How to Enjoy the Holidays With Your Relatives

Here are five simple things that will make the next holiday party enjoyable for everyone.

1) Leave Home Without It

Unless you visit like-minded people, leave your private cause at home. Cover the tattoo, remove the nose ring, take out the tongue stud. Similarly, avoid editorials, lectures, and sermons. Remember: it's a holiday party. No one comes to be offended.

2) Make Them Special

Let others talk. Be impressed (or at least interested) with what they say. Ask questions to encourage telling more. Find something to praise. Give your complete attention while listening. Appreciation is a gift that lasts a lifetime.

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3) Detach

Let others be themselves. Accept what people say, regardless how outrageous. Avoid correcting, criticizing, or complaining. Ignore bait that lures you into arguments. Avoid taking things personally. Just say, "Ah, how interesting," and move on.

4) Talk Friendly

Offer compliments. Be positive. Be gracious. Be mature. Find diplomatic ways to express your ideas. Avoid negative words, especially "not," because negative ideas trigger a defensive response. Be a source of solutions instead of complications.

5) Behave

Avoid trick questions ("What kind of idiot would do this?"). Avoid punitive stories that contain hidden insults. Avoid baiting people into arguments. Spend time with people who enjoy your ideas. Realize it is always a bad idea to start an argument.

Holidays Screensavers - How To Select Best Free Holidays Screensavers?

Holidays and screensavers make a great combination. Holidays are important because they change our mood. The most busy and depressed of us become happy and energetic during holidays. Watch the faces during Christmas, Halloween, thanksgiving and other holidays. You will find a distinct glow and smile. The hearts are full of love and giving. The anxieties and envies are forgotten for a day.

Holiday screensavers designed for specific holidays add to this mood by providing us the visuals. Please remember that most of us are visual persons. Words don't affect them much, but a visual does. A drawing of Santa makes more difference to visual people than a paragraph about Christmas. For such visual persons, Holidays screensavers are a great boon.

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Today, on a very good website, you get free holidays screensavers. Download as many as you wish. Holidays or no holidays, watch them any time and any day and you will feel a change in your mood. The holidays screensavers are normally made for holidays such as- 4th July, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Memorial Day, New Year, Patriot Day, Rosh Hashanah, St. Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving, Valentines Day etc.

Download screensavers that are good looking, have bright colors, with low file weight, easy to install and uninstall, with music and good to look at. Download free holiday screensavers and enjoy a holiday everyday on your computer desktop.

Holiday Blues Are Just Around The Bend

Holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, are usually the most awaited events of the year. It is a time when families gather for a reunion with relatives and friends. While it is a time for gift-giving and merry-making, it can also be a source of stress and depression. During these times, when the whole world is in a spirit of celebration, there are some people who can only wish there were loved ones nearby to share the season with. Think about the senior citizens in welfare homes, those convicts in jail houses, the doctors and nurses who are on duty and cannot come home to be with their loved ones. There are those whose loved ones are long gone or have recently departed and coping with their loss can be unbearable during this season. Even the loss of job during this time can cause depression. Being hard-pressed to buy presents for loved ones can lead to stress and anxiety.
Keeping humor up and having realistic expectations help a great deal in being in tune with the holiday spirit. The National Mental Health Association recommends that you take care of yourself first and foremost. Setting realistic goals for the holidays and keeping your expectations simple for yourself and everyone else is the key to avoid stress and anxiety brought about by the occasion. Do not make the mistake of spending more than you can afford to avoid facing a huge credit card debt after the holidays that can certainly lead you to more troubles and worries. Since the holidays last for more than one day, pace yourself and spread your activities throughout the season.

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Don't spend the holidays confronting relatives about past conflicts, but instead, extend grace and show kindness to forgive and forget. Holidays are not a good time to tell your parents your hurts for their neglect. If you want to resolve issues, wait till after the holidays to bring them up again. That doesn't mean you should bottle up all your feelings. Seeking out a sympathetic family member or friend can go a long way in keeping your sanity.
 While overindulging on sweets and carbohydrates may feel comforting at the time, the after effects can make you moody later. Same with drinking alcohol to excess. Try to continue your fitness regimen to burn off the calories from the holiday dinner.  If you don't have time to go to the gym, take a long walk with a friend to alleviate some stress.

 For those who don't have close friends or relatives nearby with whom to share the holidays, reaching out to others may make you feel more in tune with the holiday spirit. Try to volunteer help to someone who can't get out to shop, serving food in a soup kitchen, or inviting over other friends who are far away from family may make you feel less lonely.
Be wary of family members who are using more than normal amounts of alcohol, pain medications, or sleeping pills. Be vigilant when someone is acting confused, can't concentrate, seems lost in the midst of family affairs, or can't seem to stop crying.

 Feelings of despair or apathy that don't go away for two weeks or longer may lead to depression and needs professional help. The typical symptoms of depression include a sense of hopelessness, boredom with or lack of enjoyment in activities that were previously pleasurable, changes in appetite and sleep patterns, thoughts about suicide, and difficulty concentrating.
The National Mental Health Association reminds us about life being full of changes. “Consider what is important in your life and the good about these times.” Experience will tell you that those who've had the holiday blues in the past that they usually subside once you jump back into a regular routine.

Give One, Get One: Christmas Cards

Christmas is one of the best times of the year. It is anticipated greatly and loved by all. Some people begin planning for the next year's Christmas at the beginning of January. They think about the parties they will host, the people they will see, and the relatives and friends they will reconnect with. Those who love shopping hunt for the perfect gifts all throughout the year. There are many special traditions that people celebrate around Christmastime. One of the best traditions for many people is the exchange of Christmas cards.

Exchanging Christmas cards is an important part of many peoples' holiday. Because gifts can be really expensive, most people choose to send many people in their life the simple gift of a card. And what a gift a Christmas card can be. A thoughtfully chosen card with a personalized note inside makes anyone feel special around the holidays. If there are way too many people on your gift list this year considering giving unique Christmas cards instead.

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If you are looking for something different or a way to put even more personal touch into your cards, try making your own Christmas cards this year. This way you can choose the papers you like, the colors your friends and family enjoy most, and you can design a card uniquely for each family on your list. Another great benefit of making your own Christmas cards is including your children in the process. Allow them to roll up their sleeves and get creative. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends will love whatever creation they come up with. Making cards yourself will allow you to save money that we all know is valuable around the expensive holiday season.

Exchanging Christmas cards can be a great way to keep in touch with friends all over the country and the world. As you have opportunities to travel and meet new friends, committing to exchange Christmas cards can be a great way to stay connected even after your travels end. It is a special thing to stay in relationship with people who all come together to celebrate Christmas each year. Rather than sending packages all around the world, you can save money, time and still be thoughtful by sending a card.

And perhaps the best thing about exchanging Christmas cards is just that: you exchange them. Not only to do you take the time and energy to prepare cards for family and friends, but you also can anticipate receiving cards from people near and far. Getting the mail each afternoon can quickly become the highlight of a families' day during the holiday season. You feel loved and valued each time you open an envelope and get to discover the unique and beautiful card that is inside. You can experience the joy and care that your friends and family experienced as they created the perfect Christmas cards for you and yours.

As Christmastime rolls around this year, take time to cherish each important person in your life by creating unique Christmas cards for each of them.

Finding the Right Online Source for Christmas Cards and Holiday Cards

As the mornings turn crisp and the days get shorter, it's time to begin thinking about the upcoming holiday season. While you may not be ready to start your gift shopping, it's not too early to consider how you are going to express holiday greetings to friends and family, business associates, and customers and clients.

Why Buy Greeting Cards Online?

Christmas cards and holiday cards serve purposes ranging from giving you the opportunity to update family members and friends about life events to marketing your business to customers and potential customers. But whether you send personal greeting cards, business holiday cards, or both, buying them online has several distinct advantages.

The first such advantage is selection. Whether you're looking for business Christmas cards, Thanksgiving cards, or other holiday cards, you'll find many more choices online than you will at a local card store. The second advantage is the ability to save money. Because online greeting card stores don't have the overhead expenses of brick-and-mortar stores, they're able to pass along the savings to their customers. Third, online stores typically offer personalization, both in the form of printing your family's name or the name of your business on the cards, and in printing your return address on the envelope. Fourth, you can usually get steep discounts if you order your Christmas cards early (by mid-October), before the holiday season is in full swing.

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What to Look For When Buying Greeting Cards Online

While there are many online businesses that sell holiday cards, you need to choose the right one. You don't want to take the risk that your business Christmas cards will arrive at the end of December, or that the personalization is incorrect. Here are some services to look for when selecting an online source for holiday cards:

1. Longevity and Satisfied Customers. Look for a company that has been in business for at least three years and that can point to a loyal following of individuals and businesses that are happy with their products and services.

2. Quality and Pricing. If you're ordering in quantity, the company should offer bulk discounts. They should also offer an "early bird" discount if you place your order early. The company should be willing to send you sample cards so you can verify the quality of the card. They should also offer high-quality, coordinating envelopes, such as foil-lined envelopes.

3. Personalization. Look for a company that offers several forms of personalization. You should, for example, be able to select from among several different verses for the inside of your cards. They should also include up to four lines of imprinted text on your holiday cards at no extra cost, and allow you to choose from among at least four colors of ink.

4. Customer Service. The company you choose should make it easy for you to order. This means giving you the ability to order online, as well as the option of printing out an order form. They should also have live customer service representatives who can help you place your order and answer any questions you may have.

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas cards and holiday greeting cards. Once you find the right online source for your needs, you'll never look back!

Exclusive Interview With Santa Claus

Over the past two months I have been writing a Christmas story. It is about Santa Claus and the remarkable sequence of events that befell a young girl living on the edge of the rainforest in Palawan, a tropical island where I live.

Of course, for such an apparently far fetched story, it was important to check out the facts. That was easy to do here in Palawan, but how could I interview somebody quite so famous as Santa Claus, who lived far away in a land where I would freeze to death as soon as I got off the airplane?

Well, it turned out to be more easy than I thought, and we met, believe it or not, close to a big firework display in Southern England on November 5th 2005. How I got there and how he got there, I am not allowed to say. In fact, I cannot say, simply because I do not know for sure. I can only speculate. My passport shows I was here; my wife tells me I was here; I tell myself I was here. But I was there, and this is what I can report from the notes I took at the interview. There was much more, but I am sworn to secrecy, and Santa Claus has such amazing powers, I would not go against his wishes.

These are the 3 questions, and answers, I am allowed to reveal.

Q1 There is much speculation amongst historians about your origins. Can you tell us, to put this straight once and for all?

(Roars of laughter from Santa) “The last people you should ask are historians. They can only look backwards. What a dumb life they lead; they can never find the truth like that. Life is multi dimensional; time is multi dimensional. What do historians and scientists know about all that? The truth is like a sun with all it’s planets rotating round. If you just look backwards, you miss the whole spectrum, and you miss the sun itself.

“What are my origins? My good man, you’re just a simple soul, like everyone else on the planet, so I know you mean ‘when and where do I come from’. I do have a birthday; in fact, I have many birthdays, and they are all true. But for your narrow little world, I was born in 701 AD."

“But,” I said, “all the historians…….” his glare told me to be quiet about historians. That seemed like a good idea, given that they got it all totally wrong.

Santa was a tolerant and gentle man despite his massive powers. “And, young man” ( I had not been called that for a long time) he said. “You will not believe where I was born. It was not the North Pole, though I go there often. It was not Lapland, where I do now live. It was Central Africa."

I was dumbfounded; he just laughed at me. I moved on quickly.

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Q2 I have to ask, Santa, how do you get around the whole world like that, every Christmas, delivering gifts to so many millions of children? In less than 2 days. It’s just not..”

Before I could finish, he had put his hand firmly on my arm to stop me.

“Of course it’s possible. You think it’s not possible because your “scientists” say so, not because of the truth. Only the truth matters. And it is possible, because I do it every year. You say “not possible” because of the way you all look at things; narrow and blinkered. Even my blinkered reindeer know more than your silly scientists; so forget it’s not possible. I do it, and young man”, (I was really beginning to like this guy), he went on, “I just love every moment of it.”

“But……?” I was about to ask, but he stopped me again with a firm hand.

“Ok,” he said gently. “Let me just tell you about something. In the 8th century I was exploring brainwaves; your scientists don’t have an inkling yet about the brain, how it works, the brainwaves and what they mean and how you can use them. I was able to discover great things, things all the scientists have been too narrow minded in the past to seek out, understand and utilize.”

I was in his spell, listening intently to every word. He was about to reveal….

“Have you heard of Quantum Chimney Descent Theory? No, of course not. By 820 AD I had it all worked out; a year later I had discovered Time Corridors. You know time corridors? No, of course not, but I tell you young man, that was what did it, that was what enabled me to deliver gifts at Christmas all over the world.

“I then developed the Time Corridor Interweaving Theory. For the next 30 years I started to put them both into practice, and then bring them together. That my dear friend is how I get around the whole world like that and deliver gifts: by exploiting the Quantum Chimney Descent Theory in unison with Time Corridor Interweaving.

“Do you understand now?” he asked.

Well, who was I to argue, I might sound like a historian or scientist? So, that was it, I had the answers to the greatest Santa Claus question of all. I did not have a clue what he was talking about, but I am sure he anticipated that.

We went on to the final question as the firework display reached its climax.

Q3 What happens to all the mince pies and glasses of sherry that millions of children leave out for you?

Santa roared with laughter again, “oh, all the things people leave out for me; they are so sweet those children. “But you know, their parents should tell them the truth; they should not deceive. It is their parents who drink the sherry and other alcoholic drinks. It’s just their excuse. I don’t drink the stuff, never did.

“But the mince pies, yes I do love a good mince pie. The children are so considerate leaving them for me, and I eat as many as I can in Australia. But over a million? I have to tell you, those mince pies get spread around all sorts of places. The creatures of the oceans and the forests are very much experts on mince pies now. But the year before last.....”

Santa saw my expression change.

“Aaah, we can’t say what happened that year, can we? It’s in your story. We mustn't spoil your story."

A moment later I awoke in my bed many thousands of miles away near the Sulu Sea. My wife was next to me; and funnily enough, I was next to her. When I went to my computer room a while later, I found my notebook. And what you have read above is what was written in it.

I really did like Santa Claus; “young man” indeed.

This Christmas Santa Claus article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Gifts For Xmas website.

Roy is also owner and author of the Xmas Ornament web site.

Relax for the festive season with Roy's new Christmas story for adults and children.