Have you started your Christmas shopping? Stuck for ideas? Then read on for some holiday gift ideas.

For kids

Kids are the easiest people to buy for. If my daughter already has a toy, then she will gladly take another one just like it. So you really can’t go wrong with her. Any toy that is advertised on TV will most likely be on a child’s wish list.

For teens

Teens are harder to buy for as they are not so easily impressed and the toys they play with are much more expensive. It is best if you are stuck with buying a present for a teen, then purchase a gift card.

For men

Men can be as hard to buy for as teens. A lot of men will buy what they need and never used what they don’t need. So it is best to find out what the men on your list need or use. If all else fails, buy socks or underwear. There are two products the men never seem to buy and always are grateful to receive.

For women

Women can be extremely hard to buy for. You will want to get a gift receipt and include it with the gift. Find out what they like – scents, teas, pretty stuff. Not all women are into the same thing. Some may love bath and body items while others may not care for it. Some women may appreciate a new vacuum cleaner while others may punch you in the face if try to present it as a ‘gift.’ It’s best just to ask what they would like. I give my husband plenty of options as he is no longer allowed to go rogue when it comes to buying me Christmas gifts.

So it is best before you shop to do some background work. Find out what is on people’s wish list. It will make shopping a whole lot easier.

Recently our satellite Internet equipment was updated. The guy replaced both the modem and the satellite dish. He also left both of these items at our house. So now we have a satellite dish in our yard that needs a place to go.

Every two years our city hosts a day for junk removal. You just bring your unwanted large items, and they will take care of it for you. It is recycled, so it does not wind up in a landfill. Too bad this service is not offered all the time.

There are places that have this type of service and will pay you for your junk. 1800gotjunk.com services several Texas locations. For example, Those looking for Bellaire junk removal can easily set up an appointment to have someone haul off their old stuff. If only this service was in our area. This sounds like a win-win situation. I get rid of unwanted items and get paid for my useless stuff while keeping it out of landfills.

Removing old junk from the yard gives me such a sense of accomplishment. It is so nice to have these looming issues resolved. Soon we will be doing some renovations and will have a lot of junk to salvage. We plan to get rid of an old air conditioning unit and hopefully find a home for that old satellite dish. Here is hoping we can find a local junk removal operation that will gladly take our unwanted items off our hands.

Every since the announcement for the Kindle Fire, I have wanted one. A few things held me back from just pre-ordering it. I just received a 3G Kindle a few months back and am still in the honeymoon stage with it. It just seemed wrong to get another electronic play toy so soon.

This past weekend I was able to get some hands on time with the Kindle Fire and loved every minute of it. The Fire is responsive to touch, sleek, and just felt good in my hands. It was then that I decided that this would be a great birthday gift. My birthday is in February.

Yesterday my husband mentioned getting me a Fire for Christmas. After a little more discussion, we decided to get one now instead of waiting since it is bound to be a popular gift. So I got my Christmas gift last night – and so did my husband. He picked out some wireless headphones. Usually we get our Christmas gifts for each other way before Christmas. I’m not sad about not having anything at Christmas since opening gifts is all about my daughter anyway.

There is a really bright side to buying presents to yourself(or significant other) early. Your Christmas budget isn’t already taxed, so you can be sure to get what you want. Sure, it may sound selfish and goes kind of against the ideals of the season(better to give than receive) but if you can’t treat yourself at Christmas, then when? Plus having a new toy will help keep my Black Friday gifts(to myself) down. So really I’m saving money and now can concentrate on buying for others.

Merry Christmas to me!

A few weeks ago, I accidentally washed a magazine in the washing machine that made a big mess. There were magazine bits everywhere. I threw the clothes in the dryer because it would be much easier to deal with small dry bits of paper than small wet bits. I turned the dryer on then headed out the door to pick up my husband from work.

I got about five miles from home when a terrible thought hit me. What if one of those hot dry magazine bits caught on fire? I wouldn’t be home and our place would burn down. This made me think of two things – renter’s insurance and turning off the dryer. So I turned around and headed back to the house. Luckily everything was OK. I turned off the dryer -leaving the house this time with more peace of mind.

When leaving the house, turn off all appliances especially the dryer. This is one I admit that I have left the dryer going even though I know better. You never know what might happen -so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Having left the dryer on reminds me that I need to find some cheap home insurance quotes for renters. Insurance is one of those items that we keep pushing off but when we need it, we’ll regret not having it. So we are not skipping the home insurance anymore. This time of year there are more house fires. I can only assume because people are using their heaters more. One recent house fire was caused by a faulty plug but was made worse because there were clothes piled up near the outlet. So take note and keep your outlets clear of any clutter like clothing and paper.

This time of year it is very important to think of home safety carefully. Protect your property and family this winter.

This year my husband and I are not buying each other gifts, but we are going to buy something for the whole family. We have run through a couple of scenarios from the real practical new oven to the not so practical PlayStation 3. While we do need a few larger items, right now is not a good time to buy them since they all require extra work on our part. Lately my husband has been working a lot, so home plans have been put on hold.

So with the practical gifts on the back burner, we have been exploring two options – a Kinect for the Xbox 360 or a PlayStation 3. Now both items will be on sale Black Friday. The Kinect will be cheaper at $99 than the PlayStation 3 at $199.

We need room to play the Kinect – something we really lack. It seems that if we do buy a Kinect that our play time could be limited. With the PlayStation 3, we would also have a Blu Ray player besides a gaming system. The PS3 on sale comes with two games I have been wanting to play. I need to remind myself of when I bought a PS2 that came with a game I wanted to play. Sad to say I have yet to play that game.

If we do go the route of the PS3, then I must play the games that come with it sooner than later. Both will be a really good choice. It looks like fun will win out this Christmas.

Thanksgiving is a week away. We go to my Mom and Dad’s for Thanksgiving. In the 16 years we have been married, I have never cooked a turkey. I am a total freeloader when it comes to Thanksgiving meals. Sure I’ve made desserts in the past but never a main dish. I have also never hosted Thanksgiving although I would like to when we finally have a house.

So while I really do not need to clean for Thanksgiving, I plan to take advantage of the extra time off from work to do so. Christmas will be here in a flash. After Black Friday, I will need a place to stash presents – so it is time to clean up and move out some stuff.

On our list is to go through the girl’s toys as she has many of them. She will be getting many more in just a few weeks. It is time to cull and cull well.

Our bedroom is a wreck. It is not a peaceful sanctuary but more like a huge unorganized closet. Definitely time to make decisions about what is really needed and what is just in the way.

The kitchen has way too much in it for someone who never cooks. Seriously I cannot remember the last meal I cooked. So these items(pots, pans, plates..well maybe not plates. we do eat, just not my cooking) need to be stored somewhere since they are just in the way.

The yard needs some TLC. It looks like the grass is still growing. Time to round up the half-chewed shoes(Thanks to Moo our dog) and other bits.

While I may not need to clean the house for Thanksgiving, a good cleaning will be a great kick-off for the holidays.

Knowing how to measure for new curtains is the first step in redecorating or remodeling a room. You can easily purchase new curtains or make your own, but you have to be certain that the new curtains you get are going to fit your windows.

Measuring for curtains involves measuring for more than just the length and width of a window. These dimensions are a good place to start from, but you have to have more information if you are going to get the right products or sew them correctly on your own.

You have to know what kind of method you will use to hang the drapes. The size of the rod or valance makes a big difference in determining the type of product you will need. Wider valances call for curtains with slots designed for valances of that size. If you are sewing your own drapes, you have to have exact measurements for the rods so that you can sew the slot to the right size.

If the curtain is supposed to wrap around the sides of the windows, the width of the curtain has to be extended so that you have enough material to reach all the way around the window. Moreover, you also have to make the slot for the rod or valance long enough to suit the drape that must wrap around the sides.

Measuring for length is also a difficult process. Sometimes, drapes are not meant to hang to the floor. Other times, they are only meant to cover the window itself. Cafe curtains are only meant to cover half to a quarter of a window. Before measuring, you should determine what sort of drapes you want. Using this idea, you should measure the space that you want to cover for size.

If your drapes must go all the way to the floor, you must determine if the drapes are supposed to bunch on the floor or stop right when they reach the floor. This could only be a matter of an inch or two, but it’s enough to make a difference. The length will determine the styling of the drapes.

After measuring, you must leave some extra room around the edges of the drapes for hems on either side, at the top, and at the bottom. You need to have a nice clean hem on all sides, but you cannot do so without a little allowance for extra material.

Taking all of these steps will help to ensure that you have curtains that look nice, fit the windows they are placed over, and create the intended look for the room they are placed in. Measure twice and cut once to get the best curtains possible.

Over the years, I have laundered several non-clothing items – wallets, tissues, small toys, money, rosaries – never on purpose. Items usually are in pockets and in my haste to just get the laundry done, I forget occasionally to check the pockets. Yesterday I washed something I have never washed before with very bad results.

While in my haste to start a quick load of clothes, I grabbed up a magazine with the load. The clothes were on the floor as apparently was the magazine. I did not notice my mistake until it was too late. As I went to put the clothes in the dryer, it looked like the laundry fairy had sprinkled the laundry with very large pixie dust. Well maybe it was more like large confetti, but it was a mess. At first I could not tell what had gotten washed and then I found what was left of the severely ripped and battered magazine.

The bright side is that the magazine bits fall right off the clothes once everything is dry – unlike a tissue. Washing a tissue will give you many, many small tissues that cling to your clothing – even when everything is dry. It looks like your clothes sprouted a winter coat and is a pain to remove all the small bits by hand.

Lesson learned for the hundredth time – check what you put in the washing machine. It might save you a headache later on.