Easy Gift Ideas For Dad On Fathers Day
March 31, 2008
Father’s Day is just around the corner. If you’re looking for a gift a little more exciting than the traditional tie, consider making up a men’s pamper gift set. Personal care products, whether you purchase them or make them yourself, make wonderful pampering treats. Here are some ideas for men’s pamper gift sets that you can put together yourself.
The Fragrance Sampler: If Dad likes fragrance, give him a selection of men’s colognes in a gift container.
The Shaving Kit: Give the man who shaves a kit containing a shaving mask, a shaving soap or cream, an aftershave splash, and a fancy razor.
The Foot Care Kit: If Dad is on his feet a lot, his feet could probably use some pampering. Give him a gift basket containing a foot soak, a foot wash, a foot spray, and foot powder. Include a pumice stone, nail clippers, or some comfy slippers.
The Soap Basket: Give Dad a collection of luxury soaps in scents just for men. Include a towel and washcloth personalized with his initials for an extra special touch.
Memorial Day: 3 Ways To Honor American Soldiers
March 30, 2008
The last Monday of May since 1868, has been designated as Memorial Day. Now, during that weekend, beer and picnic supply sales skyrocket. Travelers drive our nation’s highways en masse. And don’t forget the Indy 500.
And while it’s important to have fun and celebrate Memorial Day weekend in your own way, it’s also important to remember why that day exists. It was set aside to salute U.S. troops and pay tribute to the awesome sacrifices these brave men and women have made, and are still making, for our freedoms.
In case you’ve wondered how you could honor those sacrifices, here are 3 inexpensive ways:
1) Donate frequent flyer miles to help our wounded soldiers and their families. You can do this through an organization called Operation First Response. OFR looks after wounded troops from Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany to combat support hospitals in Iraq.
They also accept donations, like clothes,socks, underwear, toothbrushes, razors, etc…
You can help out this great organization by simply going to their site and seeing what you can do. http://www.operationfirstresponse.org/
What You Need to Know About Costa Rica
March 30, 2008
More than one million tourists visit Costa Rica each year. What draws so many people to this lightly advertised destination? Natural beauty and diversity are the answers. Costa Rica covers only 0.03% of the surface of the planet but it has about 6% of the world’s biodiversity.
Visitors encounter seas, beaches, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, and an abundance of flora and fauna. Twelve major life zones provide habitat for over 10,000 kinds of flowering plants, 850 bird species, 3,000 butterfly species, and 209 species of mammals. Volcanoes, rainforests, cloud forests, lowland jungles, the Pacific coastline, and tranquil Caribbean beaches stretch across seven provinces. Thirty percent of the land is protected by national and private reserves, which harbor more than five percent of the world’s plant and animal species.
Costa Rica is Central America’s jewel. It’s an oasis of calm among its turbulent neighbors and an ecotourism heaven, making it one of the best places to experience the tropics with minimal impact.
Costa Rica boasts 20 national parks, 8 biological reserves, and a wealth of other protected areas to enchant those who marvel at the wonders of nature. It draws ecotourists from around the globe. Activities include horse-back riding, hiking mountainous paths in the cloud forests, guided bird-watching tours, volcanoes, scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, canopy tours, golf and much more.
Gift Shopping Tips for Tight Budgets
March 29, 2008
Have you seen the prices of greeting cards lately? It is hideous! Once you purchase the card and gift-wrap, your overall cost can easily increase by $10 to$15. If you are on a tight budget, this can be difficult as you spend more on the fluff and less on the actual gift. Not only are greeting cards expensive, their sizes often overwhelm small gifts, which make the overall presentation, looking goofy and unbalanced. Basically, you really don’t need to spend on expensive greeting cards to make an impression.
We all have this perception that greeting cards are the perfect match to gift giving. Although true, there are cost effective ways that can help you spend more on gifts and less on greeting cards. For instance, packaged blank cards are the best way to go as you pay less per card then individually. The other advantage of blank cards is that they are not specific to an occasion and can be used for anything. You should always have a pack handy and ready to use, as you never know when you will need to buy someone a last minute gift or card.
Fathers Day Origins and Inspiration
March 28, 2008
While mothers have had their special day since 1914, fathers have only recently officially received the recognition they so richly deserve. After all, dad is the pillar of the family unit, the one who made us feel safe, loved to tickle and tease, and above all gave us a sense of security. While mom was the pillow to fall on, dad was the rock who held us up. Here are some thoughts and facts on Father’s Day, dedicated to every man out there who proudly wears the name DAD.
Origins
In 1909, listening to a sermon on Mother’s Day, Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd felt inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts and felt there should also be a Father’s Day. Her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, had as a single parent raised his six children in Spokane, Washington after his wife’s death. She initially suggested June 5th, the anniversary of her father’s death, however, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday in June. Unofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924 but the all-male U.S. Congress was mindful that passing a measure so favorable to males could be seen as a conflict of interest. In 1926, The National Father’s Day Committee met for the first time in New York City. Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday in 1966, but the holiday was not officially recognized until the presidency of Richard Nixon in 1972 when he signed into law a permanent U.S. Father’s Day to be observed on the third Sunday of June.
Preparing To Travel To Europe ? Four Important To-Dos
March 27, 2008
You have your tickets, your hotel or vacation rental reservations, passports are up to date, and you are ready to go. Not yet! Here are four important things to add to your preparation list:
1. Prepare Your Bank
Exchanging money in Europe is usually easiest and least expensive through an automated teller machines in Europe. Be careful to withdraw using your bank ATM card rather than your credit card. If you use your credit card for withdrawing cash, you may find yourself taking out a high interest loan.
Must dos with your bank:
- Check to see what charges your bank imposes for use of your bank card for currency exchange; there are a few that impose stunningly high charges, so know ahead and prepare or be shocked when you see your statement.
- Change your PIN to four numbers, some automated tellers, such as those in Italy, accept only four number PINs, not letters (i.e. there are no letters printed on the keypad, so if you think of your PIN in terms of letters, there may be some mental gymnastics when you are coping with a lot of other things, too).
- Advise your bank that you will be traveling in Europe so when their fraud detection software notes transactions in multiple countries in a short period of time, it doesn’t block them waiting for you to respond to a phone call to your home.
- If you have a withdrawal limit on your card, ensure it is adequate for your travel needs. If you have to make a lot of small withdrawals, you can rack up lots of little per-transaction service and exchange charges.
2. Safeguard Your Documents
Mother?s Day Crafts
March 26, 2008
Make these quick and easy crafts with your children for Mother’s day. These can be handmade for Mom or Grandma!
Flower Pens for Mom
Is your mom always looking for a pen around the house, and can’t find one? Well make this pen and she’ll spot it right away!
What You’ll Need
? Bic Pen (ball point)
? silk flower
? floral foam
? low temp hot glue gun
? floral tape
? paint or markers
? small notepaper or Post-It pads
? small to medium sized terra cotta pot
How To Do It
Note: Adult supervision is needed when using a glue gun.
1. Start by decorating the flower pot. Have the child be creative! They can use colorful designs or patterns. Have them use paint or markers. Let dry while you move on to the next step.
2. Remove the cover from the pen and set aside.
3. Choose a nice big silk flower ? sunflowers and carnations work well! Pop the silk flower off of its stem. Put a dab of glue on the end of the pen, and push the flower on to the end, right into the glue. Hold in place for about 30 seconds to secure.
Colored Contacts For Halloween - Make Sure YOU Dont Go Bump In The Night!
March 25, 2008
Ok, the end of October is approaching, and you desperately want some colored contacts for Halloween. Why? Well, possibly because no one else will have any, maybe because you like to go that extra yard when you dress up, or maybe you want to get your own back on one of the neighbours kids for frightening your cat. Whatever the reason, colored contacts for Halloween make a lot of sense.
But what do you choose?
Well, some of the more conservative colors like blue, brown or green probably wouldn’t cut it. These colors are too subtle and could be used for work maybe, or a dinner party where you are trying to impress. Animal eyes are pretty cool, but are they Halloween eyes? Cat’s eyes might be, but generally speaking, these special effects contact lenses are dance floor eyes. Take them to the nightclub and be the King or Queen of Clubs for the evening.
But for Halloween, what you need is something a little more scary perhaps. Maybe something red - Vampire eyes maybe? That would blow little Johnny’s socks off, don’t you think? Or if we are going down the red road, maybe Zombie eyes would do the business. There is certainly a lot of choice for you. Halloween will never be the same again.
Caribbean Pearl Secret, Margarita Island is Not So Much a Secret Anymore
March 25, 2008
Margarita Island is one of the lesser known Caribbean islands. It is unspoiled by commercialization but not that far behind. When I first read information about Margarita I was very surprised to know that it was part of Venezuela. Sure everyone has heard about Caracas, Venezuela but not much is known about la isla.
Of course you know now-a-days it’s not that difficult to find out more details on just about anything, thanks to the Internet. Island tours, excursions, duty free shopping… why you can even come to this island and swim with the dolphins. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
I will be the first to admit that I thought I was just coming to a third world country. But Margarita seems to be so much more than that. I believe it is due to its being an Island and most importantly because of the people that live there.
These days around the island the common folk living around here besides the locals seem to be Americans, Chinese, Arabs, Colombians, Brazilians, Canadians and even people from the UK. At any given time in town you meet tourists or even locals that are Americans or that of another nationality. There is no partiality here.
Patience
March 24, 2008
Ever since my girls were little, I’ve tried to teach them patience. I well remember getting them to count to ten when we had to wait for something. I would tell them, "Count real slow." If they counted "too fast" because I knew they would be finished before whatever we were waiting for was, I would say, "No, that’s too fast. You have to start over."
It was a game, and it worked. It gave them something to think about other than what they so desperately wanted. By the time they got to ten, it was ready.
This Christmas I found out that those early lessons with my girls are paying off. My girls, now 9 and 5, were at Grandma’s house Christmas morning. They awoke, as most children do on Christmas morning, very early.
When Grandma got up at 8:30 after a late night of playing games and visiting, she found the two of them in the living room looking at the wrapped presents and whispering. Not a box had been touched.
Grandpa got up at nine, and they ate some breakfast. Daddy got up about ten. By that time, the girls had sorted the boxes into Stefani’s stack, Kayla’s stack, Andrew’s stack, etc. and still they were sitting patiently ? examining, shaking, holding, discussing, but never opening.
