My "Special" Holiday

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

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

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

Peace out...

7'9" of New Husband

Worlds tallest man just got hitched, awesome!

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

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

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

Two Cars in The Garage

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

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

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

Life is good...

Reese, meet Tobymac

What a weekend!

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

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

Then came Tobymac...

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

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

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

Enjoy this video from Tobymac...

Hooligans

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm out...

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July everyone!

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

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

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

Back to work tomorrow.

Keep it real...

Are you kidding me?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Picnic Fun

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

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

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

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

Keep it real,

(But first check out this crazy story)

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

Monday , July 02, 2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh My Goodness!

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

Have a great weekend everyone, I know I will.

Gizmo?

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

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

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

I been saying it all along...

Firstborn sons have higher IQs, Norway study finds

By Ishani Ganguli2 hours, 13 minutes ago

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Emmaus, Part II

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

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

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

Can this be for real?

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

Keep it real...

Throw Some Up

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

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

He is in UK Medical Center.

Camp

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace out

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

New Church

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

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

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

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

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

Peace out

What a Blessing

I can relate

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

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

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

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

Peace out

Drenched

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

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

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

Heading to the Emmaus reunion tonight with The Godfather.

Peace out

Weak

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

The R-I-C

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace out, for now