Are You Winterized?

Are you ready for winter? For countries like US and Europe where winter happens every year, there are some things that you need specifically for winter time and get yourself ready for it.

Warm Up. It is always good to be sure that your heater is up and running, or your wood burning stove and fireplaces are clean and ready for winter wood burning again. For those who use and depend mainly on eletric heaters, winter storms can cause power outtage and it would be better to have a back-up heater on hand like gas heater, wood burning stove and/or fireplaces.

Bundle Up. It is time to dig the winter clothes again, sweaters, jackets, coats, warmers, etc. Many people advise to practice clothes layering where you can stay warm safely and if it gets really hot, you can remove the outer layer and still have more clothings to keep you warm for the cold weather.

Hot and Warm Drinks. What can make you feel better this cold freezing temperature than a cup of hot choco or eggnog. Also great to warm up your body easily during this chilling time is a warm chicken soup or a quick fix and inexpensive noodle soup.

Non-Slip Gears. With freezing temperature outside, standing water and moist areas could easily turn into ice even your decks and driveways. It is hard to see sometimes but if you walk on an icy area it is definitely very slippery and very dangerous. Try to de-ice this areas by having bags of salt handy that you can spread to the icy area, and it is advisable that you put a shoe chain in your rubber shoes or boots to gain some additional tractions.

Protect Your Eyes. During snow days, it would be best to wear some eye-protection with proper shading on it to protect your eyes. Frequent exposure to the bright snow without any eyewear with some kind of shading can be very damaging to your eyes, so better safe than sorry. Safety first is always a great idea!

Tire Chain and Shovels. If you plan to travel in a snowy day, it would not hurt to carry a tire chains with you incase it gets really heavy and stormy, and for those who are not driving a four-wheel drive in a snowy day, it would be quite a challenge and the road might be slippery when icy or snowed on, and having tire chains handy is not a bad idea. And shovels. Nowadays, you can buy portable shovels that you can easily place in the trank of your car everyday that you can use in times of need specially during snowy day and your tire get stuck and the only way to unstuck is dig around the tire, if you dont have shovels, digging the snow by hand and frezzing it is not a good idea.

Retain Indoor Heat. To avoid loose of so much heat in your house, it would be best to use double-pane windows. Also try to avoid opening the doors and windows often/constantly to avoid the cold air to get in to your house and the heat to escape. Try to close the window blinds and drapes preferably with rubber-backing to help keep the cold air in the window from travelling further to the room or to avoid the room heat escape to a bare window.

Happy Holidays!

Written by JAZEVOX. All Rights Reserved.

Deciding Gifts For The Holidays

Gift giving is definitely part of the Christmas holiday celebration and tradition, one of the many activity that a lot of people are looking forward to. As early as November up to the 23rd of December, most people are busy thinking what they can give to their love ones for the holidays. There are so many gift choices, it is hard to pinpoint which one you think your love one would really want, or wished to receive! Most, if not all of us, are not born with the capability to read peoples minds, so its hard to know what other people are thinking, even your love ones. The main goal of gift giving is to give a gift that they would really be happy to get, not something that you think you like to give. If you are having this delimna, here are some tips to help you decide which gifts to give this holiday:

In the past previous months, during your trips to the stores, did you ever heared your love ones dropping some hints to you like saying that she/he really like that item, or wishing to have that particular item? If so, then there you go, that is a great help to let you know what she/he really wants, your love one probably wished that you heared her/him that day! Can you imagine her/him unwrapping a gift with that item, she/he will probably be very grateful that you remember the hints, or listened to what she/he was saying during those store trips! If you are getting all these hints, you are lucky, saving you a lot of headache already.

If you have a hard time deciding which one to buy for your love ones, a Gift Certificate of her/his favorite store is also a great idea. If you spend time together shopping, you probably know which store she/he dont ever want to miss to go everytime you go to town or the malls with hijm/her. So which gift certificate to give will vary on what store she/he really likes to go often during regular days. By giving her/him a gift certificate, your love one can buy the item that she/he really want! For instance, you dont really want to buy your husband a nail gun when he already have one, right? But you are not sure if he could really use a sander or not, but if he is a handy type of guy, he can definitely use a gift certificate from home improvement stores where he can buy what he really like to add to his tools. And for the guys who is thinking of gift for the ladies, you heard her say handbag one time, but which handbag, you dont know, and most ladies are very particular about design and style, so if you are not sure which particular style, you can choose to give gift certificate or cash too.

For a lot of people giving cash does not always feel very personal or romantic. Sometimes, it feels so unintimate to hand cash for special occassions like Christmas holidays. But to minimize the impersonal appeal of cash giving, you can present it in a nicer and creative way. Like buying a holiday card that you can write a special message and short note that you are giving cash so he/she can get what she/he really wants. You can put cash in specially made ornaments for cash givings, or you can place cash in a decorative gift box and wrapped it with nice wrapping paper and ribbon. No matter how you present it, it would be more meaningful if you include a special message together with the cash.

Or wrap her/him a gift you think your love one will like. Just go with your instinct and buy things that you believe she/he will like or can use. At this time of year, most stores have pre-packed gift packs that are pack-ready for gift giving. If you want more fancy gifts, pretend to be on your love ones shoe, imagine her/his reaction might be if you give her/him this or give her/him that. You probably spent enough time with your love ones to know about her/his favorites, what colors she/he likes, what brands he/she adores, what styles he/she wears. Knowing all of these, or some of these will definitely give you an idea which item might have the best possibility that she/he will like and get excited to receive.

Gift giving is anyones delima this time of year, it is mostly challenging but fun, but the ultimate goal is giving the one thing that will put a smile in your love ones face the moment he/she opened your gift. When that smile will come the moment she/he open her/his gifts, then you know for sure that you are doing your research, or took an effort to know what makes her/him happy. Good luck.

Written by JAZEVOX. All Rights Reserved.