Author: daustin23

It’s been six years since I lost my best friend and that’s a pain that I’ve had to share with many whose lives were touched by Tim.  The beautiful thing about our friendship was that it was so much like a bond between two brothers that I often sit back and just smile about all our good times.  Even now, as I watch my little man prepare for his brother to enter the world, I laugh out loud at his interpretation of what’s going on.  What’s more, I laugh inside because I see a little bit of what made Tim and I so close in this picture.  Unafraid to try and make someone laugh and always happy when we succeeded.  I just know I would’ve thought to put a balloon under my shirt and pretended to be pregnant… and I know at least one man who’d have laughed with me…. Miss you Tim!

Growing up I have fond memories of listening to myself on an 8-track recording my parents made.  In addition to the famous “Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum I spell the blood of an inchyman”, I also recited my ABCs as clearly as the Hudson River (south of Kingston.)  Now, with modern technology, I present Ryan’s version of the ABCs. 

2 years, 8 months and 1 day ago Ryan was born.  Our precious little miracle.  We were so worried that he was small, worried about his growth and worried that we’d be good enough parents.  Would he feel comfortable in our home?  Would we teach him right from wrong? Is he eating enough?


Fast forward to this morning.  Many of these worries have given way to a more practical concern.  Discipline.  I could try and recap everything but it might be better with quotes.

Me: “You need to wear your coat, it’s cold outside and you’re a little man” 

Ryan:“No” 

Me: “If you don’t put your coat on you are going to get a spanking” 

Ryan: “No” 

Me: *Spank* 

Ryan: *Laugh hysterically* 

Me: “You need to wear your coat or you’re going to get time out” 

Ryan:“Time Out, Please” 

At least he said “please”….and he did end up in a coat.
 PS. Shameless plug here that I”m now posting on twitter @StneColdDaustin…figured I’d give it a try

I’m headed to Indianapolis for ESPN Radio’s Super Week coverage. By way of cheap shameless plugs, check out our coverage all next week on ESPNRadio.com. Okay, now that the blatant sales pitch is over, I’m going to begin to pepper in the more subtle pitches.

ESPN Radio is headed to Indy to meet and interview every coach, player and analyst in the area and it’s my job to get all the behind-the-scenes coverage possible and post it to the website.  So that’s what I’ll be doing next week.  So, with all that, I’m forced to leave Jenn alone with the little dude.  I’ve been away for this long before but it’s never easy.  So, yesterday I took the little man out to breakfast and spent some time just playing.  At the end of the day, we had a great time, but I’m still convinced his highlight was the Mickey pancakes at breakfast.  I’ll admit, I took a little pleasure in cutting the ears of that Mickey…of course it was to protect my son from choking….and my ego.

There are few joys in this world more than children.  I’ve found over the last two and a half years that they bring much joy to the world and make life all that much more fun.

Life is filled with all kinds of joys and what I’ve found over the years is that certain ones are improved in combination.  For example, I love chocolate but I adore chocolate ice cream.  I cherish coffee but I cry tears of joy if it has whipped cream on it.  I enjoy the sun but I worship the beach.  Okay, I’m taking this too far.  Anyway, I tell you all that to setup the fact that, I love my son with all my heart but I’m on cloud 9 when I get to spend time with him at a sports bar while watching the Giants dominate the Falcons in a playoff game.  Life is good.  They should put that on a T-Shirt.

It’s a shy past midnight and I’m pumped that this cable-less household was able to enjoy the Giants-Cowboys game on NBCSports.com in a new player that seriously shows the level of competition that we face every day in the digital world.

As I think about the great game I just watched and reflect on the Giants’ season, I’m struck by one very scary thought.  Ryan will be awake in roughly 4 1/2 to 5 hours.  I’m not sure who said it but it is true that sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.  A symptom of which there is a clear and definitive cure that will be delivered hot and often tomorrow morning.

So, the Giants had a wonderful victory tonight and I’m happy for them.  For my part, I sacrificed tomorrow.

We’ve made it home safely from the world’s largest playground and spent a few quality hours with friends.  A few changes to our New Years celebrations that are of interesting note.

First, we welcomed 2012 early at 9:15 with a replay of New York 1’s newscast where they showed the rehearsal of tonight’s ball drop.  Collectively we decided it would be sufficient enough a countdown for our celebratory purposes.

Shortly after popping the champagne and welcoming in New Years, we talked a bit more and then headed home.  Now, it’s 11 o’clock and we’re just about to call it a year.  2011 brought many great memories and opportunities and I’m looking forward with open arms to 2012.  The picture in this blog has absolutely nothing to do with this entry except to say that Jenn and Ryan are very excited for 2012 and all the adventures that little Austin #2 will bring.

We spent Friday, our last full day, back at the Magic Kingdom.  After hitting pretty much all we wanted to in Animal Kingdom, we thought it would be most fitting to end in Disney’s most popular and famous park.

We successfully made it back to the hotel and Ryan was able to take his three hour nap and we’re now getting ready to hit EPCOT one last time.

I really wish there were stories to share of triumph over adversity but those are hard to come by in this place.

For the first time all week we can honestly report that, other than a skinned knee from Tom Sawyer’s Island, there wasn’t much to report.  The crowds were manageable, Ryan was manageable and the weather was beautiful.

Day four has been fun and we’re back in the hotel early tonight after a long day. We started our Thursday in Animal Kingdom, going straight for the Kilimanjaro Safaris. For those who haven’t had the opportunity, this ride takes you on a twenty minute “safari” through the “African Savannah.” We had the chance to get up close, within five feet, of giraffes, rhinos and some cow like thing I can’t remember but I’m sure would taste great with some Senator Libous steak sauce.

From there, we hit breakfast with Mickey. I’m not sure I understand the indoctrination of Mickey completely but kudos to Walt for figuring this out. If you stop to think about it, if you were walking down the street and you saw a seven foot tall mouse, you’d most likely run very fast. I realize many of my friends from New York City would likely call it a subway rat but I digress. Anyway, the breakfast was great…..ly over priced but we enjoyed it and Ryan seemed to be thrilled with his chance to meet Mickey.

Yes, that’s Ryan under the hand dryer

After our third safari of the day, we hit Rafiki’s Island Adventure. The interesting thing to note here is that there is only one way to get to this island and that’s by train. So, you fight long lines to wait for this train to pick you up and bring you to what is essentially a petting zoo. This was a big let down because they only had goats to pet. Ummm, this might be some big thing for southerners, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure there are better petting zoos in my shed. So, in exchange for this railroad excursion, we delayed monsieur crabby pants’ nap too long and he fell asleep in the park. We were able to keep him asleep through the ride back to the hotel but once back, he popped up and was ready for the day. We went swimming in the afternoon and generally tried to keep him occupied. It worked and we went back to the park tonight to enjoy the Finding Nemo musical.