The Mayonnaise Jar

I got this from a friend of mine and I thought it was worth sharing.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,

When 24 hours in a day is not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy classand had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and start to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and pouredit into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

'Now,' said the professor, as the laughter subsided,'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - God, family,children, health, friends, and favorite passions.

Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else -- The small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued,'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So... Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children.

Take time to get medical checkups.

Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the dripping tap.

'Take care of the golf balls first -- The things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled.

'I'm glad you asked'.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

New Year, New Blog

OK, so it's not really a new blog, I've just decided the change a few things. I have decided that I'm not going to warn you if there is knitting content. It's my blog and I am very proud of the projects I complete and I am excited about them when I finish them, so I'm going to make sure you all see them.

So let's start with the Christmas goodies. The boys and I put together a gingerbread house. Well I put it together and they got to decorate it. It turned out kinda cute.




At Stitch n Bitch we had a gift swap. I made out pretty good with a fabulous skein of sock yarn. And at the Christmas party for work I got two more skeins of really nice sock yarn. It's really awesome that my co-workers know me so well.





The boys got LOTS of LEGOs for Christmas and they couldn't be happpier! Deaglan got a scooter from Santa, Padric got a toy helicoper, and Joseph got..... a guitar. He loves learning to play. Here he is with my sister's beau, Shane.

Shane agreed to help Joe learn how to play.


After Christmas we decided to go to the Museum of Science and industry, aka: the Choo Choo Museum, Padric's favorite place. He only looks tiny inside the big tractor wheel.



In case you didn't already know I'm a volunteer there. I man microscopy Science Connection Carts. I get to teach kids (young and old) about microscopes. It's pretty cool. My spot is past the Whispering Gallery in the Imaging Lab. I volunteer 2 Sundays a month.


Nana and Papa gave the boys some awesome Lego sets and a fill a box at the Lego store. They crammed those things! Here's the "boat" Chris made for Padric out of the Legos they filled the box with.


I didn't go with them to the Lego store. Nope I went on a Knitting Fieldtrip to Marengo, Illinois to the most magical place in the world (so far), The Fold! It's a yarn shop. I bought the most beautiful light grey yarn for a sweater I'll be knitting for my sister and a skein of Mountain Colors sock yarn for myself, because you can't have enough sock yarn (4 skeins since the middle of December...... that'll make 3 pairs of socks, I'll have toasty toes!) Since I have the minivan we drove my car for the field trip. Well I had to do something with all the car seats. I think it's the new Honda Family concept car.

I just sent this scarf to the Middle East to a friend in the military. That's Shane again, he's such a sport to model it for me!

And I am currently working on a scarf for a friend of mine. I love the colors. He asked that it be striped, unfortunately for me he's picky and wanted the stripes lenghtwise. It will be gorgeous when I'm finished. I might have to keep it though!



Ricky (Padric) loves building with his legos. He built 6 "puppies". Pretty good for a 3 year old. He then proceeded to line them up and jump them Evil Kenevil style.

And last night the Sullivan's rented out the outdoor ice rink here in Evergreen Park and had the whole clan out for a night on the ice. I stayed home with Ricky while Chris took Joe and Deg. Chris didn't get the whole action shot but, I'm sure you can figure out what happened next.



Lastly, I just needed to show you all how big the boys are getting. Joe is big enough to wash dishes by himself, and Deg and Ricky, well they're just getting big.



I hope I haven't bored you all to tears, and I hope this finds you all well.