The Last Lecture.....It Was His Greatest

On September 18, 2007, Computer Science Professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.

Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, as has the book he wrote based on the same principles, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. Sadly, Randy lost his battle to pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008, but his legacy will continue to inspire us all, for generations to come.

I am really inspired by this man and his life. He knew he was dying and yet he did one last thing that will mean so much to so many but especially to his wife and children.

Tagged!

I have been tagged (thanks Em) on this. So this is me from A to Z.

A - age - 36

B - birthday - May 30, 1972 (Yep a Memorial Day Baby)

C - candy or cake - seriously, you want me to choose between my two favorite things?!

D - dessert you love - cheesecake

E - easiest person to talk to - Jerry (most of the time)

F - favorite song - "I Love The Way You Love Me"

G - gold or silver - so silver

H - habit - nervous twitch with my leg. I can't keep it still (but all of us Mishler girls have it).

I - instruments I play - flute (but I have a piano that is sitting in my dining room)

J - job title - Financial Aid Advisor

K - kids - Zachary (my bunny) and Sydney (my roo)

L - love or lust - love, definitely love

M- married or single - married 15 years in September

N - next to you - my sweet hubby

O - one wish - I want to go back to Hawaii with my fam

P - person you called last - my hubby

Q - quotes - Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. (Robert Frost rocks)

R - reasons to smile - sometimes people are like slinkies....not really good for much but you can't help but laugh when they fall down the stairs.

S - steak or pork - STEAK! We are carnivores!!

T - turns you on - guys wearing nice cologne

U - unique talent - that would be a big nothing. However, I think I am really funny. My hubby disagrees and thinks I am not nearly as funny as I think I am. I happen to think I am one of the funniest people I know.

V - vegetable - any smothered in Chiz's Ranch Dressing

W - woke up at what time - too early (7 a.m.) as always

X - x-rays I've had - ankle, abdomen, hand, head (hehehe....they each make a really good story)

Y - your favorite color - blue

Z - zodiac - Gemini

I tag Amy, Becki, Laurie, Tammie, Melissa and Lisa-Marie.

Growing....Growing......GROWING!!!

Zack starts fifth grade this fall. I am really okay with that. What I had no idea I wouldn't be prepared for was to see my sweet little boy begin football camp. I watched as my very tall (his head is up to my shoulders) son walked onto the football field and was towered over by kids who are in junior high and high school. I felt the lump in my throat rising.

He walked over to the field, sat down and proceeded to try and put his kleets on. I say he proceeded to try because these are his soccer kleets from this past Fall. We bought them and they fit fine. They are a size 3. He came almost crying back to the car. "Mom, these shoes don't fit me," he began to tear up. "What do you mean they don't fit....we JUST bought them!," I said completely shocked. I even (to my chagrin) made him give me his kleets and his shoes to compare sizes. I was completely dumbfounded to discover he was trying to shove his now size 5 feet into those practically new size 3 kleets. Dad to the rescue! New kleets and a football camp practice was well underway.

When he came home my "little" boy came strolling into my room as proud as a peacock wearing his new football pads, new kleets, and a football helmet! Now it was my turn to begin sobbing. I was so shocked to see my little boy literally transformed into a young man right before my very eyes. I am still trying to deal with the fact that my boy is now a football player AND a wrestler. This is definately going to take some getting use to.

Happy Birthday BOYS!!!

One birthday gift that Zack got four years ago today was one of the best gifts a kid could get. He is lucky enough to have his cousin Connor born on his birthday. These kiddos are wonderful and I am so glad they live next to each other and enjoy being together.

I also have a dear friend whose sweet baby boy was born on this day as well. No photos of him but I sure love him and am thinking of him too.

Man how my boys grow and all too quickly begin adventures of their own. No matter how old you boys get or how far you may go, you will always be loved by your Mothers and you will always be our little boys. But for now, while you are young, we enjoy every moment we can with you and wish you the Happiest of Birthdays!!!

Ten Years Ago Today

Each day for the past week Zack has been anxiously waiting for his birthday to come. Each day he is disappointed he still has a few more days to wait. Well, ten years ago today at this time I was in a hospital room at Madison Memorial Hospital finding out first hand that those television shows which depict you having a baby shortly after going to the hospital LIED!!!

I had gone to the doctor at 10 a.m. and he broke my water. Well I figured by about 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. this elusive little one would be here. Not only was this baby not here, it was taking its own sweet time. Zack didn't actually arrive until shortly after midnight on the 22nd of July. Man was labor long. Finally around 11:30 p.m. I could not do it anymore. I was so tired and had no energy left and this baby was NOT moving.

Shortly after midnight, our sweet little baby boy came into the world. He really took us by surprise. He was due on July 24th (Pioneer Day). He was also suppose to be a little girl. We had picked the name Kelsie Michele for him. Obviously he didn't look like a Kelsie Michele when he was born. My parents had time enough to drive home, pack, drive to Idaho and wait for about three or four hours before he finally arrived. Also, because of the length and difficulty of the labor he arrived via Cesarean section. Five days later I would end up taking this bundle of blue joy home for the first time. Mom was amazing and stayed with us for a week and then took Zack and I home with her for a month. What would we have done without you? I am so glad we never have to find out.

One tradition my parents started when we were little was that on our birthday they would tell us the story of the day we were born. My kids love this tradition and so they ask every year to tell "their story." Well, Zack, there was so much that was a surprise about you that the entire story is full of twists and turns.

When you were born we didn't have any boy names we really liked. When Dad came to the hospital the next morning he said that he wanted your middle name to be McCoy so everyone would know you are the real McCoy. I loved it. Coming up with a first name was a bit trickier. We go to the Z's before we could agree. Dad liked Zachariah. I said no way but I could do Zachary. When we put Zachary together with McCoy I knew we had a winner.

Weighing in at 8'5" and 14 1/2" long at 12:03 a.m. arrived our first child. What an exciting, overwhelming, terrifying, exhilarating experience!

Now here we are 10 years later and it feels like yesterday that I was able to hold you for the first time. Where did that time go? I swear the only thing I can remember was blinking. It is true that you are growing all to quickly and I know that once I blink again you will be going on a mission and I will cry and miss you terribly. But until that blink occurs, I am so happy to have you in my life. You are my first and I love you with all of my heart. Happy almost birthday sweet bunny.

A Natural Home

As most of you know, we built a passive solar home or in other words, a natural home. We do not have electric bills and love being off of the grid. One drawback is that we cannot have an air conditioner as it will run down too much of our batteries. So, to compensate, we leave our side doors open to let the breeze flow through the house at night. Living in the country affords us the luxury of doing such things...or so I thought.

Last night at about 2:30 a.m. I heard talking and figured Zack was talking in his sleep again. I got up to go check on him. While walking down the hall I flipped on the hall lights. I found Zack standing at the back of the living room wrapped in his blanket. After asking him why he was up he told me that there was something wrong with Jackie. I couldn't see anything wrong but she was obviously agitated by something. I said to her, "what is it Jackie? Get it." She promptly jumped into the planter bed and started running back and forth and you could tell she was excited about something. She ran about half way down the planter bed and started jumping up and down. For the love, it was 2:30 a.m. and I was tired. Listen dog, if there is something outside, go get it. I rolled my eyes in disgust and noted during mid-eye roll.....

Yep, a raccoon had crawled up one of the wooden beams in our house and was "treed" there by our trusty Jack Russell Terrier. She scared the raccoon out and chasted it into the night but not before I was completely and utterly shocked and freaked out by the thought of how to get rid of this unwelcome guest. I am now a firm believer in having our dog around to get rid of these nastly little pests. Zack, on the other hand, is disappointed he didn't trap it so he has set additional food in his trap in hopes of trapping it. Good luck kiddo.

I Laughed Until I Cried

A guy who purchased his lovely wife a pocket Taser for their anniversary submitted this:

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. The occasion was our 15th anniversary and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized taser. The effects of the taser were supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety....?? WAY TOO COOL!

Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button AND pressed it against a metal surface at the same time; I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave. Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong?

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and taser in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4" in circumference; pretty cute really and (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries) thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best...

I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as if to say, 'don't do it idiot,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny little ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and . . HOLY MOTHER OF ALL . . . WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION . . WHAT THE CRAP!!! I'm pretty sure Jessie Ventura ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs.

The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room. Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a taser, one note of caution: there is no such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor.. A three second burst would be considered conservative!! IT HURT LIKE HELL!!! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and chest were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I pooped on myself, but was too numb to know for sure and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head which I believe came from my hair.

P. S. My wife loved the gift, and now regularly threatens me with it!

I love stories like this. Just proves we are human and have to try everything out even though instructions clearly describe the results!!