Happy Election Day!

Isn't America great?

I have cast my votes this morning, including a vote for Mitt Romney. Yeah, I get that he cannot win, but he is my choice, so he still gets the vote. At least when I see the final returns and Mitt has at least one vote, I will be proud of it.

In addition, I am such a sucker, the young lady asked if I would like to work at the polling site in future elections and I said, "Of course!". So she took my contact information.

Have fun everyone!

Weekly Update

• Visit with $-Braine was awesome, it was too short though. I also realized how much it sucks driving back and forth to Columbus twice in 3 days...
• He really enjoyed 4 Corners, and hopes he can find a similar church in the Radford/Blacksburg area once he moves in a couple of weeks...
• I take my Loan Officer exam today...
• Thoughts and prayers are with my sister-in-law, Funk-E, who is recovering from some surgery earlier this week...
• XM is officially the bomb, I listened to Glenn Beck, Dave Ramsey and the Indians spring training game yesterday...
• Last night I began the process of finally getting the office organized and completed...

That is really all that is up right now, have a great weekend everyone...

Our Rage Against Conformity Continues, this is unreal...

American Academy of Pediatrics Unleashes Hysterical Attack on Fictional Television Show about Vaccine / Autism Link

By: Mike AdamsSource: http://www.newstarget.comFebruary 1, 2008

(NaturalNews) The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has gone ballistic over a fictional television program airing on ABC that shows a family successfully suing a vaccine manufacturer for their child's autism. Not satisfied to push dangerous vaccines onto children in the real world, the AAP now feels it must also control the thoughts and ideas of people living in fictional worlds by pressuring television networks to censor their programming. Only television shows that conform to the pro-chemical, pro-pharmaceutical, pro-vaccine point of view will be tolerated by the AAP, it seems. A letter signed by AAP President Renee Jenkins warns ABC that it will "will bear responsibility for the needless suffering and potential deaths of children from parents' decisions not to immunize based on the content of the episode." This is tantamount to saying that ABC's television program will kill children! The AAP letter goes on to state the usual conventional medicine propaganda line that there is "no evidence" of any link between vaccines and autism. Of course, that's only true if you limit your "evidence" to whatever dogmatic beliefs are currently being circulated in the minds of the promoters of western medicine. To these doctors, there's no such thing as a dangerous injection, drug or synthetic chemical! It's all safe for children: Mercury fillings, chemical fluoridation of water supplies, 37 different vaccine injections, antibacterial soap in children's toothpaste... need I go on? The American Academy of Pediatrics seemingly hasn't met a corporate-sponsored chemical it didn't like. How vaccines harm children -- even when they work! The vaccine-pushing doctors in this country would also like to take credit for "saving the lives of children" by protecting them from diseases like the measles, mumps and chicken pox. And yet, even here their logic is flawed: Vaccinating children against these non-fatal diseases actually weakens the immune system, denying it the ability to expand its function via an adaptive response to the chicken pox, for example. Vaccines actually impair future immune function, causing that child to be increasingly susceptible to future infectious diseases. A truly healthy child is one whose health is supported through wise nutritional therapies and is exposed to the live chicken pox virus. After a few days of uncomfortable symptoms, the immune system "learns" to overcome the infection, and by doing so, it expands its ability to more strongly protect the body from future infections. Vaccines deny the child this experience, handing them a dead chicken pox virus combined with a stew of toxic chemicals. The result? An immune system that learns very little. It's like giving a child the answers to a math test before he takes the test, and then declaring him to be a brilliant math student when he gets an "A". Pharmaceutical-trained physicians don't understand (or even acknowledge) the important role of the immune system in experiencing and overcoming infectious disease, and they think that all health must be accomplished through intervention. Essentially, modern doctors don't trust Mother Nature, and they have no faith in the ability of the body to keep itself healthy. They do trust, however, in Big Pharma's chemicals, and they believe that virtually no chemical is too dangerous to inject or implant into the bodies of children. Notice, for example, that most pediatricians don't even speak out against the toxic mercury used in dental fillings? To them, mercury is perfectly safe to put into the mouths of children. So why on Earth would we expect these people to be alarmed over mercury being injected into the bodies of those same children? By the way, in support of this article, I have included (below) a list of selected quotes about vaccines and autism, including a quote from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who investigated the U.S. government's collusion with Big Pharma in covering up the truth about vaccines: "There's no doubt in my mind that maybe two years from now or five years from now or ten years from now, we are going to find out what we know intuitively, that thimerosal, the mercury in the vaccines, absolutely causes autism and other learning disabilities." -- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Studies of autistic children have frequently shown very high levels of mercury, with no other source but vaccines found for the exposure. These levels are equal to those seen in adults during toxic industrial exposures. Several autism clinics have found dramatic improvements in the behavior and social interactions in children from whom the mercury was chelated. Results depended on how soon the mercury was removed following exposure, but permanent damage can be caused if the metal is not chelated soon enough. - Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., Health and Nutrition Secrets (Health Press, 2006) Since the 1990s, there has been a tenfold or 1000-percent increase in autism, an increase which has been linked by some researchers to the organic mercury preservative commonly found in baby vaccines. A greatly increased incidence of juvenile diabetes has been correlated to specific vaccination sequences and to the number of vaccines given. In some Australian Aboriginal communities, every second child died shortly after vaccination. - Walter Last, The Natural Way to Heal: 65 Ways to Create Superior Health (Hampton Roads Publishing Company, 2003) The first reported case of autism occurred after thimerosal, a preservative for immunizations, was added to vaccines. Since then, the incidence of autism has increased at an alarming rate. Thimerosal is not a necessary additive and is toxic to the human body, yet it has been used for years. And although thimerosal has been phased out of childhood vaccines, the vast majority of flu shots given to children and adults still contain it, and it is believed that many pediatricians are still using unexpired vials of thimerosal-containing vaccines. - KC Craichy, Super Health 7 Golden Keys to Unlock Lifelong Vitality (Bronze Bow Publishing, 2005) Alan Cohen, an environmental physician from Connecticut, notes that high levels of autism and attention deficit disorder (ADD) did not occur until the mandatory use of childhood vaccinations, and suggests that there may be a connection between certain vaccines and the onset of these conditions. Antibiotic overuse can lead to an inability to properly digest nutrients, known as malabsorption syndrome. What happens is that antibiotics destroy healthy bacteria in the gut, with a concomitant proliferation of yeast. - Gary Null, Ph.D., The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing: A Comprehensive A-Z Listing of Common and Chronic Illnesses and Their Proven Natural Treatments (Bottom Line Books, 2001) At the same time, the amount of mercury-laced vaccines, which have been proven to produce autism and other learning disabilities, was dramatically increased. Schools were given $500 per month per child that was on Ritalin®, Prozac, or some other psychiatric prescribed drug. The combination of taking phonics out of the schools together with increasing the amount of drugs being forced on our children created a dumbing down and demotivating of our youth. This produces a less intelligent, less motivated populace much more susceptible to advertising campaigns produced by drug companies and fast food companies. - Kevin Trudeau, More Natural Cures Revealed: Previously Censored Brand Name Products That Cure Disease (Alliance Publishing Group, Inc., 2006) Some believe that the mercury compound used in some vaccines is to blame. In addition, there is often a history of frequent ear infections with much antibiotic use. Some believe that an overuse of antibiotics has killed off the friendly intestinal bacteria, leaving the gut vulnerable to the antibiotic-resistant, neurotoxin-producing bacterium Clostridium. - Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition: A Practical A-to-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies Using Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs & Food Supplements (AVERY, 2006) Another challenge is convincing parents of the importance of vaccines. A 1998 article cited studies of 12 children who had pervasive developmental disorder, primarily autism. The parents and doctors of eight of the children said this began after they received the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. - Bottom Line Health, Bottom Line's Health Breakthroughs 2007 (Bottom Line Books, 2007) Read this Rolling Stones article: "Deadly Immunity" http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/

I suck

So the visit to the dentist was o.k...

They are GREAT people, if you are looking for a dentist in the Cincy area I recommend you check them out, Cedar Village Dentistry, visit their website HERE.

The bad news is that due to my gross negligence of visiting a dentist, I have to get a fair amount of work done. I am embarrassed to put into print how long I have gone without visiting a dentist.

This is going to put my mouth on sensitive status for pretty much the entire month of March, and cost us a nice chunk of dinero. I will be glad when the process is over and I go move on and become a functional visitor of Dr. Rae every six months.

$-Braine arrives in 22 hours...

Welcome to the Blog World Bro!

Ladies and Gentlemen you will now see a link to my little bro's new blog to the left, listed under"Jum". Most of you know how I roll with nicknames, his given name is Justin, and my sister-in-law is Katie. You can learn all about Army life in Fairbanks, Alaska.

I am facing one of my biggest fears today, a visit to the dentist. I strongly dislike being a patient in any medical profession, except maybe getting a good crack from my favorite chiropractor, Dr. Rhino. Let me be clear, the ONLY reason I am doing this is for my girls. If I were a single guy wasting away on gambling and pizza, I would have no desire to maintain personal hygiene.

Happy Birthday Godfather!

Reese has a new expression, "Daddy, I have an idea..." while holding up her index finger

48 hours until my big brother, $-Braine, rolls into the Queen City. We plan on hitting up a gun show while he is here, so stay tuned...

Scary

Please watch this 10 minute clip about our economy and the future, wow...

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/02/19/gb.america.fiscal.crisis.cnn

Week 2

By request of some of the out of town blog readers, here is Ben knocking it out of the park Sunday.


ENOUGH :: Money Myths from Ryan Hartsock on Vimeo.

It is finished...

I have completed the work on my MBA program a little early. I am still a little numb to be honest with you. Relief, fatigue, appreciation, and humility are all swarming inside me right now. I cannot put into words how much Bonnie has meant to this process. In all seriousness, I believe her name should be on the diploma as well. She has sacrificed so much, and although I would never of thought it was possible, I love her so much more today than I did the day we got married over eight years ago. Not just for this, but the numerous ways she proves to be self-less for Reese and I.

The excitement of the conclusion was just the tip of the iceberg this weekend. Ben was absolutely phenomenal, anyone who was visiting 4 Corners for the first time got a great representation of Ben and what we are all about.

We had some more potty success with Reese, and while it is a process, she has done outstanding thus far! M&M's and ring pops can be quite motivational...

Last night we attended a Chrysalis service and had a great time in worship as 28 young men go through a weekend they will never forget.

Anyway, guess it is time to build a list of things to do since I have just freed up about 10-12 hours a week of my time.

Peace out...

Where's Bruce Willis?

Pentagon Plans to Shoot Down Failing Satellite

Thursday , February 14, 2008

WASHINGTON —

The Pentagon, under orders from President Bush, is planning to shoot down a broken spy satellite expected to hit the Earth in early March, the White House said Thursday.

U.S. officials said that the option preferred by the administration will be to fire a missile from a U.S. Navy cruiser, and shoot down the satellite before it enters Earth's atmosphere.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said that Bush made his decision during the past week and asked experts to come up with a way to destoy the satellite.

• Click here to visit FOXNews.com's Space Center.

He made the decision to shoot it down because the satellite was carrying the rocket fuel hydrazine, Perino said.

Initally the administration believed that the danger from the falling satellite did not pose a large problem, but decided it was best to shoot it down when experts decided that the unused hydrazine did pose a danger.

Asked about the matter, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, "We have been looking at ways to mitigate the possible risk to human lives and to demonstrate our continuing commitment to safe and responsible space operations."

The disabled satellite is expected to hit the Earth the first week of March. Officials said the Navy would likely shoot it down before then, using a special missile modified for the task.

Other details about the missile and the targeting were not immediately available. But the decision involves several U.S. agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.

One of the main goals of the satellite's destruction is to prevent any sensitive equipment from falling into the wrong hands.

"We are worried about something showing up on e-Bay," defense and intelligence expert John Pike said, adding that breaking up the satellite's pieces lessens the chance that sensitive U.S. technology could wind up in Chinese hands.

"What they have to be worried about is that a souvenir collector is going to find some piece, put it on e-Bay and the Chinese buy it," said Pike, who is director of the defense research group GlobalSecurity.org.

"The Chinese and the Russians spend an enormous amount of time trying to steal American technology," Pike said last week. "To have our most sophisticated radar intelligence satellite — have big pieces of it fall into their hands — would not be our preferred outcome."

The State Department declined to comment on the plan ahead of the Pentagon announcement, but said its role in such a scenario would be to inform foreign governments that the action was not hostile in nature.

"You want to make sure that everybody understands exactly what actions are being taken so there are no misunderstandings and misperceptions and also to reassure people vis-a-vis treaty obligations," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

Shooting down a satellite is particularly sensitive because of the controversy surrounding China's anti-satellite test last year, when Beijing shot down one of its defunct weather satellites, drawing immediate criticism from the U.S. and other countries.

A key concern at that time was the debris created by Chinese satellite's destruction — and that will also be a focus now, as the U.S. determines exactly when and under what circumstances to shoot down its errant satellite.

The military will have to choose a time and a location that will avoid to the greatest degree any damage to other satellites in the sky.

Also, there is the possibility that large pieces could remain, and either stay in orbit where they can collide with other satellites or possibly fall to Earth.

It is not known where the satellite will hit. But officials familiar with the situation say about half of the 5,000-pound spacecraft is expected to survive its blazing descent through the atmosphere and will scatter debris — some of it potentially hazardous — over several hundred miles.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Short-term exposure to hydrazine could cause coughing, irritated throat and lungs, convulsions, tremors or seizures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Long-term exposure could damage the liver, kidney and reproductive organs.

Where the satellite would land would be difficult to predict until it descends to about 59 miles above the Earth and enters the atmosphere.

It would then begin to burn up, with flares visible from the ground, said Ted Molczan, a Canadian satellite tracker. From that point on, he said, it would take about 30 minutes to fall.

The satellite is outfitted with thrusters — small engines used to position it in space. They contain the toxic rocket fuel hydrazine, which can cause harm to anyone who contacts it. Officials have said there are about 1,000 pounds of propellant on the satellite.

Known by its military designation US 193, the satellite was launched in December 2006. It lost power and its central computer failed almost immediately afterward, leaving it uncontrollable. It carried a sophisticated and secret imaging sensor.

The military's Ballistic Missile Defense System, known as "Sea-Based Midcourse," could destroy the satellite just as it begins to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere, said James Lewis, a satellite expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, a conservative think-tank.

That would undercut any international criticism of a "war in space," Lewis said, and reframe it as a ballistic missile defense exercise.

He said it could also avoid the problem of creating a large debris field of satellite pieces that would continue to orbit.

The goal, said Lewis, would be to explode the satellite into small pieces that would mostly burn up as they re-enter the atmosphere.

In the past 50 years, about 17,000 man-made objects have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

The largest uncontrolled re-entry by a NASA spacecraft was Skylab, the 78-ton abandoned space station that fell from orbit in 1979. Its debris dropped harmlessly into the Indian Ocean and across a remote section of western Australia.

In 2000, NASA engineers successfully directed a safe de-orbit of the 17-ton Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, using rockets aboard the satellite to bring it down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.

In 2002, officials believe debris from a 7,000-pound science satellite smacked into the Earth's atmosphere and rained down over the Persian Gulf, a few thousand miles from where they first predicted it would plummet.

Death, Mitt, MBA work, and the "White"...

Sorry for the delay.

• The Mitt campaign is suspended, but out of protest I am leaving his campaign button up on the site
• I am almost complete on the MBA program, I have 3 sets of homework and one quiz yet to complete, it is possible I may be done this weekend ahead of schedule
• Snow and ice this morning, made the drive in to work interesting
• Jase and I have scheduled a nice "roady" to Dallas to drive Momma Beth's moving truck back to Ohio, that will be a whirlwind adventure
• The S-Braine arrival has been delayed a couple of weeks due to illness
• If you can find the time, please take the opportunity to watch Ben's sermon from Sunday. It is a new series on money and financial freedom. One of the reasons we love 4 Corners, straight-shootin'
  

ENOUGH :: More Than Numbers from Ryan Hartsock on Vimeo.

Well...

I guess I can finally turn off the heavy political influence on the blog. I stayed up until 1am this morning watching the returns. I am at a loss really.

Big weekend coming up, my man, $-Braine is rolling in from the R-I-C.

Inspired

I have a new slogan thanks to Juan McCain, "I am a foot soldier in the
soulpatch revolution"

Hey, did you know it was McCain's idea to make the surge in Iraq?

Learn this word folks, Mexamericanada...

Rudy DOA

Clearly my support for Rudy was not enough. He got absolutely baked last night in Florida. What disheartens me more though, is the rumor that he is throwing his support to John McCain. A good friend who I text back and forth on debate and primary nights asked me, "Will you vote for McCain if Rudy is his VP in the general election?", my response, No.

I don't vote for people based on their VP's, that would be like accepting a job because you thought your new boss's secretary was rock solid.

I am going for broke 100% with Mitt Romney, who has been my back-up plan for weeks now. I know this is bad, but if McCain is the Republican nominee, I am just not going to vote. Unless, someone steps in as a third party in Ross Perot fashion.

Check out this pic Guido sent me last night, recognize the guy on the sideline? (That is my high school football coach next to me, with his head just behind Kalvin's helmet) This is from when OU beat Miami, again, this season.


By the way, I start my last class tonight!

Tell me how this helps again...

WASHINGTON — Democratic and Republican congressional leaders completed a deal Thursday with the White House on an economic stimulus package that would give most tax filers refunds of $600 to $1,200, and more if they have children.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican Leader John Boehner scheduled a news conference for 1:30 p.m. EST to announce the $150 billion package, hammered out in a week of intense negotiations with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Congressional aides, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced, said they hope the checks could go out as early as June.

Individuals who pay income taxes would get up to $600, working couples $1,200 and those couples with children an additional $300 per child under the deal. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates.

The rebates would be limited to individuals whose income is $75,000 or less and working couples with incomes $150,000 or less.

The rebate part of the plan would cost about $100 billion, aides said. The package also includes close to $50 billion in business tax cuts.

The package would allow businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of purchases of plants and other capital equipment and permit small businesses to write off additional purchases of equipment. A Republican-written provision to allow businesses suffering losses now to reclaim taxes previously paid was dropped.

Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed to drop increases in food stamp and unemployment benefits during a Wednesday meeting in exchange for gaining rebates of at least $300 for almost everyone earning a paycheck, including low-income earners who make too little to pay income taxes.

Celebrate

I cannot tell you how pumped I am for Saturday!

Bon seems to be recovering from her crud, but Reese was up a ton last night coughing. I hope she can get recovered for her fiesta.

Cranking through school work...

This is hillarious...

Transformer...

My transformation to some kind of political economic nerd continues.
Time that was once dedicated to ESPNews highlites and ESPN radio in
the car has been replaced with Fox Business, CNBC and Glenn Beck. I am
just totally into this stuff right now and enjoying talking with the
people around me about this stuff. This is an extremely pivotal time
for our country in many respects.

One of my favorite things to do right now is to just ask people which
presidential candidates they like and why. It is not to give me an
opportunity to combat their thinking, just to hear what people really
care about and who they see as the best leader. It is very much my
intent to someday run for a political office, so start saving now for
the campaign fund.

Reese and I had some great solo time this weekend with Bonnie on the
Chrysalis walk. I can totally see a change coming in her as well, she
is no longer the "perfect" angel and has some defiance and moxie
starting to come through. We had a nice "come to Jesus" moment at the
Y Monday night. Thankfully in that battle of wills Daddy was able to
outlast the tempered one. Where does she get that anyway?

Oh well, on to a meeting,

Peace out

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

I love you so much!

Election Endorsement

As you will see to the left, like a boomerang, I have returned to Rudy.

Rudy's tax and health care plans are phenomenal, the best of any other candidate individually and you get them all wrapped up in one person! What "concerns" me is his strategy, if it works he is golden, if it backfires, it will cost him all. He has put all of his eggs into the Florida basket.

If for some reason his campaign crumbles, I have decided that Mitt Romney is my option B. And that is where it stops at this point, I do not have enough confidence in any of the other candidates to give them my vote.

If you get a minute, I really encourage you to read the transcript from Rudy's interview with Glenn Beck yesterday here:

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/4358/

New Pics

For those of you who have not seen America's most beautiful family in awhile, allow me to share...

Weekend Review

It all started Friday night...


Mom graced us with her presence and chilled with The Reese while Bon and I attended a Euchre Tourney thrown by old friends Vaughn and Russ. It was great to see them, I know Bon misses them a lot. We did pretty well, Bon had the privilege of winning game one with me, and then we were separated like Jack and Rose on the floating door, I think I even heard Bon say, "I'll never let go Jeremy," as I moved on to my next table. I ended up in a tie for second place, only 1 point behind number one! Oh well, good times...

Saturday morning Mom, Reese and I hit up Jungle Jim's and Petland while Bon attended a meeting. They had a bulldog, so we pulled it into the play area and got to play with her a little bit. We have decided our first dog will be an English Bulldog, it is just a matter of getting one at the right price.

Yesterday Reese had her two year appointment at the doctor, and all went extremely well. Someone told me that a good way to project adult height for kids is to double their height at age 2. Pretty interesting, not sure how accurate it is, but we will find out. Reese will be 5'7" by that calculation.

Three days until her birthday, in celebration here is one of her first photos...

Live Debate Reaction

- I have no idea what Ron Paul just said in that monologue
- John McCain just said, "climate change may in fact be real", really John, revolutionary
- Mitt just used "shining city on a hill", word to Tobymac
- Fred Thompson reminds me of a cool uncle from Nashville
- Huckabee just got WORKED by Uncle Fred
- Rudy mentions Reagan in every response, his strategy is clear, identify yourself with the last beloved Republican president
- It seems like Brit Hume is trying to get one of the candidates to say we should have fired on the Iranian ships this week, none are biting
- Ron Paul is ridiculous, get him off the stage, seriously, I am embarrassed for him
- Mitt just dropped a barb at Ron, and he muttered, "go ahead and make fun buddy" under his breath. Do people in other countries think we act live 8 year olds?
- McCain voted for the troop surge? Really, I have only heard that 100 times
- Nice slam on the NY Times Uncle Fred
- Rudy's new tax plan is sweet

Good night all...

Hacked

For the first time in my life, I have been hacked. Someone was able to get to one of my bank accounts through Paypal and purchase a camera for $533. So far Paypal has been extremely helpful in getting this matter resolved and we are on the road to getting the funds put back into my account. I had been living on the edge for a while with the home cpu with no virus or spyware protection, and while I do not think it would have stopped this incident last night I downloaded the super Norton software onto the computer. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me thing you know...

Shout out to D-Watts, who found his way to the blog. Heat Stadium is growing folks...

Interesting primary results last night, Bon and I agree we hope Hillary gets the Democratic nomination because she would seem to be easier to defeat. In addition, Bon and I are split on who we like, as I have said my endorsement is still available, but if I had to make a decision today it would probably be Mitt Romney. Bon thinks he is a shady puppet, so we will see how it plays out...

Big ups to Momma for passing her tax preparer exam!

Peace out

Enough Said

I am laughing hysterically on the inside...

The Buckeyes should be banned from a title game for 5 years. That's the best you can do, seriously? Back to back embarrassments...

Maturity?

It is a dark day my friends.

Instead of watching the NFL playoffs Saturday night I was instead tuned in to four hours of Presidential debates...

Am I finally maturing? I hope not, I just find this election extremely intriguing, and have re-opened the designation of my endorsement. I find myself in an interesting place because none of them are slam dunks for me at this point.

In addition, it looks like Barack Obama has some serious mojo working.

My thought process then becomes, what Republican has the best shot to give him a run for his money?

Expect more obscure rumblings about this election as time goes on...

Reese has her first gymnastics class tonight at the Y, should be a great time. Don't worry, we are not some uber-aggressive parents trying to make our child a star, it is mostly a social get together with 5 other 2 year olds.

Talk to you soon...

Rock On

I am anxiously awaiting the Iowa Caucus today and will be glued to some Fox News tonight checking out the analysis.

One of my growing favorite stations on XM is "The Boneyard" They play 80's and 90's hair metal rock. As I drove in to work this morning I was rocking out to:

Happy 2008!

The holidays were a little crazy, but now I am back to the daily grind and focused on the important stuff, like my blog. Here are some bullet points about things going through my head right now:

• I busted a gut laughing this morning when I looked at the Chillicothe Gazette online and found the following entries in the police report:

Theft - A newspaper was reported stolen from the 400 block of North Main Street in Frankfort between 6 and 7 a.m. Saturday.

Theft - Four wheels were removed from a residence on the 400 block of Douglas Avenue and replaced with old ones, reported 1:28 p.m. Sunday. (Key word, residence)

Burglary - Someone entered a home on the 0 block of Westfall Road, South Salem, and took popsicles, fudge bars and some change between 10:39 a.m. Sunday and 10:39 a.m. Monday. (I had 30 cents laying here and it is gone, call 911!)

• I am enjoying XM Radio, which I came away with from Christmas
• We have a ton of Christmas decorations and it takes some work to get them back in the attic
• Reese has started the "Why?" phase
• Daddy B, Aunt Krys, and RV will be here in 3 and a half weeks, cannot wait!
• Reese asks for Diesel (Beth's dog) everyday, clearly she needs a puppy. She even played catch with one of her stuffed animal dogs Saturday
• Reese's changing table has officially been transferred to a dresser only, she is too tall, what a dark day...
• I had some Mountain Dew yesterday for the first time in weeks and it tasted terrible, I have broken through, and actually prefer water at this point
• I also recommend Kashi products, we have been eating a lot of them and they are outstanding, including the pizza! Check out their website here
• The Wii is phenomenal, thanks Godfather for the experience, I see one of those in our future for 2008

Talk to you all soon...

6 days since a post...

Sorry, things have been hectic, there have been a number of times I thought, "Hey I should blog that," and then got sidetracked...

I want to touch briefly on "bold steps".

Ben has spoken of this a few times, and a group of our friends touched on this one night at our house.

God calls us to be bold.

And while sometimes that can be a little scary, it certainly stretches your faith and helps you grow.

Both of our mothers recently took bold steps, and we could not be prouder.

It wasn't that long ago that I called Bonnie an hour into a work day in Nashville and told her I had just resigned. She was 5 months pregnant with Reese, was working a temporary substitute teaching job, and I had nothing else lined up. All I knew is that I felt it was God's will that I not be employed there, so I resigned.

In a time where some referred to us as "crazy" or "secretly unhappy", Bon and I had one of the best times in our marriage, we drew closer to each other and closer to God. I would not trade that experience for anything, and I am sure Bon would not either.

I carry a different perspective now on life, and honestly crave that time of reliance on Bon and more importantly God. In fact, we feel that pull to grow again in our faith, and are talking about what are next "bold step" is, so stay tuned.

I do not tell this story to be some T.O.-esque self-hype machine, it just seems like we have a lot of friends and family who are in the middle of a bold step now, or are fighting the urge to take one.

Life is ultimately about experiences, not stuff, in this season of mass commercialization and overspending, take an opportunity to invest in yourself, your family, and your relationship with God.

Take a bold step, trust and pray for God's will, and enjoy the ride...

I'm Getting Old

I have recently come to the realization that I listen almost exclusively to talk radio all day, (Dave Ramsey, Glenn Beck, Colin Cowherd) and actually made the effort to watch yesterday's Republican debate in Iowa on the Des Moines Register website.

Why Do I love listening to the Herd?

This guy talks great sports and gives some great general life advice in this clip

Click here

If you have a few minutes, this is also worth your time to listen to, he completely cracks me up!

Click here

Something Old School Returns...

American Gladiators!

(Click words to see promo video)

True Story

Rarely does a news story involve someone in your family, but he is OK, just rattled and bruised. (Bonnie's Dad for our friends who may not know the relation)

Propane tanker roll-over crash closes highway

By Daniel Wells

Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

CLEARCREEK TWP., Warren County — A tanker truck carrying 9,000 pounds of propane rolled over Tuesday night near the intersection of Township Line Road and Old Ohio 122, shutting down the highway for hours.

The driver, Clark L. Grabill, 61, of Frankfort, Ohio, was headed eastbound on Old Ohio 122 when he swerved at about 8 p.m. to avoid a deer entering the roadway, which caused the right front tire of his 1997 Kenworth to slide off the side of the road into the ditch, according to the Ohio Highway Patrol's Post 83 in Lebanon.

The tractor and trailer disoverturned and disconnected as Grabill tried to steer out of the ditch. The tractor came to rest on its side across Old 122, and the trailer remained on its side in the ditch, according to troopers.

No propane was leaking from the truck and the driver suffered minor injuries but refused treatment at the scene, according to the Clearcreek Twp. Fire Department. He was cited for failing to maintain reasonable control.

Sad Day

Mumra has prevailed.

For the first time since the birth of the CDFL, the storied ThunderCats franchise will be left out of the playoffs. I am honestly numb, and not sure what to do with the rest of the football season...

Vendication...

Maybe you should have run a little harder this year, schmuck, (Cedric Benson, Bears RB). In a similar set of circumstances 5 years ago the Bengals went ahead and gave my boy Jon Kitna his bonus. I do not believe the Bears will be as generous...

Cedric Benson's leg fracture is not as serious as Rex Grossman's similar injury from 2005, that only kept Rex off the field for four months.

On a related note, Benson ended his season just 27 yards shy of a conditional bonus that would have paid him $1.73 million, which is cathartic news for the fantasy owners disappointed by him all season.

Source: Chicago Tribune

The Mist...

Had the opportunity to check this movie out last night with a couple of the fellas. I would rate it as rentable on DVD. Hartsock hit it right on when he said you look at movies differently once you are a Dad, especially in those child-father moments of movies. This will definitely challenge that for any parent.

Rockin' the skully

Funny Reese Story...

Bon was busy in the next room this morning, and a Christmas cd was playing on the stereo in the kitchen. She hears the music stop, some rustling around, and a different cd start playing, nursery rhymes.

She steps into the room and Reese declares, "Momma, I did it!"

She is already gaining on her Mamaw Kathy in terms of technological prowess...

Love you Mom :)

(Hope you all enjoy the new layout)

Info

Details on the 4 Corners "My Christmas Gift" can be found here...

Staring at December

I am trying to recall all that has happened since my last post.

Turkey Day for one, was a blast, and I enjoyed the second annual 4 Corners Turkey Bowl. The competition was intense and the game ended in a 10-9 shootout.

Bon made a phenomenal meal, and we chilled the rest of the day, putting up the tree and other decorations.

Friday we made a trip up to Dayton to see Reese's Auntie Rie who was in from Philly. We are very much looking forward to the summer when she is back in Dayton for good! We are so happy for her and her impending marriage this fall. Later on that evening we were blessed with the presence of the coolest little man, Blake. Watching the two of them play together is hilarious.

We watched Shrek 3, and I have to tell you, I was less than impressed. It was OK, but it was not up to my Shrek expectations.

Saturday the whirlwind continued as we dropped by Slim Shady's crib, and Jase and I continued on to the OU-Miami game. Mad props to Guido for the hook-up on sideline passes and getting us into the locker room pre-game. I have been extremely spoiled the last few weeks at football games. It was good to have some solo time with Slim and actually have a chance to just rap about life.

Sunday included a powerful message from Ben, and it always seems to be a little more intense when communion is served. They also laid out an awesome plan for Christmas outreach, I will provide more details on this in the near future.

One more week in this course of school and then we are down to the final two classes, it almost does not even feel like it is true.

Another random thought...why does the train that runs near our house have to ring its horn continuously for 3 miles at 6am every Sunday morning?

Strong Weekend

What a weekend, filled with family and friends, including Carleigh's 2nd birthday party.

Reese did really well, and even scored some more Christmas presents yesterday. I feel like I am really slacking on the blog, but there is just not a lot happening right now. I do have some new pics of Reese that I can throw up tonight while Bon is at volleyball. I have a little more homework to do and will be staring at one more week for this course. That will leave the final two...

Blog

I picked up a couple of great CD's last week. Make sure you pick up
Mat Kearney and Shawn McDonald next time you visit Best Buy.

Sitting in a meeting downtown, still enjoying the vibe from last
weekend's Irish experience.

Unreal

There are so many people to thank for this past weekend. Mom, Jase, Amber, Pipes, Guido, Jake, Shelly, etc, etc...

We had an amazing time, and while it was difficult to experience the game in Air Force gear, from the Air Force sideline, I am now an even bigger Notre Dame fan, despite the loss.

The campus is amazing, and everyone from fans to gameday staff were extremely friendly. No one was dropping f-bombs on us or throwing beer cans at us. It was a genuine football game experience.

Top that off with being on the sideline at the end of the game and grabbing a little piece of Notre Dame Stadium to take home with me. I intend to pot this little piece of grass memorabilia and keep it alive.

We also scored some sweet gear afterwards, including a jersey and cheerleader outfit for Reese.

I will try and get the pics downloaded as soon as possible to share.

Despite being 1-9, Go Irish!

RIC Part II

(Do we look alike?)

As promised, it is now time for the Richmond trip recap. I actually made the flight this time! The weekend included Nathan's football game on Saturday, where the Glen Allen Ravens won the West division title thanks to their starting MLB, Mr. Braine. Later that evening, it was an all out war with a five person Monopoly battle. True story, $$$ and I were the first two out, and six year old Garrett went on to win the title. Sunday included some NFL and general schmak talk.

One of the keys to the weekend was the plane trip in both directions. If anyone has anything to share with me, now is the time, I am a big boy. No one sat in my row, on either flight. I swear to you, I was the only person on the entire plane with a row to myself. What is the deal? I know I don't look intimidating, so please help...

Bon and I are heading to South Bend tomorrow morning, there will be a mobile post, get ready...

From the Blackberry

Isn't technology amazing? I am posting this from my new phone. Maybe
this will help me pick back up on frequency.

I will post later about my trip to Richmond and my new complex...

Blog

Is this on?

I found it!

This is my new designated Halloween song, and the video is from one of the funniest movies ever, Back to School.

I am now 31 physically, but have successfully maintained my mental age of 15...