I just read a news article about an actor and how he and his wife approach Christmas gifts with their son. He said that they bought nothing for his Christmas when he was under one-year-old because he wouldn’t know the difference. And as he got older and they noticed that he saw Christmas gifts as just a bunch of stuff—one gift after another—they cut back until he appreciated each gift he got as something of value.
I thought about that as I got to the point of writing this week’s topic. How do we give gifts that are personal? Here are a few ideas I had.
- Give gifts from the heart. I made it a habit long ago to give gifts to
people I love that I love, too. So, unless my mom asked for a puce-colored sweater where the sleeves hung over her hands and the hem reached her knees, I gave her a sweater I would like to wear myself. I gave a gift that would mean something to me if I received it. - Give gifts that people need. I don’t mean giving only underwear for Christmas—people need joy as well as undies—but there’s no need to give a person something they have no use for. My mom is on a fixed income and appreciates gift cards she can use to buy things she needs instead of having to use her own money. I always used to think that gift cards were impersonal, but they’re what she needs at this stage of life, so that’s what she gets.
- Give something intangible. A smile at the right time can be the greatest
gift of all. Lending a helping hand when you see it’s needed, thanking a serviceman or woman, or police officer for their service, or saying a kind word are all ways that make the recipient warm inside, and they cost nothing. My mom was always (and fortunately for me, still is) always ready with a hug or encouragement. Always willing to jump in and give me whatever it is I need. - Give something tangible. Charities always need more help at the holidays, but they also need a boost all year long. My mom tithes all
year, but she doesn’t tithe to her church, as such. She tithes in kind, by giving to two particular charities: one is an Indian school in South Dakota. She and my aunt send books and school supplies during the year and all kinds of gloves, scarves and hats in the winter. They buy travel size personal items and small teddy bears and package them to give to women’s shelters. When women escape horrible situations at home, they leave with just what they have on, and they need more, so Mom and my aunt help provide those things. - Give time. Another intangible that might cost something if it means taking time from work is the gift of time. Time is infinite, but time here
on earth, with loved ones or even those we don’t know, like folks at a nursing home or hospital, is not infinite. Once a day is gone it never comes again. I live too far from Mom to see her often, but we talk weekly and when we do have time together, we cherish it. Time and love are the two greatest gifts!
I do try each Christmas to follow these gift-giving ideas, though I don’t always succeed. I tend to give Jack things that I think he needs, not what he thinks he needs. (I do know best, don’t I? It turns out, not so much!) But I think the best point to remember about personal gift giving is that it’s not just for Christmas—it’s a notion we should follow all year round.
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
One Woman Only: The Good Man Series, Book 2 Jonah’s story! Can a simple mechanic rekindle with his high school love? She says no, but Jonah loves a challenge!
Mystic Desire
Only a Good Man Will Do
Naval Maneuvers
The whole time I lived at home, my mom made corn pudding for our holiday meals. I really don’t remember having it any other time, but Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, corn pudding was a staple on our dinner table. I loved it! Mom loved it! Dad…? Well, when he explained to Mom why he was leaving, after 28 years of marriage, he said he hated corn pudding.
I’m not quite a Luddite, but close to it. I wasn’t always this way. Time was, I was considered a leader in computer and Internet usage. I posted on Yahoo groups with the best of them to promote my books, and could make Outlook, Word and Excel sing. Then I took a break.
would be spending even more time at the keyboard. And that doesn’t include blogging or managing a newsletter. By the time I create blog posts, both for those appearing on the Nomad Authors blog and for when I appear on the blog sites of others, I’m pooped.
When I first saw the topic for the week, writing rituals, I had to stop and think. I don’t have any writing rituals. I know that writing a book takes work—it’s not magic (darn it!). But I have trouble thinking of it as a job to do every day. I’ve let my dreams fizzle without intending to. Anyway, because I have no writing rituals of my own, I looked up the topic and found this great article in a 2015 
writing matter and then I back off. Jennifer asks in this point, if you were a bestselling author, would you put your writing “off all the time or would you site down every day and write?” Wow. I really want to follow through on this point!
The Sweetest Magic of All – Alice Renaud
uncle’s mysterious death. He knows the guilty party is there at the B&B but he doesn’t know that the inn is spelled with magic by the owner, a witch. Alice has a dream of running the B&B with rooms that treat guests to a fantasy that matches the room’s theme—adventure, spa, etc. Each night Brodie has a dream matching the room’s theme, each day he’s moved to another room. His dreams all end with a gorgeous woman, and of course, each room leads him directly to Alice. This was a cute story with an imaginative twist. And Brodie’s uncle? So many things are not what they seem!
Dream Catcher – Callie Carmen
though. Ever wonder why things don’t go perfectly in life? Why nothing seems to fit? That’s how Rachel Finlay feels until she discovers photos in the house of her recently passed aunt. Then a thought niggles and tickles. Maybe there’s a reason things don’t fit in this time. Maybe it’s because of events in a past time. Love it!!
So that’s my evaluation of 
I like epilogues. I write a lot of epilogues, too, probably because I like to read them. To me, they finish the book. It’s all well and good to have Heroine A say how much she loves Hero A and vice versa, but I like to see that Heroine A actually ends up with Hero A and not accidentally with Hero B. Did they marry? Have a passel of kids? Move to Timbuktu? Inquiring minds want to know. And that’s what an epilogue does for me.
back where two endings were written and which happened was up to the viewer. Or the kind who want to envision their own version of the castle Cinderella and Prince Charming lived in—was it a condo on the beach at Malibu or more like the Biltmore House in North Carolina? When it comes to ending a romance, I prefer to know. I do enough imagining about stuff, like what I’m making for dinner—actual food or reservations. I don’t need to wonder about Cinderella’s living conditions. Give me a good epilogue any time!
came up with what I think would be a perfect invention: the DEESKNIGHT SPACE ALIEN DETECTOR.
truly making peace in the universe. They can say, “We come in peace. Take us to your leader.” And we can say, “Welcome to our planet. Did you bring space gold?” Maybe all the strive in the world is due to innate conflict between aliens/humans that could be solved if we just knew who was who. So I’m for this invention idea. Anyone out there want to invest?
An Awareness of Evil – Dee S. Knight
Dream Catcher – Callie Carmen
Love that Binds – Carol Schoenig 
The Sweetest Magic of All – Alice Renaud
with a beautiful seductress until the British government sends him on a spying assignment. The deadly mission sees Adrian and his family running for their lives through a war-torn Europe. On the perilous road to home, a web of spies and assassins surround them on all sides. As the danger grows, Adrian finds himself more drawn to the lovely Gabrielle. A nightmare of betrayal and brutality follow them as Adrian risks everything to get his family back home.
Men and women of the armed forces deal experience desire and love pretty much like everyone else. Except, well, there is that uniform. And the hard-to-resist attraction of “duty, honor, service” as a man might apply them to a woman’s pleasure. All things considered, romance among the military is a pretty sexy, compelling force for which you’d better be armed, whether weighing anchor and moving forward into desire, dropping anchor and staying put for passion, or setting a course for renewed love with anchor home.
We all remember our firsts in life; first kiss, first love, first sexual experience. Black Velvet Seductions present a collection of eleven short stories, from eleven great writers, on the subject of First Submission within a Domination and submission relationship. The authors are from different backgrounds across the world and have written a broad spectrum of stories on such diverse themes as straight, gay, BDSM, domestic discipline, age play and multiple partners. A red hot read of wide ranging sexy stories to thrill and tantalize! Discover the authors and their stories on the 
policeman and so much more. There’s a little erotic romance for everyone, including ménage, BDSM, spanking, and… Well you’ll have to see for yourself on the