FamilyCorner.com - A lengthy list of crafty gifts you can make for the upcoming holiday.

FamilyFun.com - Lots of gifts you can make at home, fun certificates kids can print out for their dads and more.

Gifts.com - A seemingly endless list of suggestions for just about every type of dad you can think of.

Kaboose.com - Has several home craft gift ideas Gift-Giving-Guide-for-Executives with instructions, a history of the holiday, recipes for meals and more.

MarthaStewart.com - If it’s a holiday celebrated by more than two people, then Martha Stewart http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart probably has some suggestions for you. Has a mixture of homemade gifts and recipe suggestions.

Shopping.AOL.com - Has lots of great resources for gift ideas, but this article in particular has a great list of 10 do’s and don’ts for picking out a gift for dad.

Dad’s can be world’s harder to buy gifts for then moms, but luckily there are lots of suggestions out there to help ease some of the pain.

I of course just told my wife that I wanted a massage for Father’s day. Simple enough a Father’s day gift if I do say so myself. I guess we’ll see what gift her and my children get me for Father’s day.

So, to him, being spoiled is something that would happen all the time. Okay, I get it. I then asked what would be a daily activity that would make him feel spoiled and he said, “breakfast”. You see, if you know my husband, you know that he loves a good breakfast. Unfortunately, he rarely gets a good breakfast. I gets up an hour before I do during the week and so I’m usually still in bed when he leaves.

To make him feel spoiled, I would be getting up every morning and making him breakfast. Breakfast would consist of omelets, eggs benedict, pancakes, bacon, sausage. I think you get the picture. I do make breakfasts like this for him once in a while, but I probably should do it more often. After all, I would like him to feel spoiled!

What do you do to make your spouse feel spoiled?

My husband and I rarely watch television together (we have no reception) but we do watch DVDs. For a while, we were watching DVDs every night. At least we were doing something, but it wasn’t very interactive, and it definitely was not relationship-building (my husband almost always falls asleep before the end of the movie).

When we were young and poor, we had no TV, no DVDs, nothing. We had his stereo and my books. So we played classical music and read together. It was wonderful. Over the years, we lost the habit, but are beginning to pick it up again.

Reading together can bring you together in ways you never dreamed. When you read together, you are sharing a story or event at the time, but reading spawns deeper thought throughout the day. You discover that you and your spouse are discussing things more, opening up each other’s thoughts and feelings. This deepens the relationship beyond the half-hour or so spent reading.

Reading a book can be very relaxing. There’s no hurry, because you can go at your own pace. If you’ve had a particularly busy day, read only a paragraph or a page, or even skip reading that day. There’s no rush like there is with a rented DVD, where you have to watch it so you can get it back to the rental store before tomorrow!

My husband and I like history and non-fiction books. We find that these kinds of books encourage discussion. Our discussions bring us closer together as we “hash” issues out. Of course, if one spouse is a Democrat and another a Republican, you probably want to avoid such polarizing books as Hillary Clinton’s autobiography or Ann Coulter’s latest best seller! Remember– the intent is for reading to bring you together!

Reading together can be a wonderfully simple and satisfying way to enrich your relationship. Books can be purchased or borrowed. And there is no limit to the subjects available!

Slowing down our pace can be a temporary thing, a time to catch our breath. Slowing down can also help you live a healthier and happier life. Here are a few suggestions for slowing down.

1. Choose one morning a week to take yourself and your family out to breakfast. This is a way to share your time together, maybe review the week together, talk with each other and catch up on what is going on in each of your lives.
2. Gather your family together and go for a walk. This can be a weekly or even a nightly event. Strap the leash on the dog and take him along too. Not only is it good exercise, but it’s a chance to be together, enjoy each other’s company.
3. Meet your spouse or significant other for lunch during the work week. (I just did this today with my husband and it was really nice!) This is a great opportunity to spend some time together while the kids are in school. Use this time to reconnect.
4. Invite your spouse for a nice long soak in a nice hot bath. Light some candles and break open a bottle of wine after the kids have all gone to bed.
5. Treat yourself to a manicure, pedicure, facial or the works! This can be time to yourself or maybe you’d like to enjoy a couples massage. Come on, spoil yourselves, you deserve it!

Remember, when you take the opportunity to slow down, you’ll have a chance to pay attention to areas of your life that maybe get put on hold or even ignored. Slowing down gives you a chance to rediscover yourself and your relationships. Spoil each other, but don’t forget, sometimes we need to spoil ourselves.

· In the United States, there are about 82.5 million mothers. (source: US Census Bureau)

· about 96% of American consumers take part in some way in Mother’s Day (source: Hallmark)

· Mother’s Day is widely reported as the peak day of the year for long distance telephone calls

· Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for many restaurants

· Retailers report that Mother’s Day is the second highest gift-giving holiday in the United States (Christmas is the highest).

· Most popular month for having babies in the US is August, and most popular weekday is Tuesday.

Can you find more facts about Mother’s Day?

I encourage my husband to get out and do things with his friends. I am a bit selfish with my encouragement as it lets me have some piece and quiet in the house. I never tell him that reason. He has his barn to go when he wants to get away. It has all the comforts of home. It has a nice tv and stereo. He has a comfy chair where he can sit and chew on a cigar and not worry about dropping tobacco on the floor. (He doesn’t smoke the cigar). There is other motivation that makes me push him out the door. The joy he gets doing fun things with his friends helps me encourage him to get out and do something with his buddies. They have conversations that they might not have with me around. He comes home feeling happy. When he is happy, I am happy.

It is not something I dwell on but I know that someday, one of us might not be around. We need other people in our lives but for now, I love my best friend.

Are men super heroes? I think they are. My husband is a super hero. He doesn’t have webbed feet and can’t fly without buying an airline ticket but he is still a super hero to me.

Wiikipedia gives the definition of a super hero as:

A superhero (also known as a superhero) is a fictional character”of unprecedented physical prowess dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest.”^] Since the debut of the prototypal superhero Superman (TM DC Comics) in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas — have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other media. A female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine or super heroine.

By most definitions, characters need not have actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes, although sometimes terms such as costumed crimefighters are used to refer to those without such powers who have many other common traits of superheroes.

So, how do you spoil a super hero?  Well, what are his powers?  Does he keep your cars running? Give him a gift certificate to his favorite auto parts store.  Can he fix anything around the house? Give him a shopping spree at his favorite home improvement store. Is he a whiz in the kitchen? Buy him the latest cookbook or kitchen gadget?  Whatever you do, make sure the super hero in your life knows how much you appreciate everything they do to make your life better.

1. Buy her a nightie, and when she tries it on, say it “doesn’t look too bad.”
2. Buy a fixer-upper of a house, then confess you don’t know how to fix anything.
3. Tell your buddies her facial hair shaving techniques.
4. Talk about finances right before bedtime.
5. Be oblivious to your children who are screaming and fighting next to you while you are watching TV.
6. Never pitch in with dinner preparations.
7. Talk about your new, young secretary… all week long.
8. Buy her a beautiful gold choker necklace that’s too small, and tell her “well, it looked great on the jewelry salesgirl.”
9. Remodel the bathrooms to have no tubs, only shower stalls.

And now for the #1 way how not to spoil your wife…

1. Casually mention that DNA paternity test kits will soon be available at drugstores.

Whoa! Ouch!

OK, that was all in good jest, BUT there is much to be gleaned from that list! Understanding how to spoil your lady shouldn’t be mysterious. Just don’t EVER EVER do those things in this list, and stay tuned for some great spoiling ideas in the next Top Ten list– how you can REALLY spoil your wife.

So, here’s my idea on how to spoil your spouse in this scenario.

When you see your spouse, or significant other doing any kind of work that is going to result in them being so physically tired that a nice warm bath would benefit them, these are the simple steps you can take to make them feel that, not only is the work they accomplished appreciated, but they are deserving of being spoiled.

1. Rinse the dust out of the bathtub and wipe down the edges so it’s all sparkly clean.
2. Fix (or order take out) a lovely meal for them to eat when they’re done so they can get nourishment after all their hard work.
3. Immediately following the meal, run a nice hot bath (with bubbles is nice) for them in the newly sparkling clean tub.
4. Light a few candles and set them around the tub.
5. Place a few magazines and even their favorite book near the tub for them to read as they’re relaxing.
6. Lead them into the tub area and then walk away, allowing them to relax and enjoy the time they have in the newly candle lit, sparkling tub.
7. While they are soaking, clean up the kitchen so that it too becomes sparkly.
8. Poor a glass or two of wine and take it in to the person soaking in the tub. Enjoy a glass yourself.

The result of all of this effort is that your spouse or significant other is going to feel 100% appreciated and 100% spoiled. Nice job!

]]> http://www.spoilon.com/2008/04/24/a-hard-days-work-deserves-spoiling/feed/ http://www.spoilon.com/2008/04/24/spoil-them-with-boca-java-coffee/ http://www.spoilon.com/2008/04/24/spoil-them-with-boca-java-coffee/#comments Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:08:20 +0000 Elizabeth http://www.spoilon.com/?p=71 I must not be dropping enough hints to my husband, because you know what I would really love, what would make me feel spoiled? If he would make my coffee on weekend mornings. See, we don’t see eye to eye on what constitutes a “good” cup of coffee. He buys a can of Maxwell House about once a month and uses it until it is gone, even after the grounds have started to get bitter smelling. ICK.

I, on the other hand, discovered Boca Java coffee about six months ago, and I have never bought anything else since. What first caught my eye was how many different flavors of coffee they sell, and the fun names, like Vacation Villa Vanilla (my son’s favorite), and Lee’s Caramel Kiss Island, “dedicated to Lee Frcek, cherished wife, mother and grandmother, who battled leukemia for thirteen and a half years. A portion of the proceeds from this coffee will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which helps thousands of people annually and works toward the development of a cure.”

If your special someone is a coffee lover, Boca Java would make an excellent gift for any occasion. You can arrange for automatic delivery every 2, 3, 4, or 6 weeks, and you get an email ahead of time in case you want to pick a different flavor. Not sure which flavor your sweetie would like best? I highly recommend the Baby Boca packs, which are $2.25 each and 2 ounces of coffee, which makes an 8 cup pot. It’s a great way to try flavors like Surfin’ Safari, which is Vanilla, Kahlua, and Caramel combined (yum!) and their most popular flavored coffee.

Your sweetie doesn’t like flavored coffee? No problem! Boca Java also has great House Blends, from Boca Sunrise, a medium blend with a clean finish, to South Beach Rhythm, which is a smoky, full-body roast. There is also decaf and espresso blends available. Something for everyone!

SO, what would really make me feel spoiled is if my husband would make me a cup of my favorite Boca Java flavor and bring it to me in bed to wake me up! I definitely need to drop some hints-maybe a note stuck to the coffee maker would do the trick

To make your coffee lover feel even more spoiled, Click here
to receive a $10 itunes gift card from Boca Java! Sign up for a FREE trial membership in the Boca Java Connoisseur Club, choose four full size bags of coffee for your first order, and they will be delivered right to your door! I’m telling you, your honey will definitely feel spoiled that you took the time to buy them this delicious coffee.