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!

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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...