My Next Life * Woody Allen

The Mayonnaise Jar

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 two mugs of Beer.

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

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty
mayonnaise jar and proceeded 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 them 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 a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two mugs of Beers 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---your family, your children, your
health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else
was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

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

Spend time with your children.

Spend time with your parents.

Visit with grandparents.

Take time to get medical checkups.

Take your spouse out to dinner.

Play another 18.

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

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 Beer
represented.

The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.

The Many Faces of Grandson Xiu Ming!

wondering?

playful

cheeky

inquisitive

happy!

ok

any food?

am hungry!

I see!

don't understand?

happy time?

HAPPY HAPPY!

Happy with Grandma!

Grandparents!

All About Grandparents

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.
~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are! I give them my loose
change, and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure.
~Gene Perret

Grandmothers are just 'antique' little girls.
~Author Unknown

Perfect love sometimes does not come until the first grandchild.
~Welsh Proverb

A grandmother is a babysitter who watches the kids
instead of the television.
~Author Unknown

Never have children, only grandchildren.
~Gore Vidal

Becoming a grandmother is wonderful.
One moment you're just a mother.
The next you are all-wise and prehistoric.
~Pam Brown

Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good
because Grandfathers have only so many horsy rides in them.
~Gene Perret

When grandparents enter the door, discipline flies out the window.
~Ogden Nash

Grandma always made you feel she had been waiting to see
just you all day and now the day was complete.
~ Marcy DeMaree

Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies.
~Author unknown

Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while,
but our hearts forever.
~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have
grandchildren, I'd have had them first.
~Lois Wyse

My grandkids believe I'm the oldest thing in the world.
And after two or three hours with them, I believe it, too.
~Gene Perret

If becoming a grandmother was only a matter of choice,
I should advise every one of you straight away to become
one. There is no fun for old people like it!
~Hannah Whithall Smith

It's such a grand thing to be a mother of a mother - that's
why the world calls her grandmother.
~Author Unknown

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.
~Mary H. Waldrip

You do not really understand something unless you can
explain it to your grandmother.
~Proverb

An hour with your grandchildren can make you feel young
again. Anything longer than that, and you start to age quickly.
~Gene Perret

The best baby-sitters, of course, are the baby's grandparents.
You feel completely comfortable entrusting your baby to
them for long periods, which is why most grandparents flee to Florida.
~Dave Barry

I wish I had the energy that my grandchildren have - if only
for self-defense.
~Gene Perret

Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple.
Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love.
~Author Unknown

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do.
Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children. ~Alex Haley

Grandmother - a wonderful mother with lots of practice.
~Author Unknown

A grandparent is old on the outside but young on the inside.
~Author Unknown

One of the most powerful hand clasps is that of a new
grandbaby around the finger of a grandfather.
~Joy Hargrove

It's amazing how grandparents seem so young once you become one. ~Author Unknown

If your baby is 'beautiful and perfect', never cries or fusses,
sleeps on schedule and burps on demand, an angel all the
time, you're the grandma.
~Teresa Bloomingdale

Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have
around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

What is it about grandparents that is so lovely?
I'd like to say that grandparents are God's gifts to children.
And if they can but see, hear and feel what these people

have to give, they can mature at a fast rate.
~Bill Cosby

Grandchildren don't make a man feel old; it's the

knowledge that he's married to a grandmother.
~G. Norman Collie

Family Vacation in New Zealand * Jan 2009

Si Siew + Xiu ming at Christchurch Airport

Bridget + Alex Parfitt Church wedding at Christchurch

Wan with Grandson at Clearwater Resort in Christchurch

Wan at Pancake Rocks

Si Siew with Son on Ocean Beach

Wan with Xiu Ming during Lake Matheson trek

Group at Fox Glacier

Wan at Lake Tekapo

Grandson Xiu Ming with Clem Parfitt