Zoo, Christmas, and More...

This was an amazing week.

Last Friday, the 19th, Bon and I took Reese to the Cincinnati Zoo's Festival of Lights. We are big fans of being diligent about spending solo time with each of our kids moving forward, and this was Reese's first opp. Mamaw Beth stayed with the TruDawg for the evening, we had an amazing time!

Christmas was unbelievable, have a GREAT clip of Reese I will try and get up here on the blog. I am very much looking forward to the addition of the Blackberry Storm to make video and photo uploading a lot more simple...

Expect some big news regarding 2009 to be posted here on the Stadium early next week...






What an amazing week with the family...

You wanted more pics, you got 'em...

Learning to fail...

Learning how to fail again, sometimes, is not a bad thing necessarily...

I did not pass my Series 7 exam today, will have to go get it again in a few months.

OK, allow me to elaborate, and vent/whine...

I took 21 practice exams with my study software, on the last five exams I averaged an 83, so needless to say I was feeling pretty good. But, alas, the material on the exam was no where near the same as the practice exams, so I went down in a blaze of glory. You know what the worse part is, the time I have not been able to spend with Bon and the kids, I cannot get it back and it was clearly not well spent...

I will put this on the back burner, and address it again in a few months, there will be some other things that need focus the next few months.

On to more important matters, tha fam is rockin'

Gizmo is awesome, and has become quite fond of having her picture taken, I will post some new ones tomorrow.

Tru-dawg is now in the crib, in our room, as he has outgrown the bassinet. Actually, he had spent the last week or so sleeping in the swing every night due to a little congestion/cough he was knocking out. He had his 2 month appt at the doc last Thursday, and had grown 2 1/2 inches in a month! He is now at just over two feet long, and weighed in at 10lbs and 9ozs. He is one chill baby, if he is not hungry, he pretty much just hangs out and laughs at the three of us. His "voice" is starting to come out too, making some funny noises that are not cries.

Bon, as always, is amazing, she was/is so supportive of all of the "projects" I want to tackle, and basically was a single Mom for the last week as I studied.

Peace out...

Great Time

Need a Blackberry?

My gently used silver Blackberry 8830 can be had for $125, post a comment on the blog here or shoot me an email at furniss13@gmail.com if interested. I will be posting on Ebay in a few days.

Link HERE

Overview

The BlackBerry® 8830 World Edition smartphone is the stylish way to get things done. It’s the first CDMA BlackBerry smartphone capable of roaming globally on GSM®/GPRS networks*. So you can travel the world with full mobile voice and data coverage, without having to change smartphones, phone numbers or email addresses.

The BlackBerry 8830 World Edition gives you phone, email, organizer, web browsing and instant messaging. And then it goes a step further, providing GPS*, BlackBerry® Maps, a media player for your video clips and music, and expandable memory to ensure you’ve got the room you need for your media files.

Did Someone Leak Treasury 4.5% Mortgage 'Plan'?

It's truly amazing to me that a lobbyist who really needs something from the government would leak just the possibility of that something to the media, when that leakage would only harm their industry. Of course, I'm talking about the Treasury proposal/possibility/plan to buy mortgage debt at a rate that would allow lenders to offer buyers a 4.5 percent interest rate on the 30-year fixed.

Read more about it HERE

Definition of Lame Duck...

Now here is an idea..

CONVERT PAULSON'S LAST $350 BILLION INTO TAX HOLIDAY, SAYS U.S. CONGRESSMAN

Press Release : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 28, 2008

Convert Paulson’s Last $350 Billion

into Tax Holiday, says U.S. Congressman

"Billions of Dollars for Taxpayers, but Not One More Penny for Executive Bailouts"

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As millions of Americans are hoping to maximize their holiday shopping budgets on today's Black Friday bargains, one U.S. Congressman is fighting to prevent more outrageous spending sprees by Washington with taxpayer dollars going to executive cronies.

With $350 billion of the $700 billion bailout still available to Paulson pending Congressional approval, a conservative Texas lawmaker is proposing to put that money towards a tax holiday from both personal income tax and FICA tax for Americans during January and February of 2009.

He stated, "By instating a temporary tax holiday, we could electrify the American economy and provide overwhelming relief to taxpayers, all for less than the cost of the current failed Paulson-Pelosi bailout system."

Read more about it HERE

Scary...

Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security

By Spencer S. Hsu and Ann Scott Tyson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 1, 2008; A01

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials.

The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said.

There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.

But the Bush administration and some in Congress have pushed for a heightened homeland military role since the middle of this decade, saying the greatest domestic threat is terrorists exploiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, dedicating 20,000 troops to domestic response -- a nearly sevenfold increase in five years -- "would have been extraordinary to the point of unbelievable," Paul McHale, assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said in remarks last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the realization that civilian authorities may be overwhelmed in a catastrophe prompted "a fundamental change in military culture," he said.

The Pentagon's plan calls for three rapid-reaction forces to be ready for emergency response by September 2011. The first 4,700-person unit, built around an active-duty combat brigade based at Fort Stewart, Ga., was available as of Oct. 1, said Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of the U.S. Northern Command.

Read more HERE

Happy December!

(Check out this sweet action shot of Jum)

Well, I had the privilege of watching Notre Dame and the Bears get kicked in the head this weekend...

Enjoyed Turkey Day with some of Bon's family in Frankfort...

Bon knocked out 98% of the Christmas shopping on Black Friday! She is awesome, stayed well within budget, got some great stuff, and Truett went along for the ride, like a rockstar...

We have a new bed, from Ikea, the story goes like this. We were gifted a new mattress, decided to pass our bed and mattress on to Beth for her new place. We tried to use Bon's old water bed frame, but that did not work out so well. So, on Friday night, I walk into Ikea at 8:57 to try and pick up a new bed. The elderly greeters at the door tell me, we close in 3 minutes, I said, "Uh, OK, this is what I need," they proceed to send me to the upper most quatrant of the megaplex, where the lady there tells me, "Those are right up front, near the checkout."

Awesome

So I run down, get what I need thanks to some helpful Ikea "co-workers", and exit the parking lot at 9:32pm.

We absolutely love the bed, it is much more functional for Reese to jump in and out of!

The Christmas tree went up last night, Reese absolutely loves the decorations.

Been studying for the Series 7, trying to get right...

Peace out

Photo Time

Reese and I walking at the pumpkin farm

TruDawg Weighs in at...

8lbs 5ozs, five weeks old, still has huge mitts for hands, built like his Uncle Jase right now...

New Beginnings

I apologize for the delay, things have been a little hectic.

First of all, let me address the election. I clearly disagree with the policies of the President-elect, but this is still the greatest country in the world. I hope he keeps it forefront in his mind that 50 million people did not think he was the right choice for President. I will pray for him, disagree with him, and start planning my own run for public office in 2010...

I spent this past weekend with my bro SBraine in Richmond. It was an honor to be there as he was baptized on Sunday afternoon. He has an amazing testimony, and I know God is going to use him and his infectious personality to spread the love of Christ. It is an amazingly humble feeling to see Christ work on someone you care about, and watch them publicly commit their heart and life to serving Jesus Christ. I am so proud of you Steven, your impact on my life is more than you may ever fully realize.

There has been some great stuff happening behind the scenes for us that I cannot quite share publicly yet, but stay tuned, God is definitely at work in the Furniss house!

Truett has his one month appointment today, we are taking bets on his weight

Happy Election Day

God's will be done...

This is actually hillarious!

I am trying really hard...

...to not turn the Heatstadium blog into a total crapfest on Obama, but this video was too good to pass up

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am 32 today, and got the best card from Reese, a Diego card for a 3 year-old, Bon wrote a 2nd over top the 3, and it had a sheet of Diego stickers inside!

Trick or Treat will be a blast tonight!

My favorite Halloween song...

What an afternoon!

I just voted, picked up some more McCain-Palin yard signs for people at work, and filled my gas tank for $17.75!

Props to $$$

I have to send a quick shot out to my older brother, S-Braine, or as I refer to him, $$$

He was sent the book, "The Shack" by a random person. We still don't know where it came from, and it has changed his life. (Find out more info on the book HERE)

As he read it, things started to make sense and he felt a connection to Christ growing. We had an amazing conversation afterwards, and I am so very proud of him. He has been thru more than his fair share of crap, and to finally come to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior is an amazing journey.

He even found a "baby 4 Corners" in Richmond and was able to attend there this past Sunday.

Praise God for a sweet addition to the family of Christ Followers!

How many warnings do we need?

Our nation and the way of it will change dramatically if this man is elected President