Category: General

Since Len had the day off today, I decided to take time to visit him in H-town. I figured we’d lounge around and he’d work on his website but our plans changed quite a bit.

First, we were both quite hungry so we went to have Chinese at a place called Eastern (right, isn’t that what that’s called, Len?) YUMMY food. Len had taken me there once before and so when he suggested Chinese, I certainly didn’t turn it down.

Then, we went back to the house for lounging and Len’s working on his site when we decided we wanted to catch an early showing of Oceans 12. Eh, it was okay but I liked Oceans 11 much better. 11 showed more of the train of thought to the heist and I really appreciated that. 12 had too many little story lines/heists going on and it was kinda hard to follow. It wasn’t horrible, though. If you’re going to go out and see it, catch an early show if you get a discount that way.

While in the movie, Joe called with tickets to the Rockets game. So we met him and his friend Norbert and watched the game. Great game. Yao is HUGE!!! Rockets beat Toronto 114 to 102.

What a great day. It’s always worth my time to come to Houston but today’s spontaneous visit was very cool. I haven’t decided on if I’m going back tomorrow afternoon or staying until Wednesday morning. My boss invited me out to have dinner with his family and some of our mutual friends tomorrow night so I might try to make it for that. They’re going to our favorite Japanese restaraunt (Origami’s in Round Rock) and they’ll need a guide. 🙂

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.” Then he said, “Really?”

He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, “Is the jar full?” By this time the class was onto him. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. Once again he said, “Good!” Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager beaver raised his hand and said, “The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!” “No,” the speaker replied, “that’s not the point.

The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.” What are the ‘big rocks’ in your life? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your dreams? A worthy cause? Teaching or mentoring others?

Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you’ll never get them in at all. So, tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the ‘big rocks’ in my life or business? Then, put those in your jar first.

Well, I’m home from the Rio Grande Valley. Here are the high and low lights:

*Getting up way too early to drive for way too long
*Spending those hours in the car with Len. 🙂
*Being able to nap instead of having to drive 🙂
*Len getting pulled over. 😦
*Len only getting a warning! 🙂
*Meeting 3 (out of the 5 I had left) of Len’s siblings and their kids and his mom and his neighbor, and his priest… 🙂 (His family is AWESOME!!)
*Eating lots of home cooking. 🙂
*El Pato 🙂
*Finally getting to meet Krez (after all these years), Nino and his wife, Kumar and his wife. 🙂
*Getting to pick on Eric in person again. 🙂 😉
*Naming the car 😀
*Going to Mexico a couple of times. 🙂
*Buying tortillas, a Rolex (which the guys call Ro-Mex) and booze for next to nothing. 🙂
*Forgetting to take my debit card out of the cash machine at the border. (BOO on my blonde moments) 😦
*Finding out that it’s probably still in that damn machine and not picked up by some random person. 🙂 (I just had the first chance to check my account and no new transactions have shown up.)
*Being internet free for a few days. 🙂
*Being able to get back on the internet again. 🙂
*The ride home, being with Len. 😀
*Being with Len all weekend. 😀

I guess that’s it for now. I’m pooped and ready to crash out. Pictures are coming!