oh bother.

i recently finished randy pausch's book, "The Last Lecture".
for those of you not aware, randy pausch was a professor of computer science at carnegie mellon university and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year.
as is tradition at CMU, dr. pausch was asked to give a lecture at the end of the year.
this lecture has become extremely iconic and can be found on YouTube as well as dr. pausch's website:

The Last Lecture

during the lecture (and in the book), dr. pausch discusses the great eeyore vs. tigger debate.
you know the characters - the clinically depressed donkey and in-much-need-of-ritalin tiger from a.a. milne's classic children's stories - winnie the pooh.

now.
for those who know me well, you know that i have this thing for eeyore.
i have since high school.
i think my adoration for this donkey with the doldrums stemmed from pity for the poor animal.
everyone loves pooh bear.
everyone loves tigger.
heck - people love the pig more than the love the donkey.

so, i decided to love the donkey.
and it stuck.

but that's not what the eeyore vs. tigger debate is about. what dr. pausch discusses is whether or not you yourself are an eeyore or a tigger. do you choose to allow the rain clouds to hover overhead or do you use your tail and bounce right over them?

after a month of sitting, i think my tail has a cramp in it.

and so, in an effort to overcome the rainclouds, i have come up with a short list of things that have made me smile in the last month. i hope they bring a giggle or grin to you as well.

1. a friend of mine from school who is always sharing quips from her day shared this with me regarding the student who asked me if i was "getting" a baby (ref. february blog...) while working on fact vs. opinion, the following conversation occurred:

teacher: "Is it a fact or an opinion when I say, 'The dog has four legs.'"
student: "There is no dog here."
teacher (grinning): "You are right. But if there WERE a dog here, would it have four legs?"
student: "There are no dogs allowed in school."
teacher (gritting teeth): "Yes, that is true. But, do you THINK it is true that a dog has four legs?"
student: "I don't know. I don't have a dog."

at this point, my friend abandoned the notion of fact vs. opinion all together.

2. a conversation held between my husband and i a few weeks ago during one of my half-showers.

me: "honey, will you pass me my towel and my walker?"
bill: "would you like your teeth now or later?"

things we thought we'd never say before we were 80...

3. starbucks tall decaf coffees. and actually driving through starbucks to get them.

4. the movie 'juno'. specifically the part of the movie where juno tells her father and step-mother she is pregnant and then follows it with, "...but if it's any consolation i have heartburn down to my toes and am constipated!" preach on, sister.

5. real showers. 'nuff said.

6. the other night, i told bill that i had set the iPod up so that both baby girl and i were tuned into dylan classics. upon hearing this, he begin frantically searching his own iPod determined that our child will appreciate more than the iconic folk music of the 60's. he found what he was looking for, "My Little Girl" by tim mcgraw, and sat with the earphones pressed to my belly button. as we sat there, we watched as wee one reached out to daddy and acknowledged his choice of song. she's all set to dance on his toes when she comes.

7. our pregnancy pictures came. i will have them scanned and put them up soon. we had them taken three days before the accident, so they are the last pictures of me "standing" during this pregnancy. but they're fabulous and i love them.

8. shopping for baby clothes with bill. this makes me smile for lots of reasons. first of all, it is hilarious to watch the two of us maneuver the mall in my wheelchair...i am going to begin keeping a notebook of handicap-friendly places (von maur - not. baby gap - marginal. target - superb.) however, it's the clothes...bill and i may not see eye to eye on each other's wardrobes all the time, but we're pretty in sync when it comes to baby girl. yesterday, she got her first pair of oshkosh overalls.

9. tan lines. i have one! after two hours on the deck last week, i have gained a smidget of color in my cheeks, arms and left leg. bring on the vitamin d!

10. finally, another conversation that occurred during shower time (chalk it up to phrases that would have once seemed out of place...)

my mom: "honey, are you okay? what are you doing?"
me: "i'm shaving my leg...singular"

similar to the conversation that occurred yesterday after venturing out for the afternoon...

me: "my foot is asleep."
bill (panicked): "which one?"
me: "my bad foot."
bill (relieved): "good - i was afraid i'd have to leave you in the car to pee your pants."

ten tiggerific moments.
ten reasons to bounce.
but i still love the donkey.

"They're funny things, accidents. You never have them until you're having them." - Eeyore.

go well.