50 Christmas gift ideas for her, Girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter or friend in 2009

I have an odd idea of what is a great Christmas gift for me. My husband is always complaining that my idea of a gift for myself is me actually saying, I need this. I am not a frivolous person. If I want something, then that is a good gift idea. The fact that I want sensible things is beside the point.

So the best Christmas gift for anyone one is what they want, even if it is sensible. It is not as important what the person buying the gift thinks as what the person receiving the gift thinks. So common sense would dictate that if someone says I what this, then that is what you get even if that means the person is not going to be surprised. They will be happy and that is what is important.

Now the real issue is when the lady in your life will not tell you what she would like. Or you have what she asked for and would like to give something else as well. I have put together an excellent list of gift ideas.

50 Quick Gift Ideas:

Sterling Silver Dolphin Stud Earrings - $6.00
Sterling Silver Celtic Pictish Swirl Pendant with 925 Stamp - $9.00
Tiger Eye Ring Size 7 with 925 Stamp - $10.00
Sterling Silver Light Blue Topaz Pendant with 925 Stamp - $10.00
Sterling Silver Yellow Citrine Ring - Size 5 - $12.00

The Skin Type Solution by Dr. Baumann Hardcover - $12.99
Sterling Silver fine ball Chain 18" - $14.00
Dream Sleeper Slim-fitting 2-Pc. Sleepwear Set – $14.99
Celtic Double Spiral Ring - Size 5 1/2 - $15.00
Jessica®/MD Antique-look Copper Earrings - $15.00
Celtic Claddagh Sterling Silver Pendant with Green Stone Chip - $15.00

Sterling Silver Chain 20" - $16.00
Anthony Logistics Deluxe Gift Set Strength - $19.99
Roots® Sterling Silver Crystal Fishhook Earrings - $19.99
Sterling Sliver Dragonfly Ring Size 8 with 925 Stamp - $20.00
Sterling Silver Topaz Pendant with 925 Stamp - $20.00
Sterling Sliver Celtic Knotwork with Amethyst Ring Size 9 with 925 stamp - $23.00
Godiva® Ceramic Fondue Set – $23.99
Sterling Sliver Spinner / Meditation Ring with Celtic Knotwork pattern Size 8 1/2 -$24.00
Celtic Knotwork Sterling Silver Earrings - $25.00
Handcrafted Dark multi-colour iridescent glass bead necklace with Celtic knotwork pendant - $25.00
Red and Blue glass teardrop Beaded Necklace - $25.00

Sterling Silver Tribal Flame Pattern Ring Size 6 1/2 with 925 stamp - $25.00
Discovery Illuminated Ant Gel Habitat - $29.95
Handcrafted Blue eyed Wolf necklace with blue glass beads - $30.00
Spinner / Meditation Ring with Nike and Kate the Farrier's Symbol in A Knights Tale Size 7 1/2 with 925 Stamp - $30.00

Sterling Sliver Celtic Knotwork Pattern Ring Size 13 with 925 Stamp - $33.00
Egyptian Hieroglyph Eye of Ra Handcrafted Soapstone Pendant - $35.00
Sterling Silver Medieval Circle Pendant with 925 Stamp - $35.00
Bohemia Pinwheel 10'' Flared Crystal Vase - $35.99

Discovery Tech Edge Digital Camera - $39.94
Jack Black Signature Silver Liquid Magnetism Gift Set - $39.99
Jessica®/MD 10K Gold Garnet Stud Earrings - $39.99
Sterling Silver Chain 16" - $46.00
Celtic Thistle Brooch Peridoet Center - $48.00
MythBusters: Season 5 DVD Set - $49.95
Pevonia Youthful Vibrance Gift Set - $49.99
Cuisinart® 'SmartStick' Hand Blender/chopper - $59.99
Wii™ Sports Resort™ - 59.99
Oster® 6.1-QT. 2-tier Food Steamer - $59.99 at Sears
Perfume Science Kit - $59.95
Women's Timex® Ironman Triathlon 50-lap Sleek Sport Watch - $62.99
TomTom® One 130 GPS Unit - $99.99
Kodak® Digital Picture 8'' Frame M820 – $103.99

Floral Privacy Screen – $129.99
Emerson® Karaoke System with 5 1/2'' Monitor GQ755 - $149.99
Sterling Silver Chain 22" - $154.00
Wood Construction Java Finish Armoire- $209.99
Canon® Powershot® Red Digital Camera Bundle with Case SD1200 - $219.99
Sterling Silver Chain 24" -$266.00

I would hate to have to tell my son, Sharks are gone.

My son loves sharks. He dreams of being able to go swimming in the oceans with them. I may have to tell him that is not possible because they were killed to make money. That humanity destroyed something so old, wonderful and majestic not out of fear, but greed.

I was watching a documentary, http://www.sharkwater.com/, about the destruction of sharks tonight. 90% of the world’s shark population has been killed. It was shocking. Men where cutting the fins of live sharks and then tossing them into the Ocean to bleed to death. Millions of sharks are being killed every week. Killed, not to feed the hungry, but to make shark fin soup. It was much like what was done to elephants for ivory, buffalo for tongues and hides, and bears for their gall bladders. Killed for one piece and everything else wasted. I am still scared of sharks, but that does not make what is being done acceptable. This is wrong and must be stopped.




Now some people will not care about the death of sharks. However it must be pointed out that they are a key part of the world ecosystem. Without sharks the Oceans balance will be completely disrupted, causing the ecosystems to be destroyed. The largest part of oxygen comes from the Ocean. The destruction of Sharks will have a huge and negative impact on the production of Oxygen. So if you don’t take a stand against shark hunting to save the sharks, do it to continue breathing. Check out http://www.savingsharks.com/.

I had thought about trying shark fin soup just to see what it was like. Now that I have seen Shark Water I will not try shark fin soup. I hope it is not too late for the sharks and the other species we are harvesting without thought of the consequences. What a legacy we are leaving our children; sorry we used it up, killed it or destroyed it, but enjoy what is left over for as long as you can.

Big problem with a husband making passes at other family members, so what to do.

Someone recently came to me with a problem and wanted my advice on how to deal with it. To me it seems a simple and clear cut answer. But it is not my family or my problem so it is easy to see why things are happening, and what to do about it. It is much harder when you are caught up in the middle of a potentially explosive family situation that could pull a family apart, and actually is.

The question presented to me was:

I'm the oldest of 3 daughters. I recently told my sister that her husband had been making passes at me for months. It's not the first time he's done something inappropriate. He tried molesting my youngest sister when she was 14 years old. This man at the time was 28-29 yrs old. I broke the news to her a couple years later but she forgave him right away and we had to pretend that nothing happened. My parents didn't want to rock the boat and all I could do is forget about it. Now he is 40 and made passes at me on several occasions. I'm 34. I was waiting to tell my sister when the time was right. She and he were talking about divorce for other reasons a couple months ago and I thought I wouldn't have to say anything since she was going to leave him this time. So I thought. She forgave him again, and I thought that it's now or never. So I told her about the comments he had made and how uncomfortable he made me feel. I expressed my concerns for my own daughter when she turns into a teen. My husband, mother and little sister all knew about this during the whole entire thing. My little sister would tell me that now I knew what she felt for so long while he and my sister lived with her, mom and dad. We are not talking anymore. My mother and little sister won't come out and support me in my points to my other sister. I don't know how to deal with this. They want to continue to pretend it hasn't happened. Any suggestions?



For me the response was clear and easy:

You are doing what you need to do, taking a stand even though it is causing problems in your family relationships. At least now it is in the open and you are not struggling with a lie, or pretending there was not a problem. Denying that there was a problem and living a in a “lie to protect someone else” is incredibly unhealthy for you.

Also a lot of people incorrectly feel guilt, even when they are the victim. Often they take on the responsibility or down play the importance of what was done or said. The number of rapes not reported every day is proof of that. They don’t want other people to know. So your little sister and mother want to keep the family secret in the closet and resent that you don’t and will not support you. They don’t want other people to know. Also if your sister and her husband break up they will feel it is their fault, not the husbands. Odd I know, but again it is why so many people get away with things like this.



If your sister forgave him the first time, she will keep forgiving him. It is either the “us against them”, “I can change him”, or “he will change for me” mentality. Either way she is going to keep on forgiving him almost anything and everything. Don’t expect her to change. I expect he will eventually get caught, and she will forgive him and nothing will change. She may even feel that it is somehow her fault; she was not enough women for him so he looked elsewhere. She will actually try harder to please him so it will not be her responsibility the marriage fell apart. If she cannot keep the marriage together she has somehow failed. Again, odd, but how some people respond to things like this.

Instead keep yourself and your daughter safe and away from him. Don’t expect your family to change, they want to keep their heads buried in the sand and pretend bad things don’t happen. It is more important that you do what is right for you and your daughter.




The real problem I have is that yet again a family is being ripped apart or damaged the actions of one person. That person is not even facing the brunt of the effects he is having. People are actually supporting him and punishing the only family member strong enough to say “enough is enough, this is not acceptable.” People wonder why things like this happen. Why someone gets away with things. This is why, the person willing to talk and take a stand is the one who loses.

Why don’t more people come out and tell someone that they are being abused, hurt or propositioned. They don’t want to be treated like this lady is being treated by her own family. If family is going to treat a person like this for telling the truth, how are other people going to treat them?

Having a Gift and Craft Show this Weekend, but will anyone show up to buy?

I have been looking at the store flyers that showed up in my mail box today. There are some really good deals that I wish I could take advantage of. Some of the stores are already giving 70 to 80% off this weekend. Not so unusual in the US but unheard of in Canada. Here the big sales are usually saved for Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. The sad part is it does not matter how great the deals are, I just don’t have the money. This has been the tightest Christmas in years, and I am not sure what I can do about it.

We are hosting the All I want for Christmas gift and craft show to benefit McMaster Children Hospital this weekend. Even though it is in a good location, Knights of Columbus Hall in Hamilton at 222 Queenston Rd, we are worried that no one will come to buy things. Why, because no one has the money to spend. We know that the vendors are great, we have a wonderful location and have done as much marketing as we can with our small budget. There are door prizes and a silent auction all to raise money for McMaster Children Hospital.

Admittedly we could have gone with a larger hall, and used all the vendors’ fees for advertizing once the hall fees were covered. Instead we chose to go with the smaller hall and limit the number of vendors we had. Why, just in case very few people show up. As it is we have twenty vendors and had to turn down just as many. We could have filled a huge hall. Vendors are desperate to get into as many shows as they can this year, even little ones that just started out this year.

I am hoping that things work out. We have lots of people show up, our vendors do well and we are able to raise lots of money for McMaster Children Hospital. My fear is that even if lots of people show up, they just don’t have the money to buy things.

Christmas Comes Early to My Home

In the last few weeks it is like Christmas has taken over my home. It is an unusual occurrence for me; at least this early in the year. Yes I like Christmas but usually we wait until Dec. 1 before starting to decorate our living room. My husband loves Christmas. He watches Christmas movies all year round. If it was up to him we would have the house decorated for Christmas Nov. 1.

This year it seems to be even more important to him to start Christmas decorating right away. We already have all our lights up, a small Christmas tree, with our Christmas gifts under it already. There is a larger tree ordered and a small Santa train. Our kids already have little trees up in their rooms. My husband is even talking about buying more lights and decorating the kitchen and the upstairs hall way. Last year we had lights in the kid’s rooms. I am expecting that to be the next thing.

Not that I mind that much. For me it is more that our kids are very young and with us having Christmas decorations up and gifts out for a month is a long time for them. They are going to want to open their gifts sooner than later. Every year in the past we would put gifts under the tree days before Christmas, not weeks and weeks before. I don’t know how well the kids are going to handle having to look at their gifts for a month before they can open them. I think we may have to put them away for a few weeks.

Things have been very difficult this year. I understand why Christmas is so important to my husband this year. He wants something good to happen, and he wants Christmas to be it. I hope Christmas meets his and our kid’s expectations this year.

Fun trying to find a Halloween Costume that Fits and Looks good

As a family we went Halloween Costume shopping. It was a lot of fun for the kids, but very frustrating for Mom and Dad. The kids we had no problem finding many costumes that they liked and fit them. If anything we found too many. We ended up buying two at the beginning of October and then three more on the weekend. Still no costume for Mom and Dad though.

For me, Mom, nothing fits. I am a plus size and trust me even the plus size costumes in the stores don’t fit. They usually only go to 22” or 1X. I did not find a single 3X costume for women. There were some nice costumes. Many of them I wish they had come in my size. Most of the costumes ran from about $30 to $60.

My husband had a similar problem. He is tall, 6’ 1”, with broad shoulders. Most of the costumes for men only were for men up to 5’ 10” and were too narrow in the body for him. Many men were complaining about the same issue, that none of the in store costumes fit. Also the selection was limited. Very few costumes for men in comparison to the verity for ladies and children. He could be a vampire, again. Or he could wear a robe and a mask. The costumes for men seem to run into very generic styles. It was psycho Dr. from hell, ghoul, vampire, monk, or the oversized ones with the airbags. Not quite the same quality or quantity of costumes available for the rest of the family.

Many men were actually quite upset with the selections at every store we visited. We hit several large department stores and some smaller outlets. We even went to second hand stores in hopes of finding something. The story was the same everywhere. The solution was to start looking online. We had concerns about the costs of the costumes. I found that the cost was between $30 and $60 for many of the costumes, which is about the same as in store. The real difference was in shipping. Some of the online stores are offing free shipping and discounts to offset the difference caused by shipping. Other sites are charging unrealistic fees for shipping. If you are looking into a costume online take your time to find the stores that are offering the deals.
We did find a selection of costumes that we would like to get. At this point we are going to hold off and try for next year. We will plan ahead and order costumes in advance. That way we don’t have to worry about budgeting for four costumes and shipping all at once. Several of the costumes I liked were way more than $60, more like between $100 and $200.

My husband liked some costumes but found a lot of them in the lower price range to be very cheesy no matter where we looked, in store or online. I think it is just a matter of not having that large of a selection in low cost men’s costumes. There were many awesome larger men’s costumes in the higher price ranges. We may have to invest into the higher quality costumes and plan to use them over and over again. In other words we better like the costumes a lot because that is what we are going to have for the next few years.