Did your know No: 34

Well here we are at the end of another year and the start of another working week, so today I am doing did you know New Year's facts how true they are I do not know but anyway here they are.

New Year's Day was celebrated on the 1^st January way back in 45 BC for the first time when the Julian calendar takes affect.

New Year's Day is the proper noun naming the day we celebrate the new year. That is why it is always capitalized.

In some Western cultures, it is a custom for people to kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. Some hold the superstition that failing to kiss someone ensures a year of loneliness.

Auld Lang Syne. The song literally means "old long ago." or “times gone by”.

The month of January derives its name from a two-faced God named Janus. Janus’ one face looked forward while the other looked backward.

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope everyone has had a better Christmas then I have had, yesterday was a horrible day I some how screwed up when I was doing the rego for Jessica's car and it didn't go through and her car wasn't registered. So she got pulled over by the cops and got $1,300 fine. Tim and others say we should take it to court but I don't know, I said we will discuss it with Jessica and we will see.

Then last night I had upsetting dreams again, about Tim not loving me any more and being cruel to me, I know it was only a dream but still it was upsetting. Tim has never been cruel to me and I know he loves me, so why the hell did I have such a dream yet again.

Tasha came and did my make-up and helped me get dressed in my Christmas dress and I packed the car while she got ready, we then headed over to my parents place. We were the first to arrive but within about 10 minutes or so my brother and family arrived we then exchanged gifts all round.

After gifts were exchanged we started preparing lunch which was cold ham,warmish chicken, turkey & pork with baked potatoes with salad, I do not eat salad,, dessert was a lemon meringue roulade.

After coming home I tried too have a nap but couldn't, Kathy-Lee drove me home, her and her girls came to my parents place, it was the first time they have turned up in years.

Now Jessica & Leo are here in order to see me and Papa and get their gifts, Papa should be home by 5pm.

I now have a headache

Did you know No:33 Christmas edition

Hello everyone it is the night before Christmas, well the day before Christmas, as in Christmas Eve so this Monday I again I am doing a Christmas facts post with facts that may or may not be true.

The image of Santa flying his sleigh dates back to 1819

Rudolph the reindeer was created as a marketing gimmick to encourage children to buy Christmas colouring books.

The original Rudolph did not have a red nose.

It was Clement Moore who introduced more reindeer for Santa their names were Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet,Cupid, Duner and Blixlem which later became Dooer and Blitzen

Male reindeer shed their antlers in winter, however, so the reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh are more than likely female or castrated.

The week that was No:1

Hello everyone, here we are at Sunday morning and for the first time in days I am home alone, as Tim has been off since Thursday he works today and is off tomorrow then works again on Christmas Day after that he is off for a week.

I thought I would do a post about the week that was.

Monday I couldn't go to aqua class as Natasha had court about her parking ticket, she changed her plea to guilty and the magistrate let her off, so she didn't end up having to pay the fine.

Jessica rings and asks if I have shoes here for Leo as he lost his shoes at a friends place, I did not have shoes for him. So Jessica had to go and buy new shoes for him.

Tuesday I had an appointment with the podiatrist that went well

Wednesday I had aqua the last class till the 9^th January also the last day of school for the year

Thursday Jessica and I went to Kmart to do some Christmas shopping and Jessica had to return a pair of shoes she bought for Leo as they were to small for him, not the shoes she bought on Monday another pair with wheels that she had bought him for Christmas.

Friday Tim took me to Charlestown Square for my weekly shopping trip, mum & dad didn't go as dad has been really sick. Sue wasn't there as she had work, she started a new job on Monday as a cleaner.

Saturday was spent at home doing nothing much, Kathy brought over my food shopping and while she was here she vacuumed for me. I also did a load of washing and hung it up to dry.

Sunday is today and on Sunday's I do the medications for the following week.

Thursday's Poem

This Thursday I am not posting a friendship poem, instead I am sharing a Christmas poem.

Christmas Long Ago

By Jo Geis

Frosty days and ice-still nights,
Fir trees trimmed with tiny lights,
Sound of sleigh bells in the snow,
That was Christmas long ago.

Tykes on sleds and shouts of glee,
Icy-window filigree,
Sugarplums and candle glow,
Part of Christmas long ago.

Footsteps stealthy on the stair,
Sweet-voiced carols in the air,
Stocking hanging in a row,
Tell of Christmas long ago.

Starry nights so still and blue,
Good friends calling out to you,
Life, so fact, will always slow…
For dreams of Christmas long ago.

Christmas Movies

Do you watch Christmas movies?

Do you have a favourite?

I have a few favourites such as The Polar Express with Tom Hanks and The Santa Clause movies with Tim Allen.

On Sunday past I watched The Man Who Invented Christmas which is the story of Charles Dickens and how he came to write A Christmas Carol. I found the movie in the On Demand section of my Foxtel when I was looking for something Christmasy to watch and I did enjoy the movie.

Christmas Cards

Hello everyone, Christmas is fast approaching only 7 days till the big day, are you excited?

As I sit here and look up I see Christmas cards hanging on my wall and I think, who sent the first Christmas card and when, so I do what you do when you think such things, I ask Google. This is the answer I got.

The first Christmas card was created and sent in 1843. A man named John Calcott Horsley printed the first Christmas card for Sir Henry Cole, the friend who had given him the idea.

I then thought, I wonder how many Christmas cards are sent each year, so again I ask Google and this is the answer.

Over 2 billion Christmas cards are sent in the US each year.

In the UK, this figure will likely be around 900 million

Couldn't find an answer for how many are sent here in Australia.................

I can tell you that here the cost of a stamp to send a Christmas card is 65cents which is 35cents cheaper then the cost of a normal stamp.

Did you know No:32

Hello Monday, no aqua for me this week as Natasha has court, 6 months ago she received a parking ticket when dropping Blain off at school and decided to fight it instead of just paying it, anyway she has court about it again tomorrow. Last time she went to court it was adjourned.

Anyway since Christmas is just around the corner I am doing did you know Christmas facts that may or may not be true.

The 25^th December was originally a pagan celebration, as no one knows when Jesus was born

Santa Claus originated in a newspaper add, to sell toys and gift books in the mid 19^th century.

The Christmas Tree is a manufactured tradition.

The nativity story resulted in several wars.

Mistletoe kissing originated with fertility rites

Friendship poem No:6

Friendships, family ties

the companionship of little children

an autumn forest flung in prodigality

against a deep blue sky, the intricate

design and haunting fragrance of a

flower, the counterpoint of a Bach

fugue or the melodic line of a

Beethoven sonata, the fluted note

of bird song, the glowing glory of

a sunset: the world is aflame with

things of eternal moment

BY: E Margaret Clarkson

Rankin Park Appointment

Good morning or good afternoon or maybe it is good evening depending on when you are reading this. I hope life is treating you well, I am well.

So yesterday I had an appointment at the Rankin Park Day Hospital about the problems I have with my balance. Tim drove me over and stayed with me for the appointment, we were there for just over 3 hours.

We saw a doctor, a nurse and a occupational therapist and a physiotherapist, in the end I was signed up to attend the falls program which is ran over six weeks and will help me with my balance. Thankfully they will arrange for a taxi to pick me up and bring me home again, the program doesn't start again till the 29^th January.

They are also going to arrange for someone to come and check out the house and try and arrange for hand rails at the front door and in the bathroom. This will make Tim happy.

During the last year I have had about 8 falls and near falls which I guess is a lot.

I was getting annoyed with how much the occupational therapist went on about me having a bath, she thought I should be having a shower. I do not like showers and rarely have them. At this stage I do not have a problem getting in or out of the bath, when I start to have a problem I will deal with it.

Gross Facts No:7

Hello everyone, after a string on hot days it is very cool and wet here, suppose to have light rain on and off all day. Anyway here are this weeks gross facts, this week is part two of parasites facts.

Hookworms can live in your intestine, sucking on your blood.

Flukes are parasitic worms found in fish,cattle and sheep. Humans can also become infected by swimming in fluke infested water.

Thorny-headed worms hatch inside pond crustaceans, which are then eaten by ducks. The worm reproduces inside the duck, and its eggs come out in the duck's poo. They are then eaten by a crustacean and the cycle begins again.

The tongue-eating louse eats the tongue of its fish victim and lives in its place

A female flea sucks up to 15 times her own body weight in blood every day.

Did you know No:31

Good morning world here we are at another Monday, I had a good weekend, read some blogs and wrote some letters.

I watched Sydney-May & Summer yesterday for a couple of hours while Kathy-Lee & Michael went and did some Christmas shopping.

Anyway Monday is did you know day, so here are today's did you know facts.

The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night, what the hell...........

The average person laughs about 15 times a day

A fingernail or toenail takes about s ix months to grow from base to tip

A sneeze can exceed a speed of 100mph

The sandwich is named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), for whom sandwiches were made so that he could stay at the gambling table without getting up for meals

Thursday Friendship Poem

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

An endless fountain of immortal drink.

Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

BY JOHN KEATS

Gross Facts No 7

Good morning world, I am feeling pretty ok this morning, I slept pretty well.

Yesterday Tim & I search everywhere for Leo's mobile phone and couldn't find it, well this morning I found it sitting on top of his laptop next to the front door, if it was a snake it would jumped up and bit me, as the saying goes.

Anyway being Tuesday means gross facts day so here we go with some gross facts.

The average human body carries between 1 and 2.5kg of parasitic bacteria

The largest parasitic worm ever found was 8.5metres long, it was found living in a female sperm whale's womb

A tapeworm can live inside a human gut for up to 20 years

Tiny white pinworms live in your gut, but move to your bottom to lay eggs

Parasitic worm eggs get into soil through animal droppings

There can be thousands of parasitic worm eggs in one handful of soil

Did you know No: 30

Hello Monday, been a stinking hot weekend, the type of weekend that one is glad to have air conditioning. I had sweat dripping out of me all day.

Eight per cent of the earth's crust is aluminium

A teaspoon holds 120 drops of water

One horsepower is the energy required to lift 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute. A real live horse only delivered about .66HP, a strong cyclist can deliver one horsepower for about 30 seconds.

A pound of gold actually weighs less than a pound of feathers, this is because feathers are measured in “avoirdupois” weight in which there are 16 ounces per pound, gold as a precious metal is measured in “troy” weight which has only 12 ounces in a pound.

Offered a new pen to write with, 97% of people will write their own name