You must have given me up for lost ...But believe it or not ..I wish there were 54 hours in a day! I was merely caught up in first term tests and marking ...to such an extent that I had to bring work home on Sundays.

Well... the good thing is that I do think positive ..therefore ..I think pink...ok red because of Christmas!! I hardly ever get stressed out! Simply because I consider stress to be a hindering factor to efficiency. Short digression! I'm smiling right now ..recalling an interview 18 years ago .. One of the directors of the Americsn Academy - the school where I attended the interview asked me the following question : "How do you work under stress ?" I spontaneously answered ..."Idon't work under stress ! To do that ..I must be stressed out in the first place! " Funnily enough , I got the job!and stayed there for 7 years.

Right now .. I'm going through the most hectic time of year at work. My secretary left on November 11th and she isn't going to come back as she has no one to babysit for her children. Private babysitting would cost almost her salary for two children. I fully understand her. To my mind, being a mother and a housewife is one of the hardest jobs. In the UK housewives have earned their rights as full-time working women However,in less than 2 weeks I must finish marking tests, type reports on the computer then fill them up, write out invitations for the students' Christmas party and invitations for the parents' evening which is scheduled for end of January 2009. But I want to finish everything before the Christmas break...hopefully! In addition, I must prepare the students' Christmas party on the 22nd. AND I've still got classes on the 20th

But then again , I'll have 15 festive days to celebrate and rejoice... And I must remember to email Father Christmas ...I do hope Rudolph won't let Santa down ! I'm putting down right now on Outlook ...."Remember to finish my wish list !"

Oh God ??? Am I running out of time ??

Christmas is round the corner and I have so many wishes for my 360 friends:

-I wish you good health and great spirits

- I wish you to be jolly and merry

- I wish you love and happiness

- I wish you perseverance in everything you do

- I wish you success in cooking the stuffed turkey!

- I wish you lots of happy moments with you and yours

- I wish you peace

- I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The three herbs that are associated with Christmas are Holly (Ilex aquifolium), Ivy (Hedra helix) and Mistletoe (Viscum album). While all three are decorative features of the Christian festival, their original ceremonial use is rooted in paganism.

Holly, a member of the Aquifoliaceae, is evergreen and grows to 6m. It was thought to guard against evil in Druidic societies and they decked their dwellings with it at the time of the winter solstice. In Roman times Holly was exchanged at the December festival of Saturnalia, a tradition that was adopted by early Christians and is the reason for its prominence as a Christmas decoration. Anglo-Saxons used it to treat congested lungs. Holly is little used today but in the past was used to treat fevers, jaundice and rheumatism. While the berries are toxic and can be dangerous to children, they make a most efficient purge for adults. There is an Ilex vomitoria, which is self explanatory, and probably not required by those who prefer alchohol.

Ivy, an evergreen climber and a member of the Araliaceae, is a woodland plant that will carpet the ground and climb any obstruction. Now a common house-plant or garden ornamental it was once thought to possess magical powers. Ivy was dedicated to Bacchus, the god of wine, and was worn as garlands during the Bacchinalia as it was thought to guard against intoxication, which would seem to make the ceremony a bit pointless.

Pharmaceutically the plant has anti-spasmodic and cardiac actions; small doses dilate the blood vessels while large ones constrict them and slow the heart beat. It was used to treat whooping cough and a tincture made from the berries and vinegar was used in the Great Plague of London. All parts of the plant are toxic and contact with leaves may cause dermatitis although the early New England settlers made poultices to treat swollen glands and leg ulcers with ivy. Like holly, the berries are a powerful purge which may explain its popularity at Christmas time.

We now come to the most potent and mysterious of the Christmas herbs, mistletoe. A member of the Loranthaceae, it is a parasitic evergreen shrub which forms bunches up to 3m across on host trees. The leaves are yellowy green and it produces sticky white berries that ripen in late autumn. It favours old apple trees but can be found on ash, hawthorn and oak. Anyone who has travelled through Normandy in winter will recall its abundance in the apple orchards.

The plant attained mythical status in many ancient societies; it was the ‘golden bough’ that saved Aeneas from the underworld. In Norse legends it was a bough of mistletoe that was used to kill Balder, the god of peace. This has given rise to the custom of kissing under the mistletoe as after his death the plant was entrusted to the Norse goddess of love. Personally I never thought of mistletoe as being weighty enough to kill a god.

Perhaps mistletoe is most associated with the Druids - they were said to remove it by using a golden knife, it was thought to protect them from all evil and they would sanctify the trees on which it grew. It is from this period that the reputed healing powers of the plant arose. The early Roman physicians Dioscorides and Galen knew that the Druids used the berries to treat topical tumours and they continued the practice. Hippocrates recorded its use in the treatment of cancer and epilepsy. In 18th century England it was a treatment for convulsions, hysteria and delirium.

Today it is applied to lower blood pressure and as an immune system enhancer. Mistletoe preparations have been used in the treatment of cancer since l926, when a fermented product, Iscador, was made from the crude pressed juice of the berry, which stimulates the thymus gland and promotes ‘killer cell’ activity and leads to a ‘walling off’ of the tumour.

The prominence of these plants at Christmas may be that they are evergreen, available and attractive, or perhaps the ancients anticipated our need for them on the occasion of enforced gluttony.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart all those of you who stopped by But I need to blog and right now 360 has problems ! So, from now on I'll be posting on Typepad. Good luck to you all!

Many spiritualists tend to differentiate between spiritual and physical life treating both as distinct and separate from each other. Being on the Spiritual path somehow has people thinking that physical life and all its related activities are bad. This kind of mind set happens because of disappointment in worldly matters. This disappointment then results in a separation from the World itself and the day-to-day experiences of material conscious people.This is almost as bad as the thoughts held by those who think of life only from a physical plane and who are completely cut off from their spiritual side.

While those living purely on the physical plane seek the collection of physical assets and material satisfaction as the be all and end all of life, many on the spiritual path run away from material life just to prove to them selves how detached they are from the physical. Owning assets becomes a liability, being married and becoming parents is now considered a responsibility and a complete waste of time, and holding any position of responsibility and power becomes a huge burden.

In my opinion , it is necessary for spiritualists to treat all of physical life as spiritual also. It is spirit that takes physical form to experience life by engaging in the activities of the world, and it is important to recognise this fact instead of running away away from all physical manifestations of spirit.

The work of a maintenance person is very important, as is the work of a spiritual teacher. Each one helps keep this world clean and working. The Source or God thought of all aspects of life, when he created this reality, and to run away from any aspect is equal to saying ‘No’ to the Source’s intentions. To run this world successfully, all types of people are required to do all kinds of work.

Infact one way of reaching and connecting to Source is to do one’s duty with complete love and being fully aware that the work is contributing to the maintenance of the ALL. And in this way, we can connect to the energy of the Source and get all the benefits of this connection, bringing the joy of this connection back into our physical reality and seeing abundance manifested everywhere.

All of material life is infused with the energy, vibrating energy and is alive and conscious. By recognising spirit in the physical and living with that knowledge, we can live successful, happy, loving and contented lives. After all, all physical manifestations are a key element to being happy. And being happy brings in more sources of happiness, joy and success.

Et voilà !

TIP : If you like olives I suggest you add 2 teacups instead of one

Today, we'll cook fish as the Greek cuisine boasts a wide variety of fresh fish coming directly from the fisherman's basket.If you take a look at a map of Greece you will see why fish is such an important part of the Greek diet. For such a small country there is a lot of coastline (not to mention the Greek islands!) which is why they have such a strong history of seafaring. Eating seafood goes along with that. Unfortunately the sea which was once so abundant is now barren in places through over-fishing and the Aegean sea simply can't keep up with the demand of a seafood-loving population whose numbers swell during the tourist season. Fish can be very expensive, though there are inexpensive fish available year-round, and these are just as tasty as the expensive ones - for instance sardeles (sardine), marida (smelt or small fish) and gavros (similar to anchovies but not quite)

Barbouni or red mullet is rather expensive - especially barbouni A (catch of the day). Barbouni B ( caught 2 days before selling date) is slightly cheaper. In Cyprus barbouni A costs 17,56 euro / $26 a kilo or 2,40 pounds whereas the one imported from Greece (fresh not frozen!) costs 24 euro / $36 a kilo And you get about 8 -12 medium size fish. These are the ones I got for our recipe today.

Here's what you will need for

TODAY'S RECIPE

TIGANITO BARBOUNI - FRIED RED MULLET

1/2 kilo fresh barbouni (red mullet) That's about 8 medium size pieces

some flour

vegetable oil

salt and pepper

some finely chopped parsley (to your liking)

olive oil and lemon sauce or simply fresh lemon juice

1. Clean the fish or have them cleaned at the supermarket or fish market.

2. Wash the fish and add pepper and salt

3. Roll it in some flour

4. Fry it in hot vegetable oil

5. Serve hot with ladolemono sauce (olive oil and lemon juice mixed in the blender) or simply fresh lemon juice. Decorate with some finely chopped parsely (optional). OR Serve left-overs cold as a meze (starter) with sardines and some ouzo for a drink.

6. Serve with chips and a Greek village salad .(Tomatoes, cucumber, onions, green pepper, feta cheese, oregano, black olives if you like and a dressing of pure olive oil and some vinegar)

7. Some Malamatina (Retsina) - that's the drink of the Greek Gods (also called nectar in ancient Greece) - resinated white wine or ...a glass of ouzo is strongly recommended.

And ....KALI OREXI - ENJOY !

A couple of hours later , it was pouring ! I had forgotten what rain is like so I sat by the window pane contemplating the rain, watching each single drop as it made its way down the window pane. Thank God, there was neither lightning nor thunder... ah right, I haven't got over this fear since my childhood. After three years of severe drought which inevitably led to water shortage in my country, the first autumnal rain today was sheer bliss !

Knowing that brevity is the soul of wit, I'll love you and leave you. I'm off to cook dinner !

I've never really believed in ESP but when I met Uri Geller in person a few years ago, I must admit I had to reconsider. Uri Geller is reputed to have superhuman powers. A few years ago, he agreed to do some controlled experiments at the Stanford Research Institute in California. They went on for five weeks. The first of the laboratory tests was designed to show Geller's power of "seeing" shapes and figures drawn by total strangers and placed in sealed envelopes. He would look at the envelope, which he did not touch, chat for several minutes with the person holding it, and then draw his representation of what it contained. In 80% of the cases his sketch was identical with the drawing inside the envelope.

In another experiment, a dice was placed in a box and shaken. Geller was asked if he could say what number was showing on top of the dice. Out of every ten times he was asked, he hesitated twice and then declined to answer. The remaining eight times he was correct. The scientists then gave him some metal objects : a copper ring, a fork, a silver chain. Geller briefly touched them. A scientist placed his hand over them. Geller put his own hand over the scientist's and concentrated. 30 seconds later the hands were removed. The copper ring was seen to have changed from a circle to an oval.

About 10 years ago, I attended a session by Geller in Nicosia. He had asked us to bring with us metal objects like spoons and forks as well as old watches that didn't work. During the session, he asked us to show him the watches which he looked at for about 5 minutes ...concentrating. To our surprise, most of these watches started working again , including my old SEIKO! I must admit, I was impressed. He also managed to ...bend a great number of spoons and forks that people had brought with them, just by looking at them !

At Stanford Research Institute, an attempt was made to see if the change in the shape of a metal object could be recorded in any way. One of the scientists held a metal ring under water. Geller touched the ring with one finger and concentrated. After a few seconds, he removed his finger and continued his concentration. The procedure was recorded by sound waves which made the picture similar to an X-ray, showing the bones of his hands as he touched the ring, and the ring itself. During Gelller's concentration, other scientists on the floor below, started having problems with their computers. One computer stopped working altogether.. The interference ceased four minutes later when Gelller stopped concentrating.

If Geller hadn't been tested at Stanford in California, I'd have taken him for yet another clever magician ! The truth is , though, that many people consider him a fraud !On the other hand, I'm quite skeptical about extrasensory phenomena. Geller might just as well be an illusionist or simply a fraud !

What do you think ? Do you believe in ESP ?

I started out with 30 students, now I have about 100 and I teach them all in small groups of minimum four to maximum ten students. Most of my groups consist of 6-8 students and considering the bulk of work, I gave up private tuition. However strange this may seem to you, I've never considered the financial benefits of a job. Whenever I attended an interview, and no matter how I was low financially I never bothered to ask about the salary or the working hours. Besides, I never aspired to become a millionnaire ! One more reason why I never considered hiring other teachers. I was also sorry to learn that my very efficient secretary is leaving me ! She is expecting her second baby in December and she honestly told me that she'd rather stay at home as babysitters are quite expensive nowadays. I understand her. I'm not thinking of hiring a new secretary , though ,as it's very hard to find someone you can really trust. And I'd rather do the office work myself as I'm free in the morning.

I feel that everything I do at work is worth doing, especially when I see all the progress my students make. That's all that really matters to me.... most importantly because I love working with kids! So ...here goes ! My first day at school started with my brand new Junior A - most of them 8 year-old kids . Their first year of English is as important as the first day at school ! So here I am going into the classroom , facing 9 little angels. Some of them were terrified, some of them were smiling and some of them were simply curious. Ah well, all nine of them were terrified when I addressed the class in English only ...using a lot of mime ! But they all relaxed when they realised that I was only asking them their ...names !

They were even more delirious when I introduced with flashcards the first 2 letters of the English alphabet : A (a) for apple and B(b) for banana. See??? In Greek, these two letters are the same. So they said ...alpha...beta....BUT this ..... b letter confused them ! Next came my Junior B ...singing out loud "Happy happy now you see I can sing my ABC ". Undoubtedly, they could all sing their ABC but ...when I put up the flashcards showing bdpq, some of them were completely confused ! Next came my E3 Elementary ! I was very happy to converse with them in English :

Me : Costas, will you please tell the class how you spent you summmer holiday ?

Costas : Me , Miss, I go to Germany because my mother is ...Germany. I visiting my grand parents and cousins and ....auch (he meant also) my aunts and uncles.

The rest of my first day at school went off well...meaning that my teenagers alias feather-brained adolescents behaved and proved that they only suffered from partial amnesia in Grammar !

The Greek housewife today is what I call a real goddess or a heroin. Wife, mother and working girl, she can excel both in cooking healthy food for a family of six and being a top career woman as well. Most Greek women today have decided to pour scorn on fast food -the easy way out - and cook healthy meals for their families. In Greece, every season of the year offers different products, and despite the fact that we can still eat watermelon at Christmas or fresh figs on Saint Valentine's Day, most Greek families delight in what Mother Nature produces each season and they'd rather stick to that. Every season is a new challenge for the Greeks to ensure their cooking abilities and their inexhaustible imagination. Moreover, the Greek calendar with its numerous celebrations gives us the chance to keep traditions alive.

TODAY'S RECIPE

ELIOPITA - OLIVE PIE

3 1/2 teacups flour

1 teacup black olives

2 teacups warm water

dried mint

1 small onion , finely diced

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 glass olive oil

1. Remove the olive pits or buy olives without pits (that's what I do) at the supermarket.

2. Chop the olives finely

3. Add the mint and the finely diced onion

4. Place the flour, the baking powder and the olive oil in a bowl and mix

5. Add the warm water and continue mixing until you have a fluid dough

6. Add the olive mixture to the dough and continue to mix.

7. Flour a pan and pour the mixture into it

8. Bake in medium oven (160*C) for about an hour

MY OPINION : Great healthy snack to serve with Greek coffee