The Payez Family

If you are feeling a little stressed right now take a moment to read this:

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a
day are 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 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–
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 and your house.

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. Play with
your children. 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. “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.”

It was inevitable…the twins got their first real cold this week. No doubt from Justin and I as we both had to get antibiotics and prednisone to fight this horrible thing. As careful as we were, there was no way around it. Now my poor little pumpkins sound like their poppy (my dad) snoring though they are wide awake. For the most part, though, they don’t seem to be any worse for wear; they are slighltly fussy but other than having to learn to breathe through their mouths they seem to be ok. I have been drowning them practically in vapor baths which seems to really help. We also bought this nifty gadget that you put to their nostril and push a button and it just vacuums the nastiness away! Mady doesn’t seem to mind having her sinuses “swept” but Savannah tries to squirm, roll, or pull herself anywhere that is far from the little sucker. It is quite amusing as there is a little bucket-like place that collects the “blockage” so you can “assess the situation of your child’s cold” (it says that right on the packaging, no kidding)! Anyway, I hope my little sweet peas will be back to their normal free-breathing selves soon.

Well it is that time of the year again. I can’t stand not being able to get out and about. There is absolutely no where to go but the mall to stroll around, and it is getting really old (not to mention expensive because I spend money that I don’t need to be spending). I don’t mind the winter if it is snowing and pretty to look at, but this dreary rain/slow literally makes me sick! It is really difficult to be depressed when you have two beautiful new babies to enjoy but come on now, this is horrible.

On another (slightly similar) subject, my house is being ruled by canines and I must do something about this before I lose my sanity. I truly am feeling a bit blue right now and I attribute it to the lack of control in my life at the moment. And for those of you who are thinking “that is what motherhood is all about” you can just swallow those words because my blues has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with my precious babies…actually it is them that is keeping me as sane as I currently am. I truly feel like I “could be” living in my perfect house at the moment. We do have a nice size house with loads of great aspects and absolutely enormous amounts of potential. BUT the back half of the house is now run by the dogs which are now not getting any attention and have decided to take revenge and make my life hell. Now I don’t wake up in the middle of the night to take care of my children…I wake up to take care of the dogs who are either chewing something up or using my laundry room floor as their, uh-hem, marking territory. Well this just does NOT fly with me. I work way too hard to get my home to the way that I want it and I will not let my children play in a place that is filthy from animals. I love animals…I always have and I always will, but I no longer want them living and breathing under my roof. Not when I have two babies to take care of and they are my NUMBER ONE priority. Justin and I have been over and over this and we MUST find a home for Bailey, the spanial/beagle mix that we rescued in 2005. He needs a home where he will get love and attention…he just isn’t getting that from us. Carbon is Justin’s dog and refuses to give him up even though I am at my wits end. Marley is ok to stay as she doesn’t really do anything and is easy to take care of because she is so small and well-behaved. If you know of anyone who might be interested in giving poor little Bailey a home, please let me know!!!!