This weekend Susan and I took a trip of to Syracuse for the world premier of The Express (The Ernie Davis Story).  My friend Jeff, got us VIP tickets to the screening and the gala afterwards.  This was our first movie premier.

We arrived in downtown Syracuse around 6PM and walked over to The Landmark Theatre.  Having no idea what to expect, we turned the corner and saw a huge crowd as well as a the Orange Carpet (instead of your standard Red Carpet).  Susan and I got to walk down the carpet along with Jim Brown, Floyd Little, Bob Costas, Dennis Quaid, and the rest of the cast.  It was pretty exciting.

Upon entering the theatre, we were given free popcorn, drinks, and a program.  We took our seats and met up with Jeff, Jennifer, Adam (Jeff’s Brother), his wife Jonna, and some other folks from ICS.  Since Jeff and his company developed the web site for the university for this event as well as the ticketing system, he hooked us up with some great seats.

Prior to the movie starting there were several speeches by Universal executives, the cast, university board members, and honoring of other players to wear #44.

The movie depicts the life story of Ernie Davis, The Elmira Express, who played for the Syracuse University football team.  Ben Schwartzwalder recruited Davis to play at SU along with the help of the previous number 44, Jim Brown.  Ernie Davis was given the honor of wearing #44 as well, and thus the great tradition of this number at SU was born.  Davis was the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy and was then drafted by the Cleveland Browns to play with Jim Brown.  Unfortunately, he never played a game in the NFL as he contracted Leukemia and died at the age of 23.  The Brown have since retired his number.  #44 was retired from the SU football program in 2003.

After the movie, we all headed over to the Onondaga War Memorial (the same place where my friend Steve played hockey in college for SU) for the gala.  There was a ton of food, The Coasters played, and the celebs mingled with the lay people.  Dennis Quaid, jumped on stage at one point and took over on the keyboard.  It was an extremely fun event, but Susan was not feeling well, so we ducked out early.  She was a trooper to hang in there for so long. 

On Saturday, Jeff got us 2 ticket to the SU vs. Penn State football game.  It was a complete spanking and an embarrassing display of football by SU.  This program has gone way down hill since the days that I was there.  The final score was 55-13, Penn State.  I guess you have to expect something like this when a top 10 team plays a bottom 10 team.

Sunday morning, Susan and I went over to Jeff and Jennifer’s house to hang out with them, Nathan, Benjamin, Adam, and Jonna.

Overall it was a great weekend!  Thanks Jeff for hooking us up!

Pictures from the SU Game
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanandallen/sets/72157617565343034/

Pictures from The Express Premier
http://www.flickr.com/photos/susanandallen/sets/72157617564836506/

-Allen

That’s right, Susan is pregnant!

It was July 3rd at about 9:00PM when I walked through the door returning from an ExRAP in Washington, DC.  On the table, there sat a test with a positive indication.  We were ecstatic!  Our first appointment was going to be on August 1st, so I had to rearrange some travel for a trip out to Colorado.  We had both agreed not to tell anybody until we had the first appointment with the doctor.

The next day, Independence Day, brought all of the usual parties.  At Susan’s parents place, I pounded a beer and snuck inside to wash out the can (several times).  I filled it with water and brought it back out to Susan so she wouldn’t have to field the normal questions about why she didn’t have a drink in her hand. 

Throughout July several people asked if Susan was pregnant yet.  All received the SAME answer, including our parents, “NO!”  Sorry we lied. 

Fast forward to July 31st…I took the red-eye home from Denver to be back for the morning appointment.  Immediately after, we met Susan’s mom and Tommy at the Tom Sawyer Diner.  We sat down and they asked me how my trip was.  I said, “Great! Would you like to see some pictures I took?”

After that, I took out the ultrasound picture and they were elated.  We told my parents that night in a similar fashion.

We anxiously awaited the next appointments which were scheduled for the last week in August.  I was there for the appointment to hear the heartbeat, but I missed the one the following day where they did the good ultrasound.  Susan sent me a picture of the picture from her camera phone.  The doctor typed a message on the screen, “HI DAD I MISS U”

After this appointment, we began to tell a few more people before going completely public this past weekend.

There you have it!  We are pretty excited!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q:  When is the baby due?
A:  March 10, 2009

Q:  Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?
A:  We are not sure yet.  This can be determined during the ultrasound at week 20.  This is something we have been debating as it is one of the few great surprises that life presents you.

Q:  How far along is Susan?
A:  Entering the 14th week

Q:  Are you hoping for a girl or a boy?
A:  Either.  Our number one concern is that the baby is healthy. 

Q:  How is Susan feeling?
A:  Awful.    She has been getting sick every afternoon for the past 2 months.  She’s going to sleep around 7:00PM.  Please don’t call at night.

Q:  Have you thought about any names for the baby?  If so, what names?
A:  Yes and we are not telling. 

Q:  Sounds like you’ve got some good swimmers?
A:  Yeah, just like Michael Phelps.

-Allen