How many times have people told you to chill out (and if they didn’t use those exact words, that’s what they meant)?  I know I get told that more than I’d like to admit.  I allow things to get under my skin and ferment for days and sometimes weeks.  In times like these, I even think I need to chill out.  However, my problem always has been that I didn’t know how until The Anywhere, Anytime Chill Guide came along into my life.  This is a great book for several reasons.  First, there are 77 strategies in here.  If one doesn’t work for you, try the next.  There is truly something that can you in here.  I also love that it is an easy read.  I don’t need detailed directions stressing me when I am trying to chill out, and the author actually made it a really fun read.  There are statements in the book like “Here are some simple ways to keep your cool that you can do in a crowd without looking like a weirdo”.  Anytime you use weirdo, you score some bonus points.  I love that the book reinforces trusting your body, yet allows you to make changes in what you do for certain situations that raise your blood pressure.  Some of the situations I have been using the techniques for are road rage (I live in Chicago.  How can you not have road rage here.)  There is also some suggestions for motion sickness that I plan on trying out on our way to Green Bay tomorrow.

This is a book I highly recommend to anyone you know that needs to “chill” out.  This book is even great for those who seem to have it all under control.  It is funny, informative, and an easy read.  There is a lot of great advice for different situations that you may encounter.  This book helps you to simply feel better.

Ever lose your temper and just not know the right way to apologize or even if you should? Then The Art Of The Apology is the book for you.  This guide will show you how to make an effective apology in any situation – at work, at home, or in life, and offers practical advice on how to recover from mistakes and restore good relationships.  This book has great advice to figuring out why you are apologizing at all (what is your goal for your apology) and what you need to do before you apologize (like how far will you go to make amends).  Those are just the first two chapters!  You will also learn the six essential elements to an effective apology, when to apologize, the most common ways to screw up an apology and how to avoid them, how to accept an apology and learning from your apologies.  This makes a great gift for young people who are about to go off to college, adults at any stage of their careers, or anyone who could use a little help learning to apologize.

Sometimes it is extremely weird when certain things happen in your life. We had that happen today. We found out at church today that Madison does not like to go up to the front. We literally had to drag her up there for the New Members greeting. I was just trying to wrack my brains and come up with a way to overcome that fear when I remembered that we just got a book called Genevieve’s Gift. This is an award winning children’s picture book for ages 4 – 8. It is about a little girl who is able to overcome her nervousness by “listening to her heart”. When she listens to her heart, she finds courage and inspiration. There is a step by step guide in the back of this book that I am hoping to use with Madison. We briefly talked about it today, but she was too busy wanting to read the next book. This story definitely flows, and Madison could easily follow it and pay attention to it. Madison also likes to sing, so we sang the song Genevieve did for her friend (there is also a music guide in the back of the book, so you even have the tune). I love that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book is donated to the National Down Syndrome Society. This is a great little book that has some great lessons in it.  All kids should definitely read it.

Have you heard of Bake Me A Wish! before? Bake Me A Wish! provides freshly baked occasional cakes for all seasons and celebrations. They deliver the cakes overnight in an elegant box with a personalized gift card. Now, you cannot leave their site without being hungry. I know that I wouldn’t mind a few of those cakes being sent to my house! They all look so good.  Granted, I may need to walk on a treadmill after that, but it’s all in the name of research, right?

The reason I am including them in my gift guide this year is because of what else they do.  When you order a cake from them, they send an identical cake to a soldier in Iraq for their birthday.  5% of all their orders is used to assist their efforts in sending gourmet occasion cakes to soldiers overseas.  Now, if you know someone over in Iraq who wouldn’t mind a gourmet birthday cake, make sure you forward their name to them.  I found myself tearing up just reading all the thank yous from soldiers receiving their cakes.

If you need a birthday cake, make sure you check out Bake Me A Wish! and see if you can help send a soldier a cake!

Can you think of a word containing a double a (no proper names either!)? How about double h, i, or w? If these kinds of puzzles are right up your alley, you need to get Fabulous Fun With Puzzles. It just became available on October 7th, and it is right up the alley for any puzzle lovers you know. Each section of this book is broken down into what kind of puzzle it is. It makes it quite easy to find the word and letter puzzles, the anagram puzzles, and the mathematical puzzles (there are a ton more too chose from too!).

The part the amazed me most about this book was that it was originally published in 1947! They are republishing it again for all of us who don’t remember this book (which would include me). There are over 400 mindblowing puzzles that are just as good today as they were back then. I also love that they do give you the answer guide too. Sometimes I can’t help but to look up the answer.

Anyone who loves puzzles or even is mildly amused by them, will love this book. Did you figure out the answer to the above questions? Here you go if you didn’t:

Double A’s: bazaar, baaing, ma’am
Double H’s: highhanded, hitchhike, bathhouse, beachhead, fishhawk, fishhook, roughhewn, roughhouse, washhouse, withhold,
Double I’s: genii, radii, skiing, shiitake, taxiing
Double W’s: bowwow, glowworm, plowwright, powwow, arrowwood, arrowworm, screwworm, yellowwood

How many did you get?