Check your knowledge: 1) I had a lot of fun last weekend, and I got a lot of work done, too. 2) On Sunday morning, I cleand the kitchen and bathroom, but I didn't vacuum. 3) I was washing the dishes when the phone rang. 4) My brother was calling because he wanted to go to the mall with me. 5) He wanted me to go to the mall with him since he needed to buy a new suit. 6) I didn't have any plans for the afternoon, so I went with him to the mall. 7) He didn't want to buy a suit unless it was on sale. 8) After we bought him a nice suit on sale, We went to a resturant for dinner. 9) On Sunday, I studied for the GED, and I got ready for work on Monday. 10) Sunday night, I read a magazine while my children were doing their homework. ==== Homework add compound and complex sentences tho lesson 49 essay. Do in upper case. Manuel ======================================= Improving My Life by Rewinding My Life Many years ago I had rewound my life and I tried to do the things better or at least I have been trying till today. I tried to improve my life by rewinding it. Thinking about all my past mistake, I worked too much. I don’t want to justify, but I thought at that time I needed money to support my family. I didn’t spend time with my family, maybe it was for my job, traveling, or working 12 hours a day. At least it wasn’t too late to recognize one of my mistakes: money is not everything in the life. The family is much more important. Also I didn’t take care of my self. I didn't eat well. I think it was because of my time away from home. Nor did I do enough exercise. When I was young, I played soccer and volleyball, and I thought it was enough. Not thinking of people was one of my mistakes. Another was not looking around me, not thinking or seeing problems. What a selfish person I was unlike my wife who was a missionary. How have I corrected those mistakes? First I accepted how bad I was and then started to work less and dedicated more time to my family. At least I thought it wasn’t too late. I Tried to help people, at that time my wife was always involved with helping people in many ways. Then I began more support of her mission. Trying to be close to my family is another way. How? I began going out in missionary trips with my family -- trips that I never dreamed I would do with my family. Visiting nursing homes was wonderful; everything we did together was marvelous. How did I leave the present better? First I learned from my mistakes. Then I tried to correct them and apply the corrections to the present. I Exercised more. How? I tried to walk every day at least one mile, walk behind the mower cutting the grass, it is a good exercise too. I wanted to eat better, especially more vegetables, which helped and improve my health. I Read more spiritual books because they helped me in my life, and also if someone crosses in my path, at least I could help them with a counseling word. It is not so difficult to improve our relationship with our family. We only need to look back at our mistakes, accept them, correct them and keep going forward. If you are a workaholic, stop a little bit, and spend more time with your family. You take smaller trips, you can go on vacation, you can do a lot of things that will make everyone happy. Please put in first place, your family and everything will be better. Eating well and exercising is good for your health too. As we can notice, changing our habits can change our lives, also it can transform the relationship with our family . He ======================================= THE THING THAT IS ON TOP OF MY TO-DO LIST FOR THE COMING YEAR IS FINDING A JOB. I can improve the quality of my life by finding a job. By getting a job in a specific city, I can settle down the whole family in a quiet community in that city. A job means a stable monthly income, which means I can bring my family a better life, while I offer a good education to my kids. Quality of life will be important for my whole family. Working is a good method to verify my learning achievement from university. I can apply my knowledge of technology to real industry. Also, I can find and correct my misunderstandings that I have in applying technlogical processes. And ultimately, I can get feedback to prepare for my future career. All of these wil point to a effective education. Finding a job will allow me to build up my future career. I CAN LEARN INDUSTRY CULTURE IN A COMPANY, BE FAMILIAR WITH THE WORK PROCESS, AND HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET A PROMOTION IN MY COMPANY. These will help me in my future career. In conclusion, finding a job is the best solution for me to improve my life quality, expand my knowledge, and build up my career. Both my family and I look forward to a wonderfy life. Bruce ======================================= Improving My Life From time to time I feel a bit dissatisfied with MYSELF; I think "I need become better." But how? There are thousands of self-improvement books on the shelf of libraries. What I usually settle on is learning something new. There are many ways to learn new things; here are some ways I've found. One place that I have an opportunity to learn new things in various ways is at VITA. I learn from my students; I enjoy finding out about their cultures, their backgrounds and their cities. I also learn about my language by teaching ESL. There so many rules that no one has taught me: grammar, syntax or spelling. I find answers from the workbooks, Google or even my students. I also learn new teaching techniques such as using visuals or involving the students. All of these make me feel a little smarter. Another place I go to learn new things is Khan Academy. I have taken courses in subjects that I never took in school such as history or biology. Perhaps I wasn't interested in them earlier but now I am, or I now find the new information useful. I also can re-take a subject that I didn't do well with when in school or that I've forgotten much of. Khan Academy provides a structured learning environment that make learning fun. A third source of learning is for my work in website design. In programing, there is so much to know that no one can master it ALL, BUT I learn new programming skills as they become needed. Fortunately there is a wealth of information immediately available on the INTERNET,SO WHEN I am stumped on some code, I Google it and usually someone has had the same problem and someone else has answered it. And, there are tutorials that can bring me up to speed with a more thorough understanding of that area. I would not be able to do my job as a programmer without what I learn on the internet. These are only a few areas where I learn new things. There are many more roads to learning. We should never stop looking for new things to BECAUSE LIFE would be pretty dull if we didn't learn new stuff. ====================================== =========== Last Day Off =================== Manuel ========================= My last day of the year I did a lot of housework ,like cleaning bathrooms,the bedrooms, the kitchen and washing things. Yard work,I cleaned, mulching and prepared shelter for the plants. Cooking, I cooked some food that my family likes. Shopping, I went out to do some errands before my family gets home. --------------------------------- The last day of the year,my family came from Ecuador to spend a few days at my home, so I needed to be ready when they get home. I started working on some things like: housework,yard work, shopping and cooking. Housework: I started cleaning the bathrooms because I want them to smell very good. In the kitchen, I did dishes and began to put them in order, but I forgot to clean the stove. In the bedrooms, I wanted to change sheets on all the beds, but some beds didn’t need to be changed although I changed pillowcases. I started to take down the curtains to wash, even though I wanted to wash them, I realized I don’t have any soap. Yard work: working in the garden makes me so happy because when it is finished I can see an improvement. It is wonderful to touch and smell the flowers. I like to mulch between the plants because it protects them from the heat or cold and I don’t need to weed so often. I like too to use the lawn mower to mulch the leaves because, at this time of the year, they fall down a lot. Shopping: I went to a nearby supermarket to buy some groceries that I needed. I bought onions, garlic, celery, spinach, cauliflower, tomatoes and other vegetables. I went to Home Depot and bought some mulch and flowers. I went to a gas station to buy some gas that for my garden machines. Cooking: I cooked something simple, “Paella“, that contains chicken, shrimp, rice, olives, and other things. I made an apple pie, too. When I was making the “Paella” ,the phone rang, it was a friend who wanted to invite me for dinner. I said him, "I am sorry, my family is here," but while I was talking to him I smelled something burning -- oh, it was the cake! I thought: I am not really a multitasker. Cooking and cleaning is something I like to do , but for many people those kinds of jobs are not very agreeable. If you have never done it, try it. It can be relaxing and fun. He ============================= brainstorm for the five-paragraph essay. The day before a final exam is the day I don't like. On that day, everyone is busy. 1.Prepare the review 2.Ask people to teamwork 3.Re-do all the homework 4.Calculate how many points needed for getting an "A" Mentally tired 1.Make and keep updating the review plan 2.Guess the test questions 3.Search for blind spots 4.No matter how hard I work, the work is endless Feel guilty for the following reasons 1.Don't take the course seriously 2.Don't do the homework carefully 3.Don't understand most of the content Therefore, on the day before the final exam, people suffer mental and physical pain ------------------------------ The day I don’t like… Everyone has the experience of spending time with the final exam, especially preparing for it. Although a well-prepared exam probably results in a high score and leaves a good memory, I have to say that the day before a final exam is the day I don't like. On the day before a final exam, everyone is busy. First, students prepare a review for the exam as a review framework. Secondly, in order to save precious time and increase review efficiency, they often ask colleagues to work as a team. Thirdly, homework is one of the most important review materials therefore students will re-do the homework. Last but not the least, students will calculate how many points needed for getting an "A". All these things make people physical tired, but if you believe that’s all, you are wrong. Everyone suffers mental fatigue on that day. Before and during the review, students have to make and update the review plan according to their schedule. Another boring job is guessing the questions on the exam. If you are lucky enough, you will have correctly guessed one or two questions on the exam. Searching for blind spots is a necessary job for preparing for an exam. The interesting part is no matter how hard one works on the above jobs, the work is endless. However, fatigue is not only burden for that day. =========== Start her next time People also feel guilty on that pre-exam day. They feel guilt for the following reasons. They feel they didn't take the course seriously which leads to tough work before the exam. They also believe they didn't do the homework carefully which leads to difficulty in re-doing the homework. Moreover, they feel guilty about not understanding most of the content in class. All of these can make a student feel guilty. Therefore, on the day before the final exam, people suffer mental and physical pain. As it goes: no pain, no gain. I hope every student has gained after suffering the pain. Bruce ========================== Who, What, When, Where, Why, How See, Hear, Smell, Taste, Feel ... Last day-off Sunday Most Sundays are the same High points of my Sunday Practice guitar Do every morning - commitment years ago Primarily to improve playing Also good way to relax to start day almost meditation Can see improvment when I compare to last year Fellowship At 10:30 Go every week I'm not spiritual - go for companionship Lunch after service Visited Bunny She's at Blake assisted living Go on Sunday to take flowers from Fellowship Take her cat to her Bring food and supplies Check that things OK in her room Sundays different than other days No VITA Like a routine - can do because retired ------------------------ My last day off was last Sunday; the day before I returned to my "job" at VITA. Last Sunday was like most most of my Sundays. I will relate some high points of the day. I started the day, as I start every day, by doing an hour or so of practicing the guitar. It is a commitment I made years ago. I do it primarily to improve my ability to play, but it is also a nice way to start the day. It is very relaxing, even when I struggle to learn a new technique or a new piece, it puts me in "the zone," and is almost like meditation. It's hard to see any improvement from day to day, but if I compare my playing now with what it was a year ago, it is definitely better and worth the effort. Part of my Sunday routine is attending UU Fellowship, an informal religious service, from 11:00 to 12:00. I'm not a spiritual person; I attend for the companionship. The members of our Fellowship share similar values and interests, and I feel very comfortable with them. After the service, several of us go out to lunch together, and I enjoy this part of Fellowship the most. The Fellowship is an important part of my life. Another Sunday routine is visiting my wife, Bunny, at The Blake. The reason that I chose Sundays is that I take her flowers from Fellowship. I also bring her cat, Mow, to see her. Bunny can't keep a cat at The Blake, but Mow is allowed to visit. I also bring some food and supplies and check to make sure things are OK in her room. Bunny appreciates my Sunday visits. Sundays are different than the other days in my week, mainly because I don't have VITA on weekends. Even though my Sundays are all alike, I like having a routine, and I can do that because I am retired .