Cashless Gifts
September 8, 2008
Sometimes gifts that are truly from your heart have no cash value. But the value to the recipient can be more than any amount of money could provide. These gifts are truly from your heart to theirs.
Look at the person’s life and what they need. Maybe grandpa can’t climb the ladder to prune his trees or bending down to those shrubs is more difficult than it used to be. Someone just broke their legs and lives in an apartment with a dog. Walking that dog is a major concern for them.
If you just look, you will find many things to do which are cashless gifts from you.
-Volunteer to work for a week at their favorite charity. You may put up signs, file in their office, call for donations. All work will be appreciated by your recipient.
-Frequently parents would love to go out for an evening or spend the weekend away. They need a babysitter they can rely on. You come to their rescue and give them peace of mind to enjoy their evening or weekend away.
Holiday Tips & Treats That Wont Play Tricks On Your Waistline
September 6, 2008
Halloween ? so starts the Holiday Season. The average American gains 7-12 pounds between Halloween and New Year’s . The next series of articles will help you ensure that you won’t be among them. First, Halloween. As Halloween rears it’s head, so does the plethora of wonderful smelling chocolates and other treats that tempt us as we walk through the aisles of our favorite stores. I will cover some tips, tricks and nutrition information for many of the popular candies to help you make the best choices . The moral is - if you can count it and limit it to a single serving , you can work it into your food plan and enjoy the Holiday festivities without sacrificing your fitness goals.
Tips for Planning an Egg-stra Special Easter Party
September 2, 2008
Bunnies & chicks, colourful eggs, and the hunt for hidden chocolate. It’s no wonder kids await the arrival of Easter with such eager anticipation. While many families have their own private rituals to celebrate this springtime holiday, this year consider throwing an Easter party for friends and family. Wondering how? Just follow these tips for foolproof egg hunts, crafts and races to entertain your guests, and tasty treats to entice your tireless hunters to the table. This party plan is sure to please.
The Hunt
The egg hunt is the highlight of most Easter parties. However, how do you ensure even the smallest hunters get their fair share of the eggs? Here are some time-tested tips:
? Put the participants’ names on the eggs in advance, and/or assign a colour to each child, if using plastic eggs. ? Assign different search areas based on age. Smaller children’s eggs might be in plain view, while others are harder to find.
Looking to add a twist? Here are some variations on the traditional hunt:
The Last Laugh: Parental Pranks for April 1
August 31, 2008
The exact origin of April Fool’s Day is uncertain, but popular belief is that it began in France with the adoption of a new calendar. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar (still in use today) replaced the long-standing Julian calendar and New Year’s celebrations were moved from April 1 to January 1.
People who continued to celebrate the new year on April 1 were labeled "fools" and often ridiculed. This harassment evolved over time, and now "All Fool’s Day" is practised in many parts of the world with each country celebrating it in their own special way.
In Scotland, "Taily Day" lasts 48 hours and is devoted to pranks involving the buttocks. The Scots are rumoured to have invented the "Kick Me" sign.
In France, children exclaim "Poisson d’Avril" (April fish) when playing a prank, referring to a young fish which is easily caught.
In Rome, the "Festival of Hilaria" is on March 25 and is also referred to as "Roman Laughing Day".
While children relish tricking us on this special day, why let them have all the fun. Here are some ways for you to trick them:
Fireplace Decorating Tips for Easter: Give Your Rooms Natural Focal Point an Easter Look
August 27, 2008
Sure you decorate your fireplace and mantel for the winter holidays, but don’t forget this important focal point in your room as Spring approaches. Here are some nearly-instant ideas for springtime and Easter fireplace decorating:
Daffodils in crystal or glass vases on each end of your mantel bespeak the coming of Spring. Tie a wired chiffon ribbon in a soft spring hue in a bow around each vase for a nice touch.
March a line of fluffy chicks across your mantel. Five or more chicks, whether stuffed toys, porcelain hens, or craft store chickens, make a cute display.
And speaking of stuffed toys, now is a great time to find those old stuffed bunnies and ducks and turn them into mantel ornaments. Add Easter grass, and scatter decorated eggs along the mantel to keep them company.
Tie wired gingham-checked ribbons into bows, and attach them to the edge of your mantel. Let the ends of each bow hang down various lengths from one to three feet. At the end of each ribbon, open a plastic egg, tape the ribbon’s end inside the egg, and force the egg shut. This creates a set of eggs dangling at different heights.
Valentines Day Rapport
August 23, 2008
How to develop and heighten rapport on Valentines Day beyond your wildest dreams!
With Valentines day on the doorstep for another year here is way of enhancing those romantic occasions. In thinking about something pertinent to Valentines, I thought I would write about a topic that fascinates me; developing rapport.
Fundamental techniques in NLP show people how to do physical things like match and mirror body language, which I think is fairly well documented these days. I had a local newspaper advertising salesman come along to my centre recently to talk about advertising and I was amazed at how blatantly and obviously he mirrored every movement I made. It verged on being uncomfortable! If you are going to match and mirror, you can match body language with more subtlety.
You do not have to copy every crossing of the arms with a crossing of the arms yourself. You can intimate a crossing movement with your fingers much more gently. You can also then look at matching the speed and rhythm of speech, match the rate of breathing and general tempo of that person.
Holiday Expectations
August 21, 2008
As the holidays approach, I find myself wondering how I’m going to accomplish all I expect of myself. I expect to have perfect presents under the tree for an astounding number of people who will be visiting from out of town, besides the usual round of gifts for my children, immediate family, close friends and significant others, such as teachers, school staff, hair dressers, manicurist, etc. Added to the gift buying frenzy are countless trips to the grocery and food specialty stores for the feasts I expect to prepare, again for countless people I am expected to entertain during these holidays.
What’s one person to do when it becomes overwhelming and seems there’s never going to be enough time, resources or energy to cope? Well, I’m not sure I have the answer. What I’m longing to do is escape to an undisclosed location (me and Dick Cheney) to save my sanity, health and well-being. Naturally, this isn’t an option ? I hold the holidays too dear and my daughters have come to expect huge fanfare on these special days. I have set up their expectations of me, just as I have set up the expectations of myself that I might not be able to pull off this year due to an unstable health condition and subsequent lack of mobility I’ve taken for granted in years past. Mostly, I just want to be able to get it all done, as I have every other year, which is no longer an option. I am left to ponder my upcoming fate with the dread of not performing or of falling short.
How to Overcome the Overwhelm of the Holiday Season (And Reduce Holiday Stress)
August 17, 2008
The Holiday Season can be a wonderful time of year, filled with lovely decorations, gift exchanges, visits with friends and family and delicious meals. But for many of us, the Holiday Season can also be quite overwhelming with all the added activities such as decorating our homes, selecting, buying, wrapping and exchanging gifts and hosting friends and family while we prepare multi-course elaborate meals! The question is, "What can we do to Overcome Overwhelm during the Holidays?"
1. Simplify Your Life
Holidays that are full of complexity are neither fun nor comfortable. Complexity can easily contribute to feeling overwhelmed. We can be invited to numerous events and want to host others ourselves. These activities can be very wonderful experiences, but there can also be too many to prepare for and attend in a short time. You may also have to consider selecting, wrapping and delivering gifts, decorating the house, and, potentially, traveling to visit friends and family across the country. Keeping the holidays simple with a manageable number of events to attend and/or host, can greatly contribute to Overcoming Overwhelm during the Holidays.
2. Practice Extreme Self-Care
5 Tips to Reduce Holiday Depression
August 14, 2008
While war and poor economic conditions begin to affect people all over the world, more and more people suffer with depression. The more we focus on news events and the business climate, the more we are depressed. Whatever the reason you feel is the cause of your depression, the following five simple tips guarantee you reduce it significantly.
1. Do not read newspapers.
Newspapers publish negative stories most of the time. Even in peaceful periods, newspapers will find the worst in humanity and place negative stories on display in order to promote sales and subscribers. Stories focused on War, rebellion, death, destruction, doom and despair abound in the newspapers.
Stop reading the newspaper and reduce the negative input to your brain.
2. Turn off your television.
Watching and listening about the horrible economy and the losses associated with War will add to depression. In fact, you guarantee the feeling of helplessness. Helplessness allows depression to nurture. If you really need to watch or listen to these kinds of news stories, promise yourself you will bury yourself in the documentaries that are sure to follow in the next 5 or 10 years. A way you can eliminate most of the negative input to your brain is by setting it aside for a date somewhere in the future. I guarantee in the future, you will not find it very interesting.
Holiday Dieting: A Sweet Way To Cheat!
August 10, 2008
If your diet is making you a humbug this season, there’s some good news. Turns out dark chocolate, that decadent confection, may actually be good for you!
Yes, recently conducted studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have shown that a dose of dark chocolate will heed all sorts of healthy results. And with the holidays just around the corner, this news couldn’t have come at a better time.
So just for fun, I thought I’d conduct a mini-research project of my own and get the "skinny" on our friend dark chocolate. Here’s some of the interesting "factoids" I came up with:
