PB

Reese has developed a new found love of peanut butter. She will sit with an open jar and a spoon and just munch away, it is pretty funny.

Mad props go out to Hartsock today, he delivered the message at church yesterday and was straight money.

Plans continue for Jum's trip home and the NYC trip...

Happy Monday

Major Announcement for Cincinnati Beck Fans We are extremely excited to announce that Glenn Beck will be returning to 55KRC THE Talk Station, starting today! We have heard from so many Glenn Beck fans over the last couple of years and know the passion you have for Glenn Beck in Cincinnati. So sick freaks enjoy Glenn Beck every weekday from 9 till noon on 55KRC The Talk Station!

Draft Review

The Heat did it! They landed Huggs recruit and future stud Michael
Beasley last night. That alone would have been enough to get an A
grade from me, but then they went ahead and added Mario Chalmers from
the Jayhawks National Championship team.

Chalmers and Beasley should both be in the starting line-up, which
will make watching games a ton of fun.

Have a great weekend!

Supreme Court Gun Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday, in a 5-4 ruling, for the first time in U.S. history declared the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution contains a specific right to individual gun ownership and rejected Washington, D.C., handgun restrictions, which were the strictest in the nation.

Read the entire article in the WSJ HERE

Guitar Hero

So, as part of the family time extravaganza we got to rock out to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. This was an absolute blast! I even have some sweet pics of Momma rockin' out on drums that I will post up for you later. Although, the game clearly has flaws since it did not recognize my pitch brilliance on "Wanted Dead or Alive"...

This game will def be the first thing we purchase when the Wii is in house. One of the songs we rocked out to that I actually heard on XM this morning and head-banged to was:



The NBA Draft is tonight, look for my review tomorrow. I hope the Heat select Michael Beasley, for the record...

Two Week Hiatus

After some time away, the Heat Stadium is back, and we are bringing HEAVY news and pics...

First thing first, we have had a ton of great family time over the last two weeks. I think it is safe to say I have myself a Daddy's girl...

Daddy B and Aunt Krys were in town, and we got to hang with Momma and the Slim Shady Posse.

Check out the next generation of Furniss below, from left to right, Carleigh, Addie, My Gizmo, and Legend, (even my boy Tru made the pic, behind Reese in Bon's brown top):


Here is another pic from our trip to the Newport Aquarium:


Now, on to the other HUGE news. Thanks to my man Guido, I have the distinct pleasure of taking part in the:


Thru some amazing negotiations Guido has secured two tix to the Summer Classic, so we are taking a roady to the Big Apple. This is an incredible once in a lifetime opportunity!!!

My boy N2, owner of the hated Vendettas club, is giving us a place to lay our head and shower while we are there.

Will be hard to top this post moving forward, but will keep you better updated of the daily blessings that are life in the Heat Stadium...

Guess I am not the only one...

Solid article in the LA Times about the distaste by conservative Republicans in Ohio for Juan McCain, read it HERE

Taken from Hartsock's Blog

Katie Reider is a singer/songwriter, whose brother just happens to be our worship leader at 4 Corners.

She was diagnosed with a rare tumor that spread to her sinuses and jaw. Needless to say, treatment of this is extensive, invasive and expensive...

You can read more about her story by clicking thru the photo.

So some of her friends have setup a website to help with expenses for Katie and her family. They are trying to get 500,000 visits in one year and have each person by an album by Katie for $1. An amazing offer to listen to great music and help an amazing voice sing again...thanks!

(Thank you to Hartsock for posting this on Beautiful and Grotesque and bringing it to our attention)

Mega Post

Once again, I have been negligent, and there has been a lot going on:

• Jase had the exact same muscle biopsy procedure I had, his was this past Friday. He got great news as well, he is negative for MH. Now, once Jum gets confirmation he is negative after he gets out of the Army, we will officially have removed it from the bloodline.
• Saturday night we got a chance to visit Squibb's house for a 30th Birthday cookout and had a great time
  
• Sunday we had a phenomenal experience with a 4 Corners Road Trip, where families dispersed all around the area to the homes of members who were hosting lunch. The point was to emphasize that church is so much more than a building, it is about people and relationships. We had 3 families visit us, and had an absolute blast! Read all about it and see pics HERE

This is a pic from Sunday:

• Bon had an appt with her doctor Wednesday morning. It was Dr. Amy's first chance to look at the ultrasound. It was her opinion that we have a boy on the way as well, so that is two votes...
  
• Our boy Pipes just got hired at the University of Minnesota to be the Director of Equipment for the football team. This means that we will be supporting the Gophers, and gives me another reason to root against OSU
  
• Big Bro, S-Braine, has an amazing opportunity in front of him. When it is official I will spread the word, but in the meantime trying to keep it on the down-low. He may be an AD soon
  
• I will be activated from the disabled list this week for softball
• I have been crushing on the Goo Goo Dolls lately, check out one of their tunes below

We continue to live in amazing blessings and are humbled by how amazing God has been to us. We have heard some awful stories recently of battles some folks are going thru, and feel so fortunate.

Thank you all for reading the blog and being part of our lives.

One for the thumb

For the 5th time in the history of our relationship, Bon and I went to see Tim McGraw in concert last night.

The weather was perfect, we had great seats, and getting in and out was flawless.

His new CD being released in the Fall sounds like it will be another chart topper, as he played a few songs from it.

Reese had a great time with the sitter and gave Bon and I a huge double hug this morning when we went in to get her out of bed this morning.

Not much else happening in our world, doing a lot of work around the house this weekend, including getting Reese's new bedroom ready. She is graduating to a big girl room, and making way for the new baby.

Peace out

Punked

Maybe this will help turn the general consensus regarding this global warming crap.

For the record, the Earth's temp has not risen since 1998 and scientists are now saying it will be at least another 15 years before any other increase MAY be seen.

Check out the new petition signed by 31,072 American scientists, including 9,021 with PhDs, who are debunking the global warming theory.

The link with additional information can be found HERE.

Great article by Glenn Beck

NEW YORK (CNN) -- There is an industry in this country that is making billions in profit while average Americans are struggling to fill up their gas tanks.

It's an industry that made an average profit of nearly 17 percent in 2007 while most Americans could barely keep up with inflation.

It's an industry whose members paid a grand total of zero dollars in tax on their endowments last year.

Are you outraged? Are you ready to call on Congress to investigate or demand that a "windfall" tax be placed on these egregious profits?

Well put down the phone because the industry I'm talking about is Higher Education. And make no mistake, it is an industry.

The top five college and university endowments reported a combined value of over $100 billion at the end of 2007. That's five funds, a hundred billion in cash. Not a nickel in tax. Not an ounce of outrage.

Harvard University, which has the largest endowment in the country, has a total of $34.6 billion. To put into perspective just how much money that is, consider that the largest charitable foundation in the world, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has a total endowment of $37.3 billion.

But while their financial statements may look similar, their missions aren't. The Gates Foundation is working to cure malaria, develop new tuberculosis vaccines, and stop the spread of AIDS. Most of our colleges and universities are only working to spread the radical political views of some of their professors.

Let me be clear: I have absolutely no problem with Harvard or any other school having billions in cash. In fact, good for them!

I have no problem with Harvard posting an unbelievable 23 percent rate of return on their money last year. The truth is, I'm jealous of it.

I have no problem with the fact that if you project Harvard's endowment out using their historical rate of return they would have over half a TRILLION dollars in 20 years.

I don't even have a problem with Harvard not paying one dime of tax on any of that money.

What I do have a problem with -- and it's a big one -- is how Harvard spends that money. Or, maybe it would be more accurate to say how Harvard, doesn't spend that money.

Schools with large endowments (at least $500 million) reported spending an average of 4.4 percent of their stockpiles in 2007. Meanwhile, those same schools made an average of over 19 percent on their money.

But I also have another problem, and that is how these sanctimonious institutions who are so good at complaining about the injustices of our government are nothing but really highly educated hypocrites.

For what's been estimated to be about $300 million a year (less than 1 percent of their endowment's value) Harvard could completely waive tuition, room and board for every single one of their students. Instead, they announced an increase in those fees of about 3.5 percent for next year. Being a student at Harvard will now cost a staggering $47,215 a year.

Doesn't Harvard know how many millions of Americans are struggling to afford college? Don't they want to pay their fair share and help those who are less fortunate?

Some politicians in Massachusetts who can't stand to see so many billions dangling just out of their reach, have proposed a new tax on large university endowments. They don't have a cute name for it yet, so let's call it an "endowment windfall tax."

Under their proposal, all endowments over a billion dollars would be taxed at 2.5 percent, a rate any wealthy individual or corporation would salivate over. The tax would net the state over $1.4 billion a year, which is a lot of money considering that Boston currently receives about $1.8 million a year from the school.

So how did Harvard, which is basically the Exxon-Mobil of higher education (minus the accusations of price-gouging), react to that proposal? In a word, conservatively.

"You'd be taxing success here," Kevin Casey, Harvard's associate vice president for government, community and public affairs complained in a quote that will soon be framed and hung in my office. "Over time, this would put us at a real competitive disadvantage, which would drastically hurt the Commonwealth."

No Kevin, you're looking at it the wrong way. These politicians aren't trying to hurt you, they're just trying to level the playing field. Greater Shrewsbury Liberal Arts Community Technical College for Women down the road is struggling and here you are making billions. If they could just redistribute some of your profits to GSLACTCFW then everybody would be happy.

Does anyone else find it ironic that universities overflowing with liberal professors (a 2005 study revealed that 72 percent of professors view themselves that way) embrace conservative values only when it suits them?

As a conservative, I don't believe in taxing anyone just because they have a lot of money or are an easy target. That applies to individuals, businesses and universities. I believe that taxing success discourages success, and that's not what America stands for.

But I also believe in something else: consistency and accountability. And that's where most of our colleges and universities fail miserably.

Besides, Harvard, you're in the wealthiest 1 percent. Isn't it time to help those who are less fortunate?

And the baby is a...

...we are not exactly sure. Our ultrasound this morning was
outstanding in every way but one, the lack of a clear shot of the mid
pelvic region.

She did say based on something she saw her educated guess would be
that we are having a boy, but it was not conclusive.

So it looks like we get to be surprised come September, although I am
pretty sure Bon is going to buy boy's clothes and keep the receipts.

The baby is 100 healthy, which is really all that matters, and is
weighing in right now at a robust 12 ounces!

Big News Coming Tomorrow...

Stay tuned

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