Thread:61Storm/@comment-29709319-20181110010804/@comment-29709319-20190129014332

January 29: National Puzzle Day, National Corn Chip Day, and Plan for Vacation Day.

🤔National Puzzle Day! Exercise your problem brain with a puzzle. Whether it’s a crossword, jigsaw, trivia, word searches, brain teasers or Soduku, puzzles put our minds to work. Studies have found that when we work on a jigsaw puzzle, we use both sides of the brain, and spending time daily working on puzzles improves memory, cognitive function and problem-solving skills. Word searches and crossword puzzles have the obvious benefit of increasing vocabulary and language skills. Sudoku, a puzzle sequencing a set of numbers on a grid, exercises the brain as well. By testing memory and logical thinking, this puzzle stimulates the brain and can improve number skills. The bottom line is, puzzles stimulate the brain, keeping it active and practicing its skills. Started in 2002 by Jodi Jill, National Puzzle Day was created as a way to share her enjoyment of puzzles. As a syndicated newspaper puzzle maker and professional quiz maker, Jodi Jill developed classroom lesson plans especially for National Puzzle Day and the popularity has grown year after year.

🌽National Corn Chip Day! The corn chip or friotes are not to be confused with the tortilla chip. Both are made from cornmeal which is baked or fried in oil. Differing steps for processing the corn separate the tortilla from the corn chip. The corn for a tortilla chip is soaked in a lime-water solution that breaks down the hulls. This process creates a crisper, milder chip. A corn chip is sturdier with a stronger corn flavor. Both were popular snacks originating in Mexico. There are two men credited with patenting and marketing the corn chip in the United States. First, Isador J. Filler often ate a tostada (a hard corn tortilla with toppings) while traveling in San Antonio, Texas as a salesman. He struck on the idea of making them in rectangles and marketing them as a chip. In 1932 he patented his concept. Around the same time, Elmer Doolin was also traveling in San Antonio and was enjoying friotes. According to the story, he paid $100 for the recipe. Experimenting in his home until he created the ideal chip, Doolin then started selling them from the back of his Model T Ford. When he began mass producing them under the name of Frito Corn Chips, they were a hit. In 1945, Doolin came to an agreement with Herman Lay (of potato chip fame) to distribute Doolin’s Fritos across the country. The two companies merged in 1959 after Doolin’s death.

🛰National Plan for Vacation Day, reminds us to plan our vacation at the start of the year. With the frigid temperatures and growing snow piles, it’s easy to start daydreaming of sunny skies, sand castles, and the vacation days to come. But, for many Americans, those vacation dreams turn out to be just that: a dream.vEach year, Americans leave more than 600 million vacation days unused. Our work martyr attitudes combined with a culture of silence in the workplace is keeping workers at their desks instead of using their time off. To change this, National Plan for Vacation Day reminds us to plan our vacation at the start of the year for the rest of the year. When it comes to taking a vacation, it’s the planners of the world who get the job done. According to Project: Time Off, planners are more likely to take all their vacation time in a given work year and take more extended vacations than non-planners. They’re also happier with their jobs, relationships, and health, so don’t knock the planners who get out the door to vacation! Planning vacation doesn’t have to be a monumental task. As we close out a month of resolutions, make this the year you focus on your bucket list—not your to-do list. National Plan for Vacation Day, is a day to encourage Americans to plan their vacation days for the rest of the year at the start of the year. Launched by the U.S. Travel Association’s Project: Time Off initiative in 2017, National Plan for Vacation Day provides an opportunity to come together at a single moment to rally around the importance of planning for a  vacation. In its inaugural year, more than 600 organizations, representing all 50 states, came together to encourage Americans to plan for vacation. Learn more at ProjectTimeOff.com/Plan and join the conversation online with #PlanForVacation. About Project: TimeOff Project: Time Off has uncovered an alarming trend over the last 40 years: Americans are taking fewer and fewer vacation days. To reverse this trend, we aim to prove that vacation travel is valuable and necessary for strengthening personal relationships, inspiring creative thinking, improving professional performance, and promoting better health.

It depends on the puzzle, if it's a timed one it's not enjoyable. I haven't had any corn chips in I can't remember when. I may have to get some now, with some cheese salsa. Yum! I think we've already started a wish list of planned vacation spots.😂

Well were under a wind chill advisory again with temperatures in the single digits. I real feel for those people and animals that live with this kind of weather every day. Brrrrrrr!!!

Sending warm hugs! Maybe, if I can get them warmed up first😂!🐶🐶💕❄️☃️💕