A tribute to Randy Pausch

As I write this, Maddox is taking his morning nap while my other two 'boys' are playing softball in Marshalltown. Joey went up to Marshalltown with Joe last night and watched Cary's team play. I had debated whether or not to let Joey do this, knowing he'd be staying up late but decided that he's probably old enough now to stay up past his bedtime and do all that. They were splitting a room with Chuck and Zach so Joey was so excited. He loves Chuckie, Zach and Ashley like they are his own siblings. So, Maddox and I stayed back. We took a long, long walk, watched some Olympics and then bedtime. I hate sleeping without Joe because I hear every creek in the house and usually end up freaking myself out over something. I've found that it's best if I don't watch Primetime, Dateline, or 48 Hours when I'm alone.

This morning I got up and ran nearly 6 miles with Terri. We actually did really great and I'm starting to think I may actually be able to run a half-marathon. But, I'm not so confident that I've actually registered for the race yet....After that, Maddox and I did a couple of errands and then came back for nap time.

Yesterday, my friend Erin came home from Arizona and we got to spend a few hours with her and Alexis. Alexis is a charming little girl - she's just two weeks younger than Maddox but of course, about 10 pounds lighter! She's so gentle and quiet but my boys were pretty darn good, too. Maddox kind of towers over little Alexis but he loved her and kept patting her head. Erin's a good mom and I wish she lived closer so we could go through this together. But, I love reading her blog and knowing what's going on in their life in Arizona. Here's a photo of the kids before we went on our walk for ice cream!

Lastly, Joey is taking after me and coloring on the walls. My mom is secretly rejoicing that I'm now being paid back for all of the damage I did to her house. Apparently, Joe saw him doing it the other day and confronted him and told him that it's not allowed. Well, the other day, I saw a new drawing. It's at the bottom of our stairs, right in our front room - a bright green crayon was his color of choice. I saw it and asked Joey to come over. I looked at him and said, "Joey, who did that and what exactly happened?" And, he pointed to himself and said, "I did it mom! It's a boat! Do you like it? It's a boat!" Truth is, I loved it. A boat in our front room - who knew that I needed that to complete the ensemble? I thought about Randy Pausch's Last Lecture. For those of you who haven't read the book or seen his lecture, it's one of those "must-dos". He said his parents let him paint on his walls and as a tribute to him, designate a wall in your house for painting, coloring, creativity. I wouldn't have chosen the wall Joey did, but it is what it is. I decided it's not worth fussing over - it's a Crayola, I think I'll attack bigger issues with Joey instead (like his uncontrollable loud burping in public). Randy Pausch died 2 weeks ago, and I think I mourned his death from a distant. His thoughts and outlook on life were remarkable. It made you think about how you would handle a similar situation - faced with a life-threatening, uncurable disease and short timeline. But, mostly, I was sad for his kids and I've been thinking of them a lot lately. Doesn't seem fair that they have to miss out on having such a wonderful man as their father. But, he's prepared them for a life without him the best he could, and I guess I'm thankful for that. I put a crayon in my purse in his honor - the smell of childhood. Really, you have to read it. Here's a picture of our new boat.

Well, best get off of here as I don't have much more alone time before Maddox is up. It's amazing what you can do with just one child....if only I had realized that when I had just one!