Author: daustin23

It’s important that I refrain from making this blog a diatribe on how you should live your life. That would just be both corny and ridiculous.  It would be like taking religious advice from an atheist or nutritional advice from Gabare Sidibe.  This picture, as cute as it is, did get me thinking though.  Isn’t it amazing that babies are so quick to do things while adults have to think everything through? Ryan’s first trip to the beach was an exciting one.  He splashed in the water, played in the sand and basked in the shade of a tent grandma bought him.  Me? I frantically cried like a school girl as I jumped in the water covered in my wetsuit, angrily fought off the sand that was sticking to my sweat covered body and hid from the sun in Ryan’s tent.  I certainly didn’t embrace the first rays of summer like Ryan embraced his. 

Yesterday was a tough day. Our first trip of the Summer was an enjoyable one spent on the shores of Cape Cod until late Sunday night when Ryan somehow mysteriously contracted the Coxsackie virus. This is an interestingly painful illness that causes high fever and sores in the back of the victim’s throat making it painful to eat solid foods. So we arrived home on Tuesday morning around 1am and I headed for meetings in Bristol just 4 hours later. I returned to Albany later in the evening to attend the memorial of a longtime family friend, Jay Gallagher, who recently died of pancreatic cancer. It was during Jay’s memorial I realized that it’s important to keep things in perspective. So I got four hours of sleep and my little ball of fire isn’t feeling well and letting the world know it. There are certainly worse things in life, like losing a friend.

Oh the joys of having days off! The truth is it can often be hard to take a real day off with the blackberry buzzing and wifi seemingly everywhere. Memorial Day though seems different, especially since I lost a good buddy a few years ago in Iraq. Sitting on the beach with Ryan is relaxing and a great way to honor those who’ve sacrificed a lot more than I have.

There are many reasons to be thankful. Ryan thinks there are five but he’ll learn there are more.

Location:Sea St,Dennis Port,United States

No. It’s such a simple word and yet so complicated. The word is easy to understand. If you’re told “no” that means someone feels that whatever verb you’ve suggested should be done, in their mind, shouldn’t. If you say “no”, then you’re suggesting that whatever verb someone else has in mind shouldn’t be done. There, the concept is pretty easy to grasp. Why then does no one seem to embrace this concept in the Austin household.

Just this morning, as I’m fighting to feed Ryan some strawberry-banana mush our beloved Maddie is pulling the garbage can around the kitchen trying to get at last night’s chicken scraps. I command her “no” and she stops, looks at me and assesses my situation and seemingly laughs her canine laugh and continues. So, I quickly get up to grab the dog and turn to see Ryan about to dump the entire jar of mush on his head. I quickly scream “No” but to no avail, plop on his head, chair and the floor. I grab this little food throwing monster and bring him to the kitchen sink only to find my canine friend eating the bananas. I turned to her to say it and then gave up. I don’t think I could’ve taken another rejection. At least I was getting the floor cleaned.

Instinct is a funny thing. Webster defines instinct as “a natural or inherent aptitude, impulse, or capacity” So, as I was getting ready for work this morning I heard the familiar sounds of my little roommate reminding me that it was 6:45, well past his wake up time. Strangely though he doesn’t cry in the morning or even yell. It’s just kind of a strange groan. So I walked in and said good morning only to find him leaned up against the side of his crib with one hand behind his head as a comfortable cushion and the other hand tucked neatly in the waistband of his diaper. It got me thinking, is this behavior instinctual or is he already learning by example. I hope, for his sake, it’s the former.

How old is too old to wear a pot on your head? 

This question has been bothering me all morning long and I’m not really sure why. Perhaps it’s because I don’t want to do any real work, or perhaps because I think this picture is so cute.I’m thinking the answer is 14.  If my math is correct that brings you to 9th grade and by the time you’re in High School you probably shouldn’t be wearing pots on your head. 
I should add though that it would be entirely acceptable in certain circumstances after age 14 like as a costume or perhaps at the end of a long Saturday night in college.  So now, as I think more about this, I’ll have to throw out that previous thought.  Go ahead, wear a pot on your head.  It looks like fun.

So the blog was dead for several months mainly because I lost the creativity to write anything meaningful. Then, just today as I was mowing the lawn, it occurred to me, I don’t need to write anything meaningful!

With my new iPad in hand, I can write anything I want and it’ll be fine. So here’s to more posts about nothing, or something, depending how you look at it.

There are many things in life that, when experienced for the first time, send feelings of euphoria throughout the body.  I can remember my first taste of Stewart’s Peanut Butter Pandomonium, my first dog, my first kiss, meeting Jenn for the first time, meeting Ryan for the first time and I suppose the list could go on.  So, this morning, as I begrudgingly awoke, I noticed the alarm clock read 5:57 and I thought to myself, “hmm, that seems strange I feel so rested.”  I realized that, for the first time in ages, Ryan had made it through the night only waking up twice for less than 5 minutes!  I nearly cried with joy and then immediately went to the task of thinking what we had done differently to make that happen.  We’re still investigating but we think it has to do with him shaking the cold he has and eating more.  Whatever the reason, this is one first I won’t easily forget.

There’s a story in today’s Times Union about a local couple who won $1 Million in the New York State Lottery back in 2006.  The story tells how they’ve squandered the entire lump sum payment they received and have now found themselves in trouble with the law for selling cocaine.

After driving home, nearly two hours, from ESPN’s offices in Connecticut, it got me thinking.  What would I do with the 5 or 6 hundred thousand dollars that these guys got after taxes? I thought of so many things from remodeling our house to buying a house in Miami or maybe a more comfortable car for my long trips.  The mind can go wild with ideas but I can guarantee you one thing, I wouldn’t be arrested for selling crack.

Obviously these guys were using too much of their product.