What really matters

This was forwarded to me:

Mayonnaise and 2 Cups of Coffee

When things in your life seems almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

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 respond ed 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---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.

"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 coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked." The coffee just shows you that
no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

Please share this with someone you care about.

I JUST DID!

Cup of coffee anyone?

"The best things in life are NOT things at all."

Fun week

This past week was very fun...and also getting more used to things around here at Cape Fear Valley. Last night, me a couple friends went to see Good Luck Chuck. If you haven't seen it, don't bother. The previews made it out to be a good funny movie, but it turned out to be a very sketchy movie. I am, on the other hand, looking forward to a new sitcom starting tomorrow on CBS called The Big Bang Theory. It's a show about nerds/geeks...and should be good.

Weekend at home

This past weekend was sweet. One, I got to go home. It had been awhile. Two, the weather was perfect...thinking it got down into the low 60s(where I like it). On Sunday morning, the church I grew up in celebrated homecoming, marking 40 years, and me, mom, Dave, and dad went. It had been a long time since seeing a lot of old faces. Here are just a couple pictures...(by David Wyatt):

The drive back from China Grove to Fayetteville was almost perfect...a convertible would've made it the best...no clouds and signs of autumn rolling in. I'll be back in town soon, hopefully.

The start has finished

Alrighty, almost done with the first week, and definitely some different ways on doing things around the new place here. Everyone here is super nice and quite funny to work with. Now I've got to just back in the routine of work then busting tail at the gym. It's Gold's Gym from now on.
Ken, I wish you & Becca the best. The wedding was a success and you two look great together. We all had a good time...enjoyed every minute of it. Make the best of it every day.
I'll be heading back home for the weekend after work & Gold's tomorrow. It's only been since June that I was back in China Grove, but a visit is needed...glad to be back in NC and so close to family & old friends.

Weddings-Я-Us

So there is another wedding to attend this weekend..Ken's wedding, in Raleigh or Durham or somewhere in between. Following the surprising move that happened this past weekend, there won't be any stress-related activities involving flights or accident prone flight attendants spilling orange juice all over me....hopefully.

Yesterday was all about Tucker really. I don't think the little guy was in shape to outrun two people at the same time at the doggy park. He ended up spilling sideways on the ground, which made the ride home good enough so he could pass out. And yes, one of the pictures I caught him with his tongue out...waiting for someone to throw the ball.

'Zhe' Story

So it started back sometime in July. I received a call concerning some recruitment from within the company I work for about a job I applied for. They said they wanted an interview, so that happened over the phone for several minutes. After that, they wanted to bring me in a few weeks after for a second interview. So it goes that I flew into Raleigh on Friday, July 27th, for the interview. Abby picked me up to greet me since her & mom were in Peru the last time I visited. So I had a few minutes before I needed to head south to Fayetteville for the business part of the day.

After leaving the great interview I headed back towards Durham to spend the remaining time of the night with Charlie, Abby, and Tucker. A nice meal at a Japanese steakhouse ended the night well. All this time, mom & dad are kept out of the loop so that maybe it'll spawn into an even better surprise. I leave out of Raleigh on Saturday the 28th back to Abilene and wait out the decision to be made. Since there were others to be interviewed and me the first, I had some time to wait.

It wasn't long, maybe one to two weeks that I received the call involving the good news...still the parents didn't know about it. Now comes the planning and organizing a new place without leaving Texas, all from the help from Abby & Dave. Now things are rolling well. Casey & Collin help out with the packing up, and everyone is super nice the week that I am to leave. So, I leave out of Abilene just a couple days ago, on the 31st, after work...driving as far as my eyes will allow before taking a couple hours of nap for myself. The calls and text messages did help Brent, Dave, Mike & Abby, but I'm not so sure about the safety of me trying to text while driving a 40 foot long vehicle, including my car.

After crashing for an hour or so, I couldn't sleep. I didn't want to start out too late in the morning and get caught in traffic, especially in Atlanta. Somehow I managed to drive 3 more hours before finally getting a couple hours of sleep somewhere in Alabama. It was concluded that is and will always be extremely hard to nap in a truck with bucket seats and nothing to lay on, also considering the seats don't recline. So anyway, I was making good time. The truck was governed at 78 mph, and yes I reached that...even though the trailer recommended staying under 55 mph. I figured I would take the risk of going faster than driving the extra 5+ hours.

Then Atlanta came...yes the traffic was horrible and people brake for no reason, or maybe they were just too busy on their phones to pay attention to traffic. Someone after losing an hour in traffic I managed to make up the time in South Carolina. It was good timing. Dave had just picked up the key for me in Fayetteville to my new place(which I had not seen at all). Abby was in the works of formulating a plan to trick mom into coming to Fayetteville for the surprise. And, I was on my way to Mike & Misty's for the night after some Japanese with them & Dave. All was looking good, no wreck on the long drive and I'm not hungry after a good meal. Now comes my first night's sleep in a real bed after several days.

On with more driving...7am EST I pick up Dave at his apartment in Charlotte so we can go unload all my belongings at the new place. Since my dad had other plans outside of staying to help Abby on Sunday, I had to break him the news of my arrival & new place. He agreed to help us out as well. So, we have a couple of hours to unpack everything at the new place before mom gets there. Things go well and we are done in very little time...it's hot, humid and we are relaxing. Ab & mom show up, and the surprise happens. The bomb drops, and it is a success.

Back Home

So as tired as I am, I need to sit down and relax a little bit. Today dad, Dave, and me unloaded everything from the moving truck into my new place here in Fayetteville. I have some things to take care of and a lot of running around to do starting tomorrow, but for now, I believe relaxing a lot on the couch is ranked at the top of the list for me. Catch me later.