Black Friday is here and are you ready?

Here in the USA, the day after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday" due to all the special sales and the stores opening at midnight for shoppers.  It seems pretty silly, but there are many wonderful bargains to be found if you are willing to camp out in line and be one of the first shoppers to get into the store.

I hate crowds, so I prefer to shop all year long--monitoring sales for items that may be appropriate as Christmas presents.  I also prefer shopping online to going to stores.  This is just my preferences.  More and more people are getting into the spirit of Black Friday shopping.  For months before this day, you can receive emails and circulars telling you about the wonderful "bargains" and "sales" to be found on this day.  What they don't tell you is that there is a very limited quantity of these items and if you are not the lucky few, you will probably end up spending more money buying similar items that are not on sale.  This is the ploy of all the commercial sellers on this day.

I understand that stores need to make a profit for our economy to improve, but I don't like "bait and switch" tactics very much.  I think it is dishonest.  So, I choose to shop online during the year and by Black Friday I have all my Christmas done.  It is just my way of dealing with this holiday.  You are more than welcome to deal with the stress, crowds, etc.  I simply don't wish to do so.

I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoys the food and family time that this holiday stands for. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

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Heads up!!

Just wanted to remind you that there is officially less than 6 months left before Christmas.  Now if you get paid monthly, that is less than 6 opportunities to buy Christmas gifts early.  If you get paid every other week, there are less than 12 opportunities.  For those lucky enought to get paid weekly, you have less than 24 weeks. 

Christmas is coming--no doubt.  You might as well be prepared as not!

Hope you get ready so you can enjoy the original concept for this hoilday.  Christmas is not about hype and shopping.  It is about reflection and thankfulness.  It is about family time.  It is about joy and hope.

You don't have to be Christian to be able to celebrate this holiday.  Every religion is about these things.

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Ultimate Christmas Countdown Checklist

Here's a great article from Real Simple that gives you a way to stay organized yet prepared for the upcoming holidays.  I just realized that we are about to begin May!  That is almost 1/2 of the year gone by already.  Don't wait until the last minute.  Try to get an early start this year and see if you can't enjoy the holidays more!

Another great place to get help organizing for the holidays is here.  You can get a wonderful start with planning and keeping track of your progress using this Christmas Countdown method.  Please check it out.

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Getting organized is the best way to ensure you’ll have more holiday cheer, less holiday stress. This timeline will help you keep track of the big tasks.

Three to Six Months Before (Before Mid-October)

• Make a family plan. Are you heading to your in-laws’ house? Hosting everyone at yours? Sit down with family members and decide where you’ll be spending the holidays.
• Buy plane tickets. If you’ll be flying somewhere, get your plane tickets as soon as possible.

Two Months Before (Mid-October)

• Put activities on a calendar. As you find out when parties and school pageants are scheduled, write them on a master calendar. Keep it next to the phone, so if someone calls to ask if you’re free for an event, you’ll know the answer immediately.
• Start baking things you can freeze. Un-iced cookies, bars, and nut breads are good bets to make ahead. All will keep in the freezer if they are well wrapped, and you can have a few extra things on hand for the friend who stops by unexpectedly with a gift. Related: Make-Ahead Holiday Cookies
  
• Update your holiday card list. Determine how many cards you need, and make sure you have updated addresses.
• Shop for cards and wrapping paper. Some stores put holiday goods out by Halloween. You’ll get the best selection if you start early. And if you’re ordering cards online, you’ll want to have plenty of time for them to arrive.
• Make plans for overnight guests. Think about who will be showing up and spending the night. Do you need to replace some old sheets? Buy more towels? Now’s the time to get your house in shape for visitors.

Six Weeks Before (Beginning of November)

• Make a master gift list. You may not have every detail filled in, but at least make sure you list everyone you’ll need to buy for, and think about what they’d like. That way you can pick up things as you see them, rather than running to the mall at the last minute. Have your children give you their wish lists.
• Make a budget. Set a ballpark figure for how much you can spend on gifts—it will help you stay grounded when the shopping gets frenzied. Related: 4-Week Holiday Savings Plan
  
• Start shopping in earnest. Yes, you may already be picking things up here and there, but the more you buy ahead, the better—especially if you’ll be mailing gifts. If you have big-ticket items (like electronics) that go on sale the day after Thanksgiving, you may want to brave the crowds on Black Friday—you could save substantially.

One Month Before (Directly After Thanksgiving)

• Do any online shopping. Order gifts now so you have lots of time to wrap them once they arrive.
• Wrap gifts as you buy them. Not only will this keep little eyes from finding out what Santa is bringing, it will save you time on Christmas Eve.
• Take stock of your decorations. Get out your lights, ornaments, wreaths, and lawn ornaments. See if anything is broken and needs to be replaced.
• Take stock of dishes and glasses. Make sure you have the serving platters and wineglasses you’ll need for parties or special meals, in time to buy more, if necessary.
• Start addressing holiday cards. It can take a while, depending on how long your list is.

Three Weeks Before (First Week of December)

• Mail cards. If you’re too busy to get them addressed and mailed during the first week of December, consider putting them off until after the holiday rush. People generally enjoy getting a card a few days late, when things have slowed down and they actually notice the mail.
• Buy a live tree. This is a good time to get your tree, if you want it to stay fresh and retain its needles through Christmas. Same goes for fresh greenery or garlands. Related: How to Choose a Christmas Tree
  
• Decorate! You may be one who decks the halls as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey carcass has been tossed. That’s fine, too, but by the first week of December, it’s time to get the house looking festive.
• Finalize menus. If you’ll be serving the holiday meal make sure you know what you’ll be cooking and what family members will be bringing. Start a master grocery list.
• Order a turkey or ham. Or whatever else is the centerpeice of your holiday meal—you don’t want to get caught short.

Two Weeks Before (Second Week of December)

• Make sure out-of-town presents are mailed. Try to have gifts in the mail by December 10. Related: How to Ship Gifts of All Shapes and Sizes
  
• Shop for nonperishable items. Buy alcohol and any canned goods or pantry staples you’ll need.

One Week Before

• Deep clean your house. You’ll enjoy those decorations even more if the floors are clean and the kitchen is organized. One important task: Clear out your refrigerator. Toss old leftovers to make room for big dishes and ingredients that’ll be piling up closer to the holiday.
• Buy batteries for children’s toys. If you haven’t stocked up while shopping, make sure you have all the accoutrements necessary for that handheld video game or remote-controlled car.

Three Days Before

• Shop for fresh ingredients. Hit the store for the last-minute vegetables or fruit you need for meals.
• Set the table. So you use those gold-rimmed goblets only once a year? Enjoy them! Go ahead and set the table. Make it even easier on the big day by putting a sticky note on each platter that states what dish you plan to serve on it. (That also allows people to help you without asking 12 times.)

Two Days Before

• Start cooking. You’ve probably socked away some things in the freezer already, but now’s the time to prep main courses and make anything that can sit for a couple of days.
• Buy fresh flowers. Whether they are for a party or a family meal, fresh flowers should always be purchased two days in advance. Blooms have time to open up, and they’ll still be lush and fragrant.

The Day Before

• Recharge the batteries on your camera or video recorder. You don’t want to miss the reaction on a little one’s face because the battery ran out during the school pageant the week before.
• Finish last-minute wrapping. And assemble toys that will be surprises from Santa.
• Finish cooking, and make a timeline for the next day. Decide when you’ll be feasting, then count backward to determine when to put the turkey (or ham or roast beef) in the oven and what else needs to be cooked.
• Sit back and relax. Enjoy your family and friends and relish the traditions you share. 
   
   

How To Avoid Overspending At Christmas

Well, the first quarter of the year 2011 is about to end and that means Christmas is closer than you think.  One of the ways you can prepare for Christmas is to start early and make a list.  The summer sales is a wonderful time to find items that you want to give but at a reduced price.

Below is an article from Forbes talking about how to curb your holiday spending.  I hope you enjoy.  Please don't procrastinate.  Christmas will be here before you know it!

The article below has several related articles that you can visit, so please go to the site.

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The best gift you can give your family is often sound finances for the new year.

In Pictures: How To Avoid Overspending At Christmas

Unemployment is high this year, and savings accounts are low. But that won't stop Americans from filling shopping carts with gifts this Christmas. With shopping a firmly entrenched holiday tradition, the average American will spend an average $715 this season--even if for some it's spending they can ill afford.

Before you head out to Target , Best Buy , Nordstrom or your local mall this holiday season, give yourself a big gift: restraint.

The reason so many people fail to show it is the intense social pressure to go out and spend this time of year. Plus the legion of ways people justify overspending. That's according to Shawn Young, creator of Bootstraps Asset Building Education, an organization that uses elements of behavioral economics to teach average Americans how to better handle their finances.

In his previous career as a manager at Wal-Mart and Starbucks , Young, now 41, saw many colleagues become overwhelmed by financial troubles that it distracted them from their work. The stories led to Young developing an interest in financial education. In 2007 he moved to Louiseville, Colo., and founded Advocates for Young Adults, a nonprofit which has since been renamed Frontier Asset Building. It has five employees, a $300,000 budget and, says Young, helped 10,000 people in 2010 through its various programs.

One is a class on spending. In it, Young works primarily with people who have low and moderates incomes and are at risk of overspending in ways that can have devastating effects on their finances. If a student in one of his classes overspends at Christmas, that student might have trouble paying the January electric bill. People of greater means rationalize excessive spending in similar ways but generally face less devastating consequences, Young says.

Temptations are so great leading up to Christmas that some of Young's students this year suggested he offer a class addressing the season's shopping. While Young ponders the idea, he suggest others slow down while hitting the malls.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

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What will you do for Christmas 2011?

Image via WikipediaI know.  I know.  It's only the start of 2011 and I am talking about Christmas.  What's up with that?  Well, today is the last day of January 2011.  One-twelvth of the year is already gone.  The way I look at it is if you plan and prepare for this big holiday season, it doesn't have to have such a large impact on either your psychological well-being or on your pocketbook.

Now is the time to make a list of all the people you want to buy for this Christmas.  Make a tentative list of what you plan to spend on each person.  If you have ideas for personal gifts, write that down too.  Carry this list with you when you go shopping.  That way you can take advantage of bargains and sales throughout the year and as you mark off each name you can guage your readiness for the season.  Who knows, maybe by Thanksgiving you can be totally through with seasonal shopping and focus more on enjoying the social activities of the holidays.

There is no time like the present to get started.  My list is ready.  Is yours?

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Christmas Piñatas

Here's a quick and inexpensive tutorial for making Christmas pinatas.  Make several and decorate the tree with gifts, or make a group to give as gifts to friends and acquaintances.  These look simple and easy, so you have time to make plenty.  This also looks like a fun craft to make with the kids!

This was discovered on AllCrafts.com.



I have been wanting to make little papier-mâché Piñatas for such a long time after seeing them on Not Martha, and Christmas seems like the perfect time to make these little balls filled with sweets or toys. They are easy to make with young ones, and fun to find fillings for. Children will enjoy pulling them apart and seeing what’s inside, and everyone will enjoy making them and seeing them hung up around fireplaces, on trees, or clustered on a door or shelf.
With a simple flour and water paste* mixed to a smooth gloopy consistency and papier-mâché strips of tissue paper around semi blown up balloons of about 10-15cm diameter.

Leave a gap around the top as your opening – enough to get goodies inside.

Leave to dry till the case is hard, and then deflate the balloon by pricking it or cutting it with scissors (it won’t pop, but will let air out slowly as it removes itself from the inside of the papier-mâché case).

Once you have the empty shell, you can fill with whatever you like – small bags of sweets, toys, biscuits, glitter or cut out pieces of paper, small puzzles to put together, or even write out your own jokes to tell.

Then take another piece of tissue paper and a length of ribbon and seal the opening with more flour/water paste.

Have fun decorating! Finally add a small tag to the ribbon which says ‘Pull Me’ to help open.

Pull open, and enjoy!
* For those with gluten or wheat allergies, the following alternatives to wheat flour can be used: Tapioca flour, rice flour. Experiment with other flours to see if they work, or alternatively use a white paste with PVA craft glue watered down, however I tried here to limit the amounts of glue being used in the whole project. You may want to add some salt to the paste to prevent mould as well.

Wednesday Shopping Wisdom --http://www.freeholidaygiftreview.com

Here's some words of wisdom to consider when shopping for presents this year,
courtesy of FreeHolidayGift Review.com:

Top 10 things to consider when purchasing a gift for someone.

 

#10-  The gender for whom you are purchasing the gift. 

Although this could be a non-issue, it most likely is not.

#9-  The chronological age for whom you are purchasing the gift.

So this refers to what their actual age is.  You%u2019re certainly not going to purchase the same thing for someone who is 50 as opposed to 15 (unless it is golf balls or similar nature)  So this requires a little thinking.

#8-   The mental age of whom you are purchasing the gift.

This refers to how young they feel at heart.  Again, let's be considering the person's age but be cautious of purchasing items TOO young or TOO old for what the person FEELS like they are.

#7-  The occasion for which you are purchasing the gift.

Are you purchasing something for a birthday, Christmas or say, VALENTINE'S DAY?  These will all have different angles from which to make your purchase.

#6-  Have you purchased for them before?

Is this a first purchase because they're a new boy/girl friend?  If so, be careful to not say the 'wrong' thing by purchasing something too 'cheap'.

#5-  How well did that previous purchase go?

Did your last purchase make a good impression?  Or do you need to 'make up' for your last purchase?  (talking to the guys here)

#4-  How much money do you have to spend?

Maybe this should be slightly higher in the rank but non-the-less, it does come into play in what you%u2019re going to purchase.

#3-  Their relation to you.

Are we talking about a friend?  A close friend?  Brother/Sister? Wife/Husband?  You get the picture.  Make sure you're thinking about this!

#2-  What do you want this gift to 'say' to them?

This could be a trade-off with #1.  If you're merely saying 'I like you' then keep that in mind.  If you're trying to say 'I REALLY like you', then obviously that changes things up a bit.  Now if you're wanting to say 'I love you,' well then, you'd better step up to the plate and hit one out of the park!

#1-  Do you want them to remember this gift forever?

This could go a lot of different directions in terms of them remembering forever.  You could step off the cliff face and be remembered for something permanently going to 'leave a mark'!  Or you could do something crazy like a 'gag' that would be remembered forever.  Now going this route could still be 'stepping off a cliff' b

you have to determine that yourself. 

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Image via Wikipedia

Here's a video I found that helps you understand how to plan for the holidays in advance.  This is just the first video in the series, so I suggest you visit the site and watch the rest.  They are pretty good, but not all inclusive of the planning that you need to do.  Overall, these videos are a good beginning spot.  Enjoy!
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 Christmas is a time for family and rejoicing, for celebrating the good things we have in life. Christmas is also the time during which retailers and advertisers bombard the senses, desperate to get those dollars you've worked so hard for. But unless you're okay with losing a few friends, and possibly being ignored by a few family members, you are hopelessly obligated to get something for everyone you expect to speak to for the next year or so. Shopping for Christmas gifts can be source of extreme stress, trying to stretch your limited budget and still pay the bills. But Expert Village offers these free videos to help you create and execute a holiday spending plan that won't leave you eating nothing but black eyed peas for the entire month of January. Expert Melissa Schenk will teach you how to budget your holiday spending, first by making a Christmas shopping list, setting a limit on Christmas spending, and how to fine-tune your budget by brainstorming for gift ideas and separating your gift spending from your other holiday expenses. You'll also learn how to resist the temptation of buying for yourself when shopping for gifts. Skipping the expensive Christmas cards and fancy gift wrap are also great ways to save money this holiday season.

Read more: How to Crate a Holiday Spending Budget: How to Cut Down on Holiday Spending | eHow.co.uk http://www.ehow.co.uk/video_2371317_crate-holiday-spending-budget.html#ixzz0tba4Qg1e

How to Crate a Holiday Spending Budget -- powered by eHow.com

Strategies For Planning For Early Christmas Shopping

Image via Wikipedia

Here is an article I found on Barbieinablender, which is a site that posts information about women's fashion and issues affecting women.  The actual article can be found here.  I think there are several really good tips for those who want to be organized and who want to shop early.  What do you think?  Will this work for you?

___________________________________________________________________________________

Shopping early for the Christmas is always a good idea because you will find yourself ahead of vast majority of the crowds that only start their shopping when Christmas is just days or weeks away. Shoppers and other people generally will be green in envy this holiday season knowing that you are way ahead of them in your shopping for the Christmas and in fact, already finished your shopping by then. Having said that, you do not need to worry about getting stuck in the traffic jam on the way to the shopping centers and malls that are crowded with mostly last minute shoppers days before the Christmas day.

For those of you who appreciate the advantages of getting ready for your early Christmas shopping, I am certain that you have developed your own means of planning and accomplishing for your Christmas celebration. Meanwhile, for the rest of you who belong to the last minute shoppers group in organizing the Christmas shopping, you will be provided with some tips on early Christmas shopping for this year.

Planning for the Christmas shopping for the following year right after the Christmas this year is an excellent strategy that you can attempt to allow you to start and finish your Christmas shopping early. These methods have been adopted by many with extra disposable income. The pros about shopping few days just after the Christmas are twofold: Firstly, shopping right after Christmas can be enjoyable in the Christmas atmosphere. While the shops and shopping malls and centers may still be very crowded on these days, nevertheless, you can slow down your pace to enjoy the shopping in a more relaxed manner. Secondly, with grand sales still going on, you are in it for shopping big times and very likely, a great saving for your shopping.

The next big thing about getting your Christmas shopping done earlier is through purchasing online at the comfort of your home. Imagine that you can make purchases for the variety of goods and gifts online ranging from toys, fruits, wine, gift baskets, flowers and so forth at a click of your finger and the gifts will be wrapped brilliantly and delivered according to your instruction. The convenience of shopping online removes you of the need to worry over the wrapping process or long queue wait at post offices at some reasonable charges for the service. Therefore, if you like the idea of online Christmas shopping, remember to commit yourself to perform your purchases early in order to avoid disappointment due to short of stock or late shipment.

The other way to approach planning and shopping for your early Christmas this year would be purchasing at least two gifts for each of the person on your name list for their coming birthdays. The idea behind this is that while one gift serves as a birthday gift for the intended recipient, the second gift would be set aside as his or her Christmas gift. Not only would this allows you to break away from the crowd that swamps the shopping malls and stores near the Christmas seasons, sometimes, early shopping allows you to grab better and ideal gift which is difficult to come across at certain times of the year. I come across people who get agitated and stressful when it comes so close to Christmas that they have troubles finding the perfect gift for everyone in their name lists after hitting the shopping malls times after times. There is really no need to be in such a rush for the Christmas shopping should you have prepared earlier for your Christmas shopping and would have finished your purchases when the Christmas season arrives. Despite this, if you happen to encounter people on your name list with birthdays in December, that may mean some last minute shopping but what you can do is to mark down these people and plan the purchases of their birthday and Christmas gifts a month or few months earlier.

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Black Friday Deals online?

Image via Wikipedia

Here's a snippet from a new site I just found called Black-Friday.net. 
This is really exciting to know that you can get the super sales offered on that specific day online--no fighting crowds, no waiting outside stores early in the morning.  That is really a great thing for those of us who plan ahead.  Check out the site and as it gets closer to the holiday, check out their Facebook page to keep up with specials.

Black Friday 2010

January 1st, 2010

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when major retailers around the country discount products to help kick off the Christmas shopping season. This Black Friday ads are usually kept secret until you receive the circulars in your Thanksgiving Day newspaper. However at Black-Friday.net, we give you the advantage by showing you all of the Black Friday 2010 ads before anyone else. We also offer direct links to each product so you can purchase the items online on Black Friday without having to stand in line at the store!

Christmas will be here before you blink twice!

With half of this year almost gone, it really is time to start thinking about the Christmas holidays.  Although I am sure no one will start their Christmas shopping this early except me, I thought this would be the perfect time to begin showcasing easy, fun ways to make the holidays truly family centered and maybe help it to be less stressful.  To that end, I will be posting easy Christmas decorations you and the kids can be making now, as well as easy, breezy Christmas cards to make and send this year.  Hope you enjoy!

Here's a cute idea for decorating the outside of your home.  It is inexpensive and takes just a bit of skill, but the effect is beautiful!

Outdoor Holiday Decorating -- Snowflake Curtain
This was taken from Fabulous Living's site and copied here for your use.  Please visit the original site to see more ideas!

Author Notes:	Plastic snowflakes from the dollar store transform the front of a house into a winter wonderland with this ingenious yet inexpensive holiday decorating idea. Lisa Dodez originally came up with the plan.  She hung the snowflakes by her Gautier, Mississippi home's entrace in a free hanging curtain, as she had nothing to anchor them to on the bottom.  Needless to say, the wind quickly made a mess of things by tangling the lines (although to be honest, even in this state, it still looked pretty). Cheri's home in Big Bear, California, with its front porch railings, seemed more suitable, as the hanging snowflakes could be anchored at the top and bottom, creating a luminous snowflake wall that looks great day or night.  If you have such a set up at your home, give this a try and be prepared for tons of compliments from the neighbors!
Supplies:	scrap piece of wood for template small screw in cup hooks (you will need twice the number of hooks as you want strand of snowflakes plus 2) small elastic hair ties (double the number of strands you plan on making) various sized plastic snowflake Christmas ornaments (see notes below) clear fishing line hot glue gun and glue scissors tape measure
Instructions:	We found the snowflake ornaments at the dollar store.  Depending on the size, they come several to a pack (meaning the smaller ones are 3 or 4 for a dollar).  We have less than $20.00 invested in this entire project.  How many you need will depend on how many strands you want to make, the length of those strands, and how close you place your strands together.  For the snowflake curtain in these photos, we used 4 to 6 snowflakes per strand, and we placed our strands about 1 foot apart across the entire front of our porch. The first step is to measure, mark, and insert cup hooks where you want your strands of snowflakes to hang.  We measured across the top of our porch, putting pencil marks about every foot.  We repeated this on the bottom.  Now put a cup hook where each of your top and bottom markings are -- we placed the top hook about 6 inches above the top sightline, and the bottom hooks underneath the porch railing, also out of sight from the front. Making a template is optional -- you could certainly do this project without one just by measuring carefully, but we found it made the process quicker, easier and neater.  To do this take a scrap piece of wood that is least the length between the two cup hooks on your porch.  The template essentially duplicates the cup hook scenario so you can quickly and easily make the snowflake strands.  Screw a cup hook into each end of the wooden template. To begin making the snowflake strands, tie one end of the fishing line onto a doubled up elastic hair tie.  Put the hair tie loops over one of the cup hooks on the wooden template.  Unroll the fishing line the length you need and tie another doubled up hair tie on the other end and slip it over the cup hook on the other end of the template.  This is how the strand will hand on the cup hooks on your porch, so make sure to get the length correct -- long enough to reach but without too much slack (the elastic hair ties help make this easy). Slip a piece of paper under the fishing line to protect your surface from glue, and position snowflakes under the fishing line strand in a pleasing arrangement, as in the photo below. While holding the fishing line in place (it helps to have 2 sets of hands), run a line of hot glue down the center of the ornament right over the fishing line. Using your fingers on both sides of the snowflake as in the photo below, hold the fishing line in the glue for a few seconds until the glue begins to set and dry, fusing the fishing line to the ornament.  Repeat with the remaining ornaments in the strand. Repeat the process to make as many strand of snowflakes as you need.  For a more natural look, try to stagger placement and sizes of the snowflakes in each strand. Now take each strand and hang them on the cup hooks you placed on your porch.  If you used a template, they should be the prefect length to hang between the top and bottom sets of cup hooks. At night we opted for all blue lights to keep with the ice/snow theme.  White lights would have also worked well, but as you can see from the photo below, the snowflakes also look great in the daytime without any special lighting.

Christmas Eve shipping deadlines are nearing

With only 17 days left until Christmas, that doesn't leave much time to get a present purchased and shipped.
Deadlines are fast approaching to get delivery by Christmas, so beware!

This season, it seems the big winners are electronics and gadgets.

• The electronic book reader--making taking a book along easier than ever before
• Big screen HD LCD 1080p televisions--encouraging us to spend more time at home
• Game systems, like the Wii --keeping the kids entertained and active, but at home
• GPS systems--helping all of us to stay on track and save gasoline
• Cameras and camcorders--for the geeks and the creatives in the family
• Netbooks--these little computers are all the rage everywhere

These gifts can all be bought online for ease and convenience, but watch those deadlines.  Those of you who thrive fighting crowds, looking for parking, finding the store to be "out of stock", and trying to save a dollar by spending 10 hours going from store to store--for you--there is still time for shopping!


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I'm still in the midst of Christmas gift buying, and I'm sure many of you can relate.
Here's a handy guide from dealnews.com that shows some retailer's shipping deadlines for delivery by Christmas Eve. Included in this list are Amazon, Macy's, Williams-Sonoma, L.L. Bean and Best Buy.
These deadlines still are more than a week away, but it's good to keep them in mind to avoid a last-minute scramble.

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Here's a message from Santa!

	Chocolate Chip, Sugar, or Snicker Doodle? Wondering what kind of cookies Santa would like on Christmas Eve? Wondering if you made the Naughty or Nice List? Ask him personally! A live phone call from SantaSpeaking.com offers the newest, most exciting and memorable way to talk to Santa! When Santa calls, Santa will know everything Santa Claus should know… right down to the details! Schedule your LIVE highly personalized phone call with Santa Claus today—just like Katie Couric, Rachael Ray, and Charlie Gibson did!
We sincerely thank the more than 10 million visitors to Northpole.com during 2008 and to all of you who sent emails of thanks and appreciation for our site. It has truly been an honor to entertain you for the last twelve years. We hope to always be able to provide you with an enriched Christmas experience through a totally child-safe, innovative, imaginative, and yet traditional holiday website.
So, are you ready for some Christmas magic? We're ready for you at www.northpole.com, where you'll find hours of free activities and family entertainment! Just look at what's waiting for you in Santa's Secret Village:
	Games, Games, Games! With help from my elves Sally and Gwendolyn, children can learn while playing our newest games: Tell Time and Count Money. Don't miss Cheery Checkers, where you can play against me (Santa) in a challenging game of checkers. I see that many of you are practicing your holiday decorating ideas playing Trim the Tree, and enjoying a cyberspace snowfall with Build a Snowman!
	Birthday Cards from Santa! Only at the Northpole! This is just one of the free treats Santa has in his bag, and it celebrates each child's own special daywhatever time of year it comes. Parents, come register children to receive a birthday e-card from Santa. Just go to Santa's Mailroom and register the child's name, birth date, and email address. Remember, your information is safe with us. Northpole.com follows a strict privacy policy and does not share personally identifiable information with third parties.
	Narrated story telling Select from over 20 stories and enjoy reading along while the story is read by one of Santa's elves.
	NORAD Follow Santa this Chrismas Eve via Northpole.com and our direct pipeline with the NORAD Santa Tracker. Throughout the day Dec. 24, just click our direct link to to NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) for a satellite view of Santa's travels.
	What's Cookin'? Our recipe quick-search and metric conversion table make it a snap to find and make favorites, like that special pumpkin cookie recipe everyone is raving about. Also, be sure to submit your favorite recipe online for consideration in Mrs. Claus' Cookbook.
	Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter Thousands of children have played Santa's Count Money game throughout 2004, proving that learninghow to count coins and dollars and make changereally is child's play!
A quick list to your all-time favorites—all free!
	Santa's Good Deeds Calendar Our very popular Good Deeds Calendars encourage good behavior throughout the year. A gentle reminder of the spirit of Christmas all year long, the calendars are a great way to give children a sense of accomplishment. Post them on the refrigerator or in your child's bedroom. Each day children check off achievements, and on Christmas Eve they can leave calendars under the tree to show Santa just how good they've been.
	Personalized Stories to Print Personalize a story for a special child. Select from 3 original northpole.com stories and complete a simple form with the child's name, hometown, favorite toy/activity/dessert, and best friend's name. The story presents your child as the star character! Printed stories make a great gift from Grandma or Grandpa. Kids love them!
	Elf Pal Academy An animated classroom offers more than 90 different fun and festive activities for youngsters, including mazes, connect-the-dots, counting, concentration, sound recognition, word search, math riddles, and more! Activities can be just for fun or incorporated into lesson plans.
	Disco Dancing Santa Disco Dancing Santa has brought giggles to many and is sure to delight you, too. Help Santa find his groove to holiday disco music, then share the fun by emailing him to family and friends.
	Letters to Santa Northpole.com provides children a quick, secure, and certain means to write Santa AND get a reply letter within two days.
	Animated Postcards Our postcards are still an all-time favorite and a quick way to send friends and family a personal holiday note.
Well, I'm off to the Workshop to test some new toys...
	Love,

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