Snacktime is the new happy hour

Is there really anything better than the eerie quiet that descends on two children as they stuff themselves full of snack? I don't think so. It's not surprising to me that my boys are, how do you say?, a little bit cranky when their blood sugar levels are low. For Ian, it's a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation. Very similar to his dad. With Will, it's more a slow and steady decline into LOSING IT -- quite like me. I can get too busy to stop and eat, but never, ever think that means I have FORGOTTEN to eat.

So imagine my surprise to find the boys calmly sitting together at their small table, eating snack and looking all around happy. No kicking, pushing, screaming. Too busy with full mouths to make much noise, I assume. It was blissful, this coming together to break bread -- or cheese sticks or whatever.

And to see Ian sitting there like such a big boy in his little chair? Well really, it almost made me tear up a little. And then I smiled and laughed. 'Cause they're just so darn cute when they're not being annoying brats.

Peace and snacktime to you.

That Old Cliche

Carpe diem. Living every day like it's your last. Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today. No one ever complained on their death bed that they wished they'd spent more time at work.

Yesterday, I found out that one of the professors at my school died at his home on Sunday. Just died. He was born in 1943 -- the year my dad was born. He had beat cancer the year before. He went to the doctor that Friday complaining of a cough and was dead 2 days later.

It's not as if he hadn't led a full life. Grown children, successful career, author, teacher, mentor. But that doesn't really make it alright, does it? He had more to give.

And that's what gets me the most. I have more to give -- and I'm not dead or dying as far as I know. Instead, sadly, I'm living like I've already given it everything I've got. WE'RE living like that. And of course, the reality is that we're already dying, a little more each day. Which isn't a sad thought to me, just a little wisp of tuth. Something to keep us honest.

I didn't know this professor well. Really only by name. But he got me thinking. He is teaching some folks right now, for sure.

The last several years have been full of "wake up calls" and close calls. But I've been too damn busy and absorbed in the minutae of life to listen much. Maybe self-absorbed. Aren't we all to some extent?

We say it a lot, but come on now, isn't the bottom line that we're just all a little scared to sieze the day, live life to its fullest? I know I am. Because living a bigger life could mean bigger disappointments, crises, risks, sadness. It could also -- I really hope -- mean bigger rewards.