The Mayonnaise Jar

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 class
and 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 poured
it 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'.


I didn't write this ...but isn't it great!


HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE x 

....Where was I?... Ahhh it's CHRISTMAS!!

..... Now I feel a bit more Christmassy .... The middle child was an excellent dwarf in his school play 'Pantomonium' and this year I was able to watch the whole show in peace!! The small evil elf was being watched by a very brave friend...giving me some quality... 'Look at me, I'm a good parent because I made it to the school play without a screaming child attached to my hip this year!!!'... which was amazzzzing!

Christmas is a funny old time. I think we get lost in the giving and receiving ...it's all about what we want and how much is this going to cost me?! So many people get themselves into so much debt just because they think the only thing that's going to make there children happy is the £300 console + games they asked for, that's not including all the other family and friends you might want to buy for...then there's the food shopping!!!
 But debt is so easily done and if I didn't have him indoors to keep me in check I'm sure I would of spent way more than we could afford this year.

 How do I see it? is it really HELL? ....

I don't see Christmas in the same way as most...perhaps I just think to much lol... When I was a child Christmas was about the birth of baby Jesus and midnight mass! We had a tree and gifts, not much as we were quite poor really. Our dad always worked Christmas day for the 'BIG BUCKS' as he would say. Which was a shame as he spent most of the day in bed after the night shift and only woke for dinner, which left us with a grumpy dad that always found something to fight about at the dinner table...it was normally the brussels sprouts! lol mmmmmm brussels sprouts...

and now...

I'll pop a tree up for the kids and we'll have gifts and a lovely Christmas dinner but.... IT'S NOT REAL!!!
 Jesus wasn't even born in December let alone on the 25th!! and whats with the tree anyway!?!?! isn't it pagan? It's all about money and guilt but we carry on with it every year for the sake of tradition...but I'm a hypocrite lol because come Christmas morning and the children are sat around the tree opening there presents and breathing a sigh of relief because they got what they wanted, I will be filled with a warm glow ...and I suppose that's what it's really about...for us anyway... So many people have different beliefs and customs around this time of year, nobody does it the exact same way or even believes the so called 'True meaning of Christmas' so instead of moaning this year I shall just make it what I think it should be.... Family x

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

Yes it's come again ....the beginning of the HELL we call Christmas .... You get an endless line of questions coming your way...

..."Are you all ready for Christmas?" says the happy woman at the school gate.....
..." NO FU*K OFF!!" Would be my natural choice for a come back....but I'm a good Catholic girl so I  smile sweetly and tell them that I'm not ready....I'm never ready anytime before midnight on Christmas eve!

Not only do I have to be ready for Christmas but The Ginger child's birthday is on the 22nd, yes I didn't plan that very well...but then most children born to 21 year old's aren't to be fair.

We have done one thing ....

My little grumpy elf met Santa....you can just see my chubby arm holding tightly onto hers as she forces a smile ...she was scared stiff!! as were most of the children there hahahaha I can see why to be fair! A big man in a red suite with fake facial hair, asking you to sit on his knee and then breath down your neck  is not what a 3 year old would call fun!


I'm now off to watch my middle angelic child...with the anger problems .... in his school play x

So will be back to finish ranting later....