Holly had a school event last night so I was home alone with the dog.  I began the evening watching all the news coverage of Obama’s visit to Grand Rapids – I had thought about going but the idea of waiting in line and then waiting in the arena for 3-4 hours before the actual speech really turned me off.  When I heard that Edwards was also attending to give his endorsement I was a little disappointed that I didn’t go.  Not because I am a big fan or Edwards or Obama, but rather that this was one of those opportunities that come around so rarely in life; in all honestly, my view on the democratic primaries has been thank God it wasn’t Hillary.  I thought Edwards’s speech was much more engaging than Obama’s but was fairly moved by what they had to say.  The cynic in me wants to see how many of these big ideas, especially the “big wall in Washington” topic, really come to fruition.  (Photo by Beth / Christian Bell as seen on Flickr)

It was now about 7:30 and Bailey was ready to go for a walk so we headed out for a while so he could smell everythingonce again in our neighborhood – always in search of signs of a rabbit or squirrel.  After a walk Bailey is ready to sleep for a good 12 hours so I picked up my new book – “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch.  The author is a computer science professor who found out he had 3-6 months before he would die from pancreatic cancer; in his remaining months he decided to prepare a “last lecture” for his colleagues and for his 3 children.  It was a good book – I read the whole thing in about 3 1/2 hours – with many interesting stories and life lessons.  I had a unique perspective as my dad just passed away about a month ago from cancer so I found myself thinking of similar things my dad had done in his own way to accomplish what the author was trying to do.  It was clear that book and the lecture weren’t only for those in the room but rather to leave a legacy for his family and friends to remember him by.  If you have the chance its a good read.