The best things in life

Today we have our annual 6th year dinner party, I hope everything will go well. We are working really hard for it!
I'm still waiting for someone to solve yestarday's brain teaser.
Today I have a collection of things some people consider THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE, what would YOU add to the list?

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE

Falling in love.

Laughing so hard your face hurts.

A hot shower.

No lines at the Supermarket.

A special glance.

Getting mail.

Taking a drive on a scenic road.

Hearing your favorite song on the radio.

Lying in bed listening to the rain outside..

Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price.

A bar of Chocolate .

A long distance phone call.

A bubble bath.

Giggling.

A good conversation.

The beach.

Finding a $100 note in your coat from last winter.

Laughing at yourself.

Laughing at an inside joke.

Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.

Friends.

Falling in love for the first time.

Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.

Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.

Your first kiss.

Making new friends or spending time with old ones.

Playing with a puppy.

Late night talks with your roommate.

Having someone play with your hair.

Sweet dreams.

Hot chocolate.

Road trips with friends.

Swinging on swings.

Watching a good movie cuddled up on a couch with someone you love.

Wrapping presents for the Christmas tree .

Song lyrics inside your new CD so you can sing along without feeling stupid.

Making chocolate chip cookies!

Hugging the person you love.

Watching the sunrise.

Getting out of bed every morning feeling thankful for another beautiful day.

Train your brains!

Mental exercises such as crossword puzzles, brain teasers, chess, or card games help keep the mind working in top shape. This helps build what is called a "cognitive reserve." Formal education also helps build a person's cognitive reserve. In fact, each year of education reduces a person's chances of getting Alzheimer's by an average of 17%. Scientists believe this is because people with a large cognitive reserve are better able to adapt as neurons are killed by the disease. The more neural connections you have, the longer it takes for the disease to make a significant impact.It's important to note that mental exercise cannot help significantly once Alzheimer's has already set in. A person must have a lifetime commitment to learning in order to build up his or her cognitive reserve. It is probably not possible to completely prevent the disease in genetically susceptible people, but it is possible to delay the onset so that it will not occur in the person's lifetime.

In conclusion, study a lot! Let's also have some fun with this brain teaser which will help you to wake your brain up:

Greatest Area

A farmer challenges an engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician to fence off the largest amount of area using the least amount of fence.

• The engineer made his fence in a circle and said it was the most efficient.



• The physicist made a long line and said that the length was infinite. Then he said that fencing half of the Earth was the best.



• The mathematician laughed at the others and with his design, beat the others. What did he do?

The answer? ... SOON

Milagros' birthday

Better late than never! Yesterday was Milagros' birhday, I should have prepared a special entry for her!!! Sorry Millie! Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This is a poem I found in one of my drawers (you can find almost anything there) and I liked it. I hope you like it too...

Don't Ever...

Don't ever try to understand everything-
some things will just never make sense.
Don't ever be reluctant to show your feelings-
when you're happy, give into it!
When you're not, live with it.
Don't ever be afraid to try to make things better-
you might be surprised at the results.
Don't ever take the weight of the world
on your shoulders.
Don't ever be threatened by the future-
take life one day at a time.
Don't ever feel guilty about the past-
what's done is done. Learn from any mistakes
you might have made.
Don't ever feel that you are alone...
there is always somebody there for you
to reach out to.
Don't ever forget that you can achieve
so many of the things you can imagine-
imagine that! It's not as hard as it seems.
Don't ever stop loving.
Don't ever stop believing.
Don't ever stop dreaming your dreams.

THREE TURTLES

Monday again!

What follows is a funny story, but if you read carefully between the lines, we could talk a little bit about friendship, confidence...Can you find the moral?

THREE TURTLES

Three turtles, Joe, Steve, and Raymond, decide to go on a picnic. So Joe packs the picnic basket with cookies, bottled sodas, and sandwiches. The trouble is, the picnic site is 10 miles away, so the turtles take 10 whole days to get there. By the time they do arrive, everyone`s exhausted.Joe takes the stuff out of the basket, one by one. He takes out the sodas and says, `Alright, Steve, give me the bottle opener.``I didn`t bring the bottle opener,` Steve says. `I thought you packed it.`Joe gets worried. He turns to Raymond. `Raymond, do you have the bottle opener?`Naturally, Raymond doesn`t have it, so the turtles are stuck ten miles away from home without soda.

Joe & Steve beg Raymond to turn back home and retrieve it, but Raymond flatly refuses, knowing that they`ll eat everything by the time he gets back.After about two hours, the turtles manage to convince Raymond to go, swearing on their great-grand turtles` graves that they won`t touch the food.

So, Raymond sets off down the road, slow and steadily. Twenty days pass, but no Raymond. Joe and Steve are hungry and puzzled, but a promise is a promise.Another day passes, and still no Raymond, but a promise is a promise. After three more days pass without Raymond in sight, Steve starts getting restless. `I NEED FOOD!` he says with a hint of dementia in his voice.`NO!` Joe retorts. `We promised.`Five more days pass. Joe realizes that Raymond probably skipped out to the restaurant down the road, so the two turtles weakly lift the lid, get a sandwich, and open their mouths to eat.

But then, right at that instant, Raymond pops out from behind a rock, and says, `Just for that, I`m not going.`

English is a crazy language

This is something that Thomas Payne, a Linguistics professor, has written, it's really clever. Let's face it, English is a crazy language, don't you agree?

ENGLISH IS A CRAZY LANGUAGE

Let´s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger, neither apple nor pine in pineapple...

English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren´t sweet, are meat. Boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don´t fing, grocers don´t groce, and hammers don´t ham ?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn´t the plural of booth beeth ? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese ? Is cheese the plural of choose ?

If teachers taught, why don´t we say that preachers praught ? If a vegeterian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat ?

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital ?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship ? Have noses that run and feet that smell ? Park on driveways and drive on parkways ?

When a house burns up, it burns down. You will fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by going on.

When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, do I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it ?

Thomas Payne, Department of Linguistics, University of Oregon

Happy Birthday Lucila!

A special entry for Lucila who is 15 today! I hope you have wonderful party with ALL your guests (you know what I mean... ;) )

A little poem for you:

Because today's so special

it really wouldn't do,

to send one simple birthday wish

to last the whole year through...

So this wishes happy moments,

a day when dreams come true,

and a year that's filled with all the things

that mean the most to you.

The importance of writing clearly

When you write compositions, letters, or anything you need, don't take anything for granted. Look what happened to these two kings...

War of Words

A king sent a message to the ruler of a neighbouring country. The message read: "Send me a blue diamond as large as a pigeon's egg or else..."The king on getting the message wrote back:"We don't have such a diamond and if we had..."The first king got very angry and declared war on his neighbour. The fighting went on for several months till a third king arranged a meeting between the two warring rulers. So they met and the first king said to the other: "What did you mean when you said, 'Send me a blue diamond as large as a pigeon's egg or else...'?""Why," he replied, "I meant a blue diamond as large as a pigeon's egg or else... some other diamond. I love diamonds. But what did you mean when you said, 'We don't have such a diamond and if we had-'?""It is easy to guess my meaning," said the other man. "What I wanted to say was, if we had such a diamond we would have gladly sent it to you."The Kings pledged to write more clearly in future communications and embraced and made peace.

Hope you like it!

PS: Some of you've asked me for extra practice, you can find some exercises here:
http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com

November 19th

Finally! I have found the time to write!…
Last Monday, November 19th, was the 17th anniversary of my graduation as a mum, it was Julieta’s (better known as “Chul”) birthday. If I think about it a little bit more, It was not a graduation (I never got the degree!) it was just the beginning of a long-life learning period. My daughters are teaching me how to be a mother on the way, it’s a pity there isn’t an instruction manual. Anyway, I’m really proud of them, so things are coming out pretty well.

Happy birthday Juli! I love you…

Now, back to students, read this poem that I think is really useful, especially for this time of the year when we are all really tired.

"Don't Quit"

When things go wrong as they sometimes will;
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill;
When the funds are low, and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but have to sigh;
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but do not quit.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you can never tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit-
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.

- Author Unknown

in a hurry!

Today I don't have much time, so I'll upload a cartoon I found. (Don't take it too seriously!)

I'm correcting tests, and the internet connection comes and goes... bad day

A story with a moral

Today we have a story with a moral and here it is...

The Wise Old Man

A wealthy man was worried about his son, he was irresponsible, he never did what he had to and he was extremely lazy. So, he requested a wise old man to wean his son away from his bad habits. The old man took the youth for a stroll through a garden. Stopping suddenly he asked the boy to pull out a tiny plant growing there. The youth held the plant between his thumb and forefinger and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all."Now pull out that one," said the old man pointing to a bush. The boy had to use all his strength to pull it out."Now take this one out," said the old man, indicating a guava tree. The youth grasped the trunk and tried to pull it out. But it would not budge."I – It's impossible," said the boy, panting with the effort.
"So it is with bad habits," said the wise man. "When they are young it is easy to pull them out but when they take hold they cannot be uprooted."


Hope you like it!
last but not least, let´s wish Valentina a happy birthday!