Tuesday's Tidbit

Are you looking for a Christmas tree that does not hurt every time you touch it or make a mess in your house with needles everywhere?  Well, I found the perfect tree for you...the white pine tree.  You are welcome!

Tuesday's Tidbit

I decided it was time to stop my blogcation and bring a bit of sunshine to all 5 of my followers:)  Enjoy!

 

Today's tidbit:

There was a 125 mile traffic jam in Russia that kept people stuck on the road for 3 days over this past weekend!  This is absolutely insane.  What would you do if you were stuck on the road for 3 days?    Check out the article below for more info.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/03/125-mile-traffic-jam-russia-video-two-days_n_2231516.html?utm_hp_ref=world

 

Blogcation

Tuesday's Tidbit

Icelanders value literacy and hold the world record for number of books per capita. 

Tuesday's Tidbit

Did you know that you can tell the temperature by listening to a chirping cricket?    
           
Here is the trick...count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and then add 37. The number you get will be an approximation of the outside temperature.  Pretty cool!

Friday's Favorite

If you are looking to lose weight check out this book.  I lost 13lbs in 17 days!  Pretty amazing!

Tuesday's Tidbit

Summer officially begins at the Schinkel house today! 

Time to celebrate!

Tuesday's Tidbit

Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other nation.

Friday's Favorite

If you are looking for something to keep you entertained for a bit check out this flight simulator. 

http://johnbenzies.com/flightsim/

See how long you can go without crashing!

Tuesday's Tidbit

Did you know that the watermelon is actually a vegetable, not a fruit?!! It is most closely related to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash.

(Ha!  I guess I do eat vegetables!)

Friday's Favorite

If you are looking for a good pair of flip flops check these out...

http://www.okabashi.com/Women/b/2359392011?searchSize=36

Tuesday's Tidbit

• An international study done in 2006 ranked Iceland as the “Fourth Happiest Nation” in the world.  (I can't wait to meet these happy people!)

Just for Fun

This is what can happen when you are sitting in Staples parking lot for 30 minutes stealing their WiFi on a Friday night.

Friday's Favorite

Today's favorite is...

Tuesday's Tidbit

Today's fact is about the 5K road race Troy and I ran on Sunday in Cheshire.

Check out the link to see the results...you won't have to scroll down far to see my very own superstar! As for me, begin in the 200's and you will find me quickly.

http://www.plattsys.com/m1shell.asp?eventid=905&webadd=/results/res2012/sea125k.txt

Friday's Favorite

Check out this live footage of eagles in their nest....pretty amazing!

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Friday's Favorite

Happy Friday!

Check out Block Poster at http://www.blockposters.com/

Basically, the website allows you to take any image and supersize it to any size you want. Pretty cool!

Tuesday's Tidbit

Random fact of the day...

Giraffes have to sleep standing up.
(Imagine sleeping while standing up.  I can't even sleep sitting up.)

Friday's Favorite

It's Finally Friday by Paul Orshoski It’s finally Friday—I’m so glad. It’s been a crazy week. I got chewed out on Monday, and since then it’s all been bleak. I lost my lunch on Tuesday, and a parent went insane, which shocked me so completely that I almost popped a vein. I poked my eye on Wednesday, and the nurse gave me a shot. She sent me to the doctor when I fainted on the spot. On Thursday I was tardy ’cause I kinda overslept. And the snack that I was craving came up missing in a theft. And so it’s finally Friday. No more pencils, no more books. No more sitting in detention, no more teachers’ dirty looks. By Friday I’m exhausted, out of energy and breath. But that’s the day you’ll hear me shout, “Rejoice, TGIF!” And twice a month on Friday, I remember why I stay: You see, I am the principal— that’s when I get my pay.

Tuesday's Tidbit

Today's fun facts are devoted to the one and only jiggly food JELL-O.

• There were only 4 flavors in the beginning, currently there are 20.
• The sugar-free version was invented in 1923.
• The JELL-O museum opened in 1996.
• The people of Sale Lake City actually eat more lime flavored JELL-O than any other city in the world.
• One million packs are sold each day.

Friday's Favorite

Today's favorite is an oldie but a goodie....white vinegar. Not too long ago I thought the only thing white vinegar was good for was dying Easter eggs until I started to make my own cleaning products.  I realized white vinegar can clean practically anything! 

Currently, I make my own all purpose cleaner and I use half part water and half part white vinegar and some essential oils for a fragrant smell and it cleans just as well as any other cleaning product minus the harsh chemicals. 

If you want to discover 1001 uses for white vinegar check out the website below.  Pretty amazing!

http://www.vinegartips.com/scripts/pageViewSec.asp?id=7

Tuesday's Tidbits

Some Earth Day facts...

Here is an example of how much water we use everyday:

• 3-7 gallons for the toilet
• 25-30 gallons for a bath
• 50-70 gallons for a 10 minute shower
• 1 washing machine load uses 25-40 gallons
• 1 dishwasher load uses 9-12 gallons

Friday's Favorite

"If a man wants to read good books, he must make a point of avoiding bad ones; for life is short, and time and energy limited."
— Schopenhauer

Craziness

Check out this article...

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/elevator-with-lickable-cookie-wallpaper

What is next?????

Tuesday's Tidbit

Today is Blah! Blah! Blah! Day.  This is an official holiday that makes you work on all of the projects and things that people have been nagging you about. So it is time to stop reading this blog and procrastinating and hit your to-do list! 

Friday's Favorite

Put this on your bucket list...

Visit Mike's Pastry in Boston and enjoy a cannoli!  So yummy!!!!

Tuesday's Tidbit

Some fun facts about Boston since Stacey and I are there today.

• The famous "Citgo" sign in Kenmore Square contains five miles of neon tubing.
• Boston is home to the country's first public school.
• Logan International Airport is built almost entirely on top of land that, before a landfill project, used to be Boston Harbor.
• Only 34 of Boston's 840 restaurants serve fast food.

Friday's Favorite

Now that spring is upon us and the weather is improving it is time to bring your lawn back from the dead.  I have just the product for you... 

Yes, the name is ridiculous and it smells foul, but it sure knows how to keep your lawn green and healthy and the best part is it has no harmful chemicals.

Tuesday's Tidbit

Some interesting facts about these pesky weeds I can't seem to get rid of...

• The dandelion is actually a perennial herb from the sunflower family.
• It can be traced back about 30 million years to Eurasia where it first began.
• The entire plant is useful for something, be it food, herbal medicine, or the bright yellow color for making dye.  (I will try to remember this as they begin to pop up on the lawn.)

Friday's Favorite

Everyone should have one of these in their backyard....

Tuesday's Tidbit

To help continue The Hunger Games frenzy below are some facts about the book:

• Suzanne Collins(author) got the idea for The Hunger Games while surf­ing chan­nels and see­ing peo­ple com­pet­ing on a real­ity show and footage of the inva­sion of Iraq.
• The Hunger Games’ ini­tial print was 200,000, bumped up from 50,000.
• The book has been trans­lated to 26 dif­fer­ent languages.
• Suzanne Collins is the first children’s or YA author to sell over a mil­lion Kin­dle eBooks and, as of March 2012, Collins is the best sell­ing Kin­dle author of all times.
• The novel ranks fifth on the Amer­i­can Library Asso­ci­a­tion of most banned books for 2010 for being "sex­u­ally explicit, unsuited to age group, and vio­lence."

~Happy Hunger Games!  And may the odds be ever in your favor!

Friday's Favorite

THE HUNGER GAMES MOVIE...Let's hope it lives up to the hype.

Tuesday's Tidbit

Welcome Spring!  Here are a few quotes to celebrate the 1st day of spring.

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
~Robin Williams

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. 
~George Santayana

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! 
~Mark Twain

70 & Sunny, the way life should be.
~Me

Friday's Favorite

So I am not usually into reality tv shows, but one recently got me hooked.  I started watching it because I was curious but then it turned into a must-see show for me on Monday nights. It is...

Monday night on NBC @ 8:00 p.m.

Check it out!

Tuesday's Tidbit

For all you math enthusiasts out there tomorrow is Pi Day....

Here are some informational facts about Pi:

• Pi, is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter
• Pi Day is celebrated around the world on March 14th. Pi = 3.1415926535
• Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal
• Pi will continue infinitely without repeating

Check out this video...(someone has a bit of extra time on their hands)

Friday's Favorite

Today's favorite goes along with my newer, healthier self.  I recently realized that I have been going to the gym regularly for over a year now and I have gotten into a gym rut.  I mix things up, but it just wasn't cutting it, so enter my personal trainer, Jillian Michael!  Holy Cow!  She is crazy! I have her 30 Day Shred and Banish Fat Boost Metabolism DVDs and I can only say "Thank God" when the workout is over! 

I thought I was in pretty good shape when I started the 1st DVD until after about 3 minutes...than I thought I was going to die.  Now I am a week in and though I still think I am going to die now it takes about 7 minutes into the workout. 

 If you are serious about getting in shape I highly recommend Jillian's DVDs.  She means business...as Jillian always says, "These abs don't come for free."  Well actually, nothing comes for free on the DVDs.  She makes you work hard every second!

Extra Tidbit for Today

Happy 100th Birthday Oreo!

Scroll down to the bottom of the article to learn some oreo fun facts!

http://shine.yahoo.com/shine-food/100-years-oreo-recipes-facts-famous-cookie-194400045.html

Tuesday's Tidbit

This is just an interesting useless bit of info...

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.  

 I wonder why???? 

Friday's Favorite

Since I have been eating healthier I have been searching for new enjoyable food items that are good for me and flavorful.  I hit the jackpot when I came across Chobani.  For those of you that don't know, Chobani is delicious greek yogurt!  Greek yogurt is the hottest craze right now and Chobani is cashing in.  The yogurt comes in 6 oz cups of pure heaven.  There are a variety of flavors from blueberry, strawberry, raspberry to more exotic flavors such as pineapple and blood orange (two of my favorites). If you haven't jumped on the Chobani bandwagon than it is time!  If you are looking for a good for you and delicious treat check out Chobani in your local food store.

Tuesday's Tidbit

Today's fun facts are about the Leap Year...

Did you know?

The exact amount of time it takes for the Earth to rotate around the sun is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. Egyptians were the first people to add a leap day every four years. Romans were the first to choose February 29th as the official date. Your chances of being born on a leap day are approximately 1 in 1500. There are about 187,000 people in the US and 4 million people in the world who were born on Leap Day. Enjoy your bonus day tomorrow!

Friday's Favorite

If you are looking for delicious tea than I have the place for you....

The Green Teahouse in Blue Back Square is a great place to buy loose leaf tea, tea sets, tea accessories or even a cup of tea.  One of my favorite things about this tea place is they usually have at least five or so different teas so you can get a sampling of which tea fits your taste.

Tuesday's Tidbit

Presidential First...

• James Polk was the first president to have his photograph taken.
• Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to ride in a car while in office. 
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first president to ride in an airplane.

Hope you enjoyed your President's Day!

Friday's Favorite

Freerice is a great website that supports a worthy cause.  It is a great way to practice certain subject areas such as vocabulary, grammar, math, languages etc. and help out people in need at the same time.  Basically, for every question correct 10 grains of rice are donated to people in need.  Over 91 billion grains have been donated since the start of the website!  That is amazing!  

I use the vocabulary section in my class and make a competition of it.  The kids love to play and see the rice in their bowl get bigger and bigger.  The website is not just for kids.  The levels change based on your ability so anyone can play.

If you are looking for a distraction try it out and help feed people in need!  Have fun!  www.freerice.com

Tuesday's Tidbit

Valentine's Day Special Edition...

• 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.
• 15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.  (Wow!)
• Approximately 110 million roses, mostly red, will be sold and delivered within the three-day Valentine's Day time period.
• The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife.
• Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.  (Pets receive Valentine's Day cards!!!!)
• Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in the late 1800's.  (mmmm...candy)
• More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine's Day.
• Over $1 billion worth of chocolate is purchased for Valentine's Day in the U.S.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day!

Friday's Favorite

My new television obsession....The Big C!

Conservative Minneapolis wife and mother Cathy Jamison let her freak flag fly when she got her cancer diagnosis. She also decided against treatment, at least until her loved ones learned the truth. But now she’s opting to face cancer head on. Her family and friends can have their problems, she’s got a life to live… and fight for.

Upon reading the show description I was a bit hesitant to start up a show about a woman dying of cancer.  It just didn't seem appealing to me, but was I wrong.  I can't get enough of this show!  I finished Season 1 in less than a week and now I am patiently waiting for Season 2 to come out on DVD (April). 

If your looking for a show to keep you entertained and wanting more give The Big C a chance.

Tuesday's Tidbit

Today is send a card to a friend day.  Take a moment today and make someone's day by sending them an e-card or better yet send a real card! 

Friday's Favorite

Today's favorite is Google Translate.  This is a website that I knew about, but never really checked out because I never had a need until a student entered my school this week from Greece with limited English.  Now this is my life preserver.  This is a great website to easily change any webpage, word document, powerpoint, excel etc...into any language.  If you have never checked it out try it for fun!  Also, if anyone knows how to translate a PDF file into Greek for free please let me know....I would be extremely greatful!

http://translate.google.com/#

Tuesday's Tidbit

Groundhog's Day is right around the corner so here are a few fun facts to spice up the water cooler discussion.

Punxsutawney Phil weighs about 20 pounds and is 22 inches long.
A groundhog can whistle.  (That is pretty cool!)
A groundhog's life span is normally 6 to 8 years.
Phil receives a drink of a magical punch every summer, which gives him 7 more years of life.
A baby groundhog is called a kit.

Friday's Favorite

Today's favorite is fruit salad!  I have been living on fruit salad as of late (I'm trying to be good) so here is my favorite fruits to go in my salad...

• pineapple
• strawberries
• blackberries
• blueberries
• kiwi
• green grapes

Enjoy!

Tuesday's Tidbit

Blueberries...

• are becoming more popular than ever.  There are over 1500 new products containing blueberries  introduced last year!
• have more antioxidants than most other fruits and vegetables.
• won't ripen once they are picked.
• aid in reducing belly fat.
• are delicious!

Friday's Favorite

MMMM....mounds

Tuesday's Tidbit

Some interesting facts about Martin Luther King...

• Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" (1963)
• Was a vegetarian
• Was a Trekkie (a fan of the original "Star Trek" (1966) TV series)
   
• He stated that he would not live to be 40. He died aged 39
• January 20, 1986 was the first national celebration of King's birthday as a holiday

Friday's Favorite

Looking for a good movie to rent this weekend,,,check out Sarah's Key. 

http://www.sarahskey.com.au/

Disclaimer:
There are subtitles for those subtitle phobia individuals out there, but I suggest you overcome your phobia and give it a try. Also, for those truly ambitious people there is a book too. Enjoy!

Tuesday's Tidbit

A goldfish has a memory span of about 3 seconds.  Sometimes I feel like a goldfish...

Friday's Favorite

Check out one of my new favorite books The Running Dream.  Once you start reading this book you will not be able to put it down.  I guarantee it! Enjoy!

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/vandraanen/content/books.html#runningDream

Tuesday's Tidbit

Tired of the usual Happy New Year greeting.  Try out one of these languages to spice things up! 

Arabic: Kul 'aam u antum salimoun
Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo means "Good Parties and Happy New Year"
Chinese: Chu Shen Tan
Czechoslavakia: Scastny Novy Rok
Dutch: Gullukkig Niuw Jaar
Finnish: Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
French: Bonne Annee
German: Prosit Neujahr
Greek: Eftecheezmaenos o Kaenooryos hronos
Hebrew: L'Shannah Tovah Tikatevu
Hindi: Niya Saa Moobaarak
Irish (Gaelic): Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit
Italian: Buon Capodanno
Khmer: Sua Sdei tfnam tmei
Laotian: Sabai dee pee mai
Polish: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese: Feliz Ano Novo
Russian: S Novim Godom
Serbo-Croatian: Scecna nova godina
Spanish: Feliz Ano Neuvo or Prospero Ano Nuevo
Turkish: Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Vietnamese: Cung-Chuc Tan-Xuan