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For the Love of Old Spice - Illini's Shave Journal

Hello from the beautiful Space Coast of Florida, shave family! It has been a wonderful vacation so far. The drive down wasn't all that much fun, but our son did surprisingly well across the 2 days of driving. Our AirB&B is right on the beach, a wonderful find by my wife no doubt! Some nice beach time on Tuesday, and a great visit to Kennedy Space Center yesterday. I'm a huge space nerd so it was a huge bucket list item for me, and although we didn't spend near as long as I'd have liked (you know, toting a 2 year around and all) it was amazing to visit. I'll definitely need to return in the future, either with older kids or maybe even just with my wife or dad so I can really spend all day there. We missed the SpaceX launch yesterday morning, but are planning to see the ULA one later tonight from the beach outside our door.

This morning we drove over to Orlando to have breakfast at Chef Mickey's. As I've mentioned before, both the wife and I come from big Disney families, and we toyed with a quick trip to the Magic Kingdom this year but it just wasn't in the cards. Having a character breakfast this morning really scratched the Disney itch for us, and my son was completely star struck and had an absolute blast. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but didn't know if he would love the characters today or be terrified. It turned out to be the former and he was singing, hugging, and beaming as Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy came around. Most definitely will be a highlight of the trip. He also loved seeing the monorail going through the Contemporary hotel, and we rode it once around the loop, catching just a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom. Can't wait until we come back as a family for a full Disney trip. Have some more beach days ahead of us which will be nice.

Shaves have been nice and beachy, we stopped at Nordstrom Rack the night before we hit the road as my wife needed a new pair of sun glasses after our son snapped hers in half earlier last week, and I snagged a bottle of Tommy Bahama St. Barts to be used as my "vacation" cologne. Man, does this stuff just scream summertime and beach time! Paired with Sea Spice Lime and there's just no better Florida beach shave in my den!

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Checking back in now that we're back home and I'm back to work (for a single day) today.

The remainder of the vacation was as nice as the beginning. We were able to see the Starliner launch very well from the beach in front of our Air B&B. It was truly incredible to watch it lift off and then see videos of it up in space a mere minutes later. Some day I'll have to catch a lift-off from one of the Kennedy viewing locations. The rest of the time in Florida was relaxing (or as relaxing as it could be with a 2 year old.) Started the drive back to Chicagoland on Sunday but stopped over for a day in Chattanooga on Monday to take our son to their aquarium. It was phenomenal and honestly better than the Shedd here in Chicago that charges extra for pretty much everything. My son loved it and honestly both my wife and I did too. Drove the rest of the way back home yesterday and spent the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry, and mowing the lawn which was crazy tall after 10 days.

Today is my lone day at work this week as tomorrow I'm heading down to St. Louis with 3 of my best friends for our 9th annual Memorial Day trip. Will be a great time as we're catching a Cardinals game on Friday night before heading out to the lake house on Saturday morning. This is honestly one of the highlights of the year as it's time for the 4 of us to hang out, reconnect and relive some of the college glory days, mostly through stories now as our bodies cannot keep up with the level of drinking that we did in the past.

Wednesday May 25th, 2022
Razor : '52 Gillette Red Tip SS
Blade : Personna Lab Blue (1)
Brush : Rudy Vey Custom with Plisson Knot
Pre : Shower
Soap : PAA Sundown
Post : Thayers Coconut Water & MJ EdC
 
Hello Cadre, it's been a little wile.

Things have been extremely busy around here, both on the work side as well as the personal side, leaving little time for my two most beloved hobbies: my lawn and shaving. On the work front, continue to be discouraged by the lack of development but am not planning to even start the conversations of potentially moving on until after our baby girl is born in August. Just going to keep on keeping on in that world until then.

On the personal side, we've had two separate sets of tough news over the last week, both related to some of our best friends and their babies who are both spending time in the NICU. One is hopefully a short stint and seems to be trending in the right direction, but the other was born at 23 weeks and has a very long road ahead. Both cases are heartbreaking and it's so hard to see people you care so much about hurt so badly. Appreciate any and all prayers for these two little ones and their families if you are of any faith.

As life settles back into a more normal routine this week, hoping to be able to pick back up with many of your journals as I've missed reading and sharing updates with everyone.

Have a wonderful Monday friends, thank you for stopping by.
 
Hey Ryan - what a whirlwind of emotions!

I am so sorry that your friends are going through that - I can’t imagine as a parent how difficult that is to see your child - especially one that young, to be in intensive care. I will think positive thoughts and hope for your friends and their families.

I hope you had a good time with your friends in St Louis!

Glad to see you on TSC to let us know how you are doing!
 
GearNoir said:
Glad to see you pop in Ryan! Glad you’re doing well, even if super busy!

Prayers for your friends and their newborns!
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Thank you Chris!

Scuttlesoap said:
Hey Ryan - what a whirlwind of emotions!

I am so sorry that your friends are going through that - I can’t imagine as a parent how difficult that is to see your child - especially one that young, to be in intensive care. I will think positive thoughts and hope for your friends and their families.

I hope you had a good time with your friends in St Louis!

Glad to see you on TSC to let us know how you are doing!
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We spent around 3 weeks in the NICU with our son who was early, but there wasn't ever really concern around him not making it, it was just until he figured out how to feed on his own. We saw families of children much earlier and on much tougher paths while there and I cannot begin to imagine what our friends are going through. The NICU nurses and doctors have to be some of the strongest in the profession, and they all were truly the best during our stay.

Realized I never shared a St. Louis update, the trip was absolutely fantastic and one of the best we have had!

MarkB said:
Dang! Hope things improve all around, Ryan. You're in my thoughts, brother!
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Thank you Mark!
 
Fightingillini22 said:
We spent around 3 weeks in the NICU with our son who was early, but there wasn't ever really concern around him not making it, it was just until he figured out how to feed on his own. We saw families of children much earlier and on much tougher paths while there and I cannot begin to imagine what our friends are going through. The NICU nurses and doctors have to be some of the strongest in the profession, and they all were truly the best during our stay.
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I had occasion to observe NICU RNs and MDs in action in the highest-acuity NICU in town. I was highly impressed with both.
 
It's been a rough couple of days friends. While our one friend's baby is still doing better each day, the little boy who was born at 23 weeks passed on early Tuesday morning. As a parent, it is simply unfathomable to think about losing a child, much less one in the manner that my two friends are going through right now. There have been a lot of tears shed over the last few days. There's a memorial and luncheon tomorrow that is probably going to be the single hardest service I've ever attended. Of course there wasn't any doubt that I'd be going, as the mother is one of my best friends and I know she and her husband need all the support in the world right now.

Appreciate the continued thoughts and prayers for both the couple that lost their son and the other little guy still fighting the good fight.
 
We got some great news this morning from my wife's friend that their son was discharged from the NICU and they are now happily settling in at home. It was a much needed emotional boost on what is going to be a very difficult day today.

Thank you for the continued thoughts and prayers, Cadre, it means a lot to us!
 
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