Journal Notes

Daily Coffee

Coffee is good for you so do not forget to drink that cup of coffee each day. Everyone already knows from the reports that it can help out with Type 2 Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and migraines, but it does help other conditions. Drinking coffee may help protect your body against gallstones, kidney stones, and even cirrhosis of the liver.

Since the caffeine in coffee is a stimulant, it has been shown to help increase your mental attention in the short, but not long-term. There are even some who believe you can have better cognitive function. If you are scare that you might develop Alzheimer's disease later in life, there have been some studies that show drinking a daily cup of coffee may protect you against developing this disease later in life. There have been other studies that show having a cup of coffee daily before you take your morning walk, run, or jog can enhance your athletic performance.

In one cup of coffee you can find over two thousand different components of chemicals which include antioxidants that help fight cancer. One cup of coffee can help improve your heart health and boost your vision. There has also been a study done that shows that people who drink that one cup of coffee do better on the job so go ahead and have that cup of coffee before you go to work. A cup of coffee a day is good for you in so many ways so drink up everyone.

Preparation For The Next Year

The New Year of 2010 will be upon us in a few days and I sit here wondering where the past year went. My parents always said that time flies by faster as you get older and I use to laugh, but now I know it is true. I did not get half of my goals for last year finished and now it is time to make new goals. The obvious one is to lose weight, but I already know how that is going to go. I would also like to be able to get out of debt or at least save some money, but that never seems to happen either. Maybe I should just forget setting goals and New Year resolutions and take it one day at a time and see what happens.

One thing that I am going to try to make happen this year is to write that novel that I have always wanted to write. I do not care if anyone else reads it but it is something I want to do so that is a goal I am going to set for myself and complete. I have always loved to write, but put it on the backburner with raising a family and working. That is a more realistic goal than trying to lose weight and get out of debt. Yes, the year 2010 is going to have a goal I can actually accomplish.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is upon us once again. It is time to get out the tree and decorate it, hang up the stockings, and get the Christmas cards ready to mail. While you are doing all these preparations has it ever crossed your mind how some of these traditions started? For example, the Christmas tree was decorated in Germany in the sixteenth century with roses, apples, colored paper, and gilded candles. They were fir trees and decorated both inside and out. In the middle Ages the fir tree was hung with apples to symbolize the Garden of Eden and used in a play to depict the story of Adam and Eve.

The story behind the Christmas stocking is that a nobleman was upset over the death of his wife and squandered his fortune foolishly. His three daughters were left without dowries and faced a life of being unmarried because they had no dowries. Santa Claus heard of the plight, and when he came down the chimney, he saw the stockings hanging there where they daughters had hung them to dry. He put a bag of gold in each one, giving them the dowry they need to get married.

The Christmas cards began in England when the young boys in school were made to practice their handwriting skills by creating greetings to their parents at Christmas time.  These are just a few of the traditions that everyone enjoys at Christmas. Check online for more traditions and how they came to about.