Last Minute Gifts

What can be better than spring break vacation?! We happen to live in the southern part of the midwest, and it’s been a long cold winter. Right now, nothing sounds better than some sun and fun. My husband’s family happen to live in sunny California, so we are escaping there for our spring break vacation, and we couldn’t be more excited.

But do you ever feel like the planning and packing it takes to go on vacation is more work than its worth? Who will watch the dog? Who will water the plants? What will the weather be like so we know what clothes to take. Then you discover your kids have outgrown all of their warm-weather clothes, so you need to shop for two days to get that taken care of. Just packing a weekend bag can be a pain in the neck, let alone for a whole week.

Thankfully, my kids are getting older, and are pretty good at packing for themselves. We have gotten to our destination only to discover the toothbrush or underwear have been left at home. But that’s remedied pretty easily.

But once you get to your vacation site, all of that packing stress seems to melt away. Then after that all-to-short vacation is over, the stress of unpacking sets in! But forget about that for now, and enjoy your spring break. I know we will!

My Dad’s birthday is coming up soon. And yes, he is like most dads in that it’s almost impossible to think of a gift for him. If he sees something he likes or wants, he simply buys it.

But this year, my mom came up with an idea. Since my dad retired a few years ago, he likes to observe a “cocktail hour”. Every day at 4:00, he stops whatever it is he’s doing, and relaxes with a cocktail. This observance is less about the drink itself than it is about marking the end of the day and getting prepared to enjoy his evening. He no longer has to take kids to games and activities, he doesn’t have to work late, or any of those things that used to stretch his day past a traditional 8 hours. So why not relax and enjoy the twilight hours. (Yes, I’m green with envy!)

So, back to the gift idea. My mom suggested I get him some stemless martini glasses. Have you seen those? It’s the latest thing in “stemware”. I don’t know about you, but I have broken several wine glasses (some of them were antiques) at the stem. So, this new idea of stemless wine glasses and cocktail glasses is a great idea. I have a suspicion that this makes my mom’s life easier since cleaning up will be less of a hastle. But if Mom is happy, Dad is happy. And I want my Dad to be happy on his birthday!

This may not be a last minute gift if you want it personalized but I found this black leather koozie at EyeCandyGift.com and really liked it. It’s hard to call a koozie elegant but this can koozie with it’s black leather exterior and silver tone trim is something an executive might have on his desk. Stylish and functional.

Here’s the low down on this cool koozie. Black leather and silver tone trim and holds a 12 ounce (or larger can) and measures 4” x 3 ½”. Personalized with two lines of up to 15 characters per line.

Personalized Black Leather Koozie Now On Sale Price: $23.97 Personalization Line 1 Personalization Line 2 Quantity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Buy this Koozie Now

In my last post, I wrote about my kids new love of basketball. To help encourage this activity, my husband decided it was time to buy them a basketball hoop. It’s still winter, and quite cold, but the girls have spent hours outside shooting baskets.

Spring break is fast approaching, and we are going to visit grandparents. For us, this requires hours of travel time. So, to help ease the travel pain, we have decided to purchase a handheld electronic game for the kids to play. I’m not a huge fan of electronic games. The girls spend enough time watching TV and playing on the computer. I would much rather see them play basketball. But you can’t play basketball in a car. So, we will soon be the “greatest parents on earth” when our kids see their new games.

There’s something about a new toy or game. At first, it’s a huge hit and is played with constantly. But as all parents know, the “new” wears off, and the game is soon forgotten. There are precious few toys or games that survive beyond the “new” factor. The electronic games cost significantly more than the basketball hoop, but I’m hoping the basketball hoop comes out the winner in world of favorite toys. Time will tell.