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Most American workers will not get a Christmas Bonus this year, that is obvious.

But if you know how, you can get a Christmas Bonus, of $400-$1,000 each month from the IRS!

I know it sounds unbelievable, but that is why I wrote this article, to let struggling middle class workers know this wonderful truth.

I am a Personal Financial Coach. I teach people how to solve their personal money problems. My partner, Winston, is a CPA with 25 years of doing taxes for individuals and small businesses.

We know that most middle class families are living pay check to pay check, are drowning in debt and have FICO scores that are silently sucking the life blood from them.

If this is you, we will show you how your life can be turned around in less than 1 month with a monthly injection of $400-$1,000 extra each month.

Using existing tax laws, you can have the IRS give you $400-$1,000 month to help you:

• Pay the high cost of gasoline!
• Pay your credit card bills every month!
• Pay for your child care expenses!
• Pay for your son’s $100/pair Air Jordans!
• Pay your monthly car note!
• Pay for your health insurance premiums!
• Pay for your son or daughter’s piano lessons!
• Pay for your trip to Disney World!
• Pay for your Thanksgiving turkey!

In short, you would have the benefits of a 2nd job without working, and with no taxes taken out!

The money will show up as a lump of cash your pay check, every month! In fact, the IRS says that your “pay raise” has to be reflected in your next pay cycle! If you are self employed, your income taxes will be slashed by 40-50%, allowing you to put the savings into your pocket right away.

Now that you understand what is possible, let’s look at what you have to do to get your Christmas Bonus every month. There is a requirement to qualify for this government program, a home based business.

Once you have a suitable home based business, which the IRS says is a business you are running with the intent to make a profit, Duh! And on which you spend at least 20 hours per month, you will be able to write off expenses related to your business.

That is where the next requirement comes in, that you have a competent tax advisor. They can show you what deductions you qualify for, how to implement them and how to document them.

We know it may seem a bit complicated, but if you want the benefits of a Christmas Bonus of $400-$1,000 per month, isn’t it worth it?

Copyright Bill Young, 2008. Get a Free, Special Report from Bill and Winston, “I got 20% More Take Home Pay 1 week After I Applied the Instant Pay Raise System!” Click here, NOW! http://TheInstantPayRaise.Com Bill can be reached for private consultations at 646-961-3818

What’s the best thing about Christmas? To many people it is receiving presents and gifts. To others it is the pleasure of giving. Many others simply love the business of shopping for and selecting Christmas gifts. No matter how a person gets enjoyment from Christmas gifts one thing is for sure - one way or another, gifts and presents bring pleasure at Christmas! However, choosing Christmas presents can be a long arduous job- in fact, it can take ages just to find the right wrapping paper or gift box!

Still, choosing Christmas cards is straight forward - or is it? I don’t have a problem choosing cards to send to my personal Christmas list. Even though I know that mine will end up on the wall or on the mantle piece with everyone else’s, I will be in the company of friends and relatives. But the Christmas Greeting that I send from our company, now that’s a different matter! I want that product to say something positive about us. I want that card to stand out above everyone else’s - and that’s what you want for your company. In order to achieve those objectives, why not move away from a standard card and go for a pop up Christmas greeting instead.

How about a pop-up Christmas gift box? The theme is very positive and association with this feeling has to be a plus factor in your plans for a Christmas promotion. The pop-up action brings with it surprise and fun - elements that are always associated with Christmas. The product makes a great little mailing pack. The very fact that they arrive on your customer’s desk in their own custom printed mailing envelope gives the mailer a gift feel, being chunky and “boxy”. Slide the contents out of the mailer and hey-presto - the Christmas gift box pops up right there in your hand! The mailing pack itself can be designed to look like a Christmas present rather than a card so it will be opened with anticipation. In all likelihood, the pop-up will be passed around your customer’s office, spreading the good word about your company and it will certainly stand out above all the standard Christmas cards scattered around your customer’s office.

These versatile promotional pop up boxes can be made to order or certain companies can offer different shapes and sizes of boxes to suit your Christmas promotion. Pop up cubes are often available in standard sizes as are some pop up cuboids. These are the best shapes to use for adaptation to the theme of Christmas Gift Boxes.

In order to lift your own promotion above the level of the competitions’ then you need to add a wow factor. Pop up promotional products do exactly that, adding high impact value as soon as the mailer is opened and then proving to be a very interactive product thereafter. What applies in every day promotional circumstances is even more important at Christmas time when the level of mail landing on your customer’s desk is dramatically increased.

Article by Paul Whitney.

Whitney Woods Ltd is a manufacturer of promotional marketing products designed using sophisticated cardboard engineering techniques. The company is a market leader in this field in the UK and publishes a range of over 50 products including suggestions for Christmas greetings which can be viewed at http://www.christmasmarketing.co.uk/promotional-christmas-greetings.html The author also publishes a blog which is updated on a daily basis and features useful advertising and marketing ideas http://www.whitneywoods.co.uk/blog/

Once upon a time, a little Mexican boy was walking to church to see the Nativity scene. He thought hard about a gift to bring the Christ child, but had no money to buy one. “Jesus will understand,” thought the little boy stopping to gather a few bare and weedy branches lying at the side of the dusty road, “because my gift will be given with love.”

When the little boy reached his destination, people already in the church turned to see the gift he had brought and, when they saw what it was, they laughed at him.

As the little boy determinedly marched up to the altar and laid the branches by the edge of the manger, an abundance of bright red flowers suddenly began to bloom.

Since that day, the Poinsettia is known worldwide as The Christmas Flower.

Perhaps this story is a fairy tale. Perhaps not. Who is to say?

It’s certainly true that the Poinsettia originated in the south of Mexico, wending its way to the United States of America in the admiring custody of one Joel Roberts Poinsett.

Poinsett (1779-1851), was born in Charleston South Carolina , and educated in Europe and the U.S., studying medicine, military strategy, and the law. He became a member of South Carolina’s House of Representatives and subsequently held many prominent political positions. He also spearheaded the founding of the Smithsonian Institution.

Fluency in Spanish (as well as French, Italian and German) resulted in Poinsett’s diplomatic appointment by President John Quincy Adams as the first United States Ambassador to Mexico (then called Minister of Mexico).

That was a tumultuous time in Mexico, and, to make matters even more difficult, Poinsett’s impossible task was to buy the Mexican land we know as Texas, for a million dollars. However, the Mexicans did not want to sell Texas and, in 1829, they invited the hapless Ambassador Poinsett to leave.

In 1828, shortly before his absence was requested, Poinsett, an avid amateur botanist, was visiting the Mexican state of Taxco where he first saw the plant that would eventually be named after him. He shipped samples to South Carolina, where they were called “Mexican Fire Plant.” The Aztecs had called the plant “Cuetlaxochitl,” and from the 14th-Century to the 16th, used the sap to control fevers. The leaves were also used to make dye. Montezuma, the last of the Aztec kings, was forced to have Poinsettias caravaned from the south into what now is Mexico City because the plant could not grow in such high altitudes.

Upon his return to the U.S., Poinsett shared the plant with friends and botanical gardens worldwide. Around 1836, scholar William Hickline Prescott, author of The History of the Conquest of Mexico, and after whom the town of Prescott Arizona is named, was given the honor of renaming the plant. It has been known Poinsettia ever since.

While these facts are interesting, there are those of us who prefer the apocryphal tale of a little boy and the miracle of The Christmas Flower.

When you are 12, almost anything makes you happy. So it is easy to find fun Christmas gifts to make a 12-year-old boy and girl happy.

A great gift might be a colorful kite … a ring, necklace, or bracelet that light up … a trampoline that lets you jump higher than ever … a set of drums … or a digital camera.

Most 12-year-olds like to learn new skills so a few months of lessons on the electric guitar or the piano might be a thrill.

In the meantime, though, let us look more closely at a few fun Christmas gifts to make your job of shopping easier.

Heelys - Heelys are athletic shoes with a wheel in the heel. Zip down the sidewalk along with your friends. You can run errands in half the time. And, if you have a paper route, your job becomes a cinch. To use Heelys, you need to wear a padded helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards.

Power Zoom Binoculars - Your favorite 12-year-old will be able to go bird watching, see the baseball game up close, and check out the sights on a car trip or on vacation. Some excellent binoculars are 10X30X60 power zoom with a ruby lens.

Inline Skates - To help that 12-year-old become a skating ace, get him or her inline trainer skates that convert to regular inline skates. Other equipment needed for inline skating include a padded helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards.

Pinball War Games - This standing game table rocks and rolls with flashing lights and dinging sounds. It has dual LCD scoring and drop pockets. This game switches from a game for two players to a game for one. Every member of the family will enjoy taking turns at this pinball game.

Name Scroll on a Painting - This unique gift will bring shouts of joy from your favorite 12-year-olds. The scroll features his or her first name and its meaning inscribed on a painting. Included is a history of the name and famous persons with that name. The painting is of flowers, a lion, a kitten, a dog, and a knight in armor. This treausred gift is ready for framing.

There we have it. These fun Christmas gifts to make a 12-year-old boy and girl happy may inspire you to think of yet more gifts. Not included here are hi-tech gadgets, a computer, software, an MP3 player, or games. We will cover those in a following article. Meanwhile - have a merry old Christmas.

Many people are not aware of what a Fiber Optic Christmas tree is exactly, or what this type of tree can add to your holiday decorating theme this year for Christmas.

A Fiber Optic Christmas tree has strands of pure glass or see through plastic tube surrounded by a reflective coating. Light can go into one end of the strand and for long distances through each strand to the end where it shines into the room.

The result is a spectacular light show of any color imaginable that change on a color wheel. The use of fiber optics for Christmas trees is a great idea in its inventive applications using this form of light display for many reasons.

An artificial fiber-optic Christmas tree can change your household Christmas decorating theme into a fabulously attractive display of twinkling lights that changes the shade from one color into a more dazzling array of other colors. In addition you can add a Fiber - Optic Christmas tree you can decorate the front of your home’s entrances with smaller LED Fiber-Optic Tree.

LED Christmas Trees or as they are also called fiber optic Christmas Trees come straight to your door ready to plug in and enjoy. You an also order this type of tree pre decorated or add your own assortment of decorations to complete the look your personalized Fiber Optic Christmas Tree.

You can add garlands of flowers, ribbons, shells or candy to the mix and have an adorable good looking Christmas Tree. Or you may chose to leave the Tree as is, and concentrate on decorating other parts of the living room or get another tree for another room as well.

Fiber Optic Christmas Trees do not give out heat, only light so they are a must for fire safety. The LED lights provide a 200,000 lifetime span of hours of pure enjoyment of your special Fiber Optic Christmas display. That works out to about 20 Christmas years of life out of your one purchase so it is more economical and energy efficient than other types of Christmas Trees.

You can cover your tree with cotton strands to simulate snow, or decorated with glass ornaments as there is no heat given off therefore no fear of fire hazards. Today with young and modern customers just any old tree will not do for a Christmas holiday. If you pick up any old tree at any old store you will be setting for less and you will get less for your money as they quality is just not present.

A smart and wise investment is a LED fiber Optic Christmas Tree because they are very energy efficient using ten times less in energy that the average Christmas bulbs. Fiber optic Christmas Trees last up to 20 years and therefore are more economical than other trees.

This type of tree is also very safe since they produce no heat there is no danger of catching fire like a real tree can as it dries out in your living room.

The Fiber Optic Christmas tree is virtually indestructible and the bulbs are not inter-dependant - if one bulb burns out it does not affect the whole tree. Fiber optic Christmas Trees come in 4, 5 feet tall for apartments, bedrooms spare rooms, or condo apartments. The larger Christmas Trees range from 5 feet or up to 10 feet tall in green, white or frosted colors.

The most magnificent White Fiber Optic Tree I have seen is a Pre-Lit Artificial Tree, with L.E.D. circuit technology and has over 9,900 optic light tips for a dazzling display. The Fiber optic Tree with the easy set up in minutes, can be the most beautiful acquisition for any style of home.

There are no motors of fans or color wheels needed with this Christmas Tree and no need of halogen bulbs that require a fan to cool them off. The tree has reinforced branches for extra strength if you wished to add decorations and more ornaments.

In summary the benefits of a Fiber Optic Christmas Tree are many and the savings on energy are enormous as well. If your in the market for a new tree this year you should look at this type of tree and it will be the most spectacular Christmas decoration of your home.

Teri Salvador is a freelance article writer on many topics but with a site primarily on dog health issues that offers frequently updated articles on natural remedies, pet product reviews and current articles on pet foods. You will read it first on http://www.DogHealth1.com even before CNN gets around to covering the story.

You will get abundant literature on the celebrations of Christmas. One gets involved in the world of words so much that the festivities of xmas seem more magical. Not everyone is very much interested in reading books. But if you wish to share that excitement with your loved ones, you can do that by giving them cards containing these sayings. These short and mind arresting Xmas sayings make an immediate impact on our minds.

Xmas is the time to create memories that can be cherished life long. Here we are with some of the memorable sayings for you to share it further and spread the cheery and jolly vibes all around. These handpicked Xmas sayings include statements by some of the great authors who are legends in the literary world. Their writings have created and overturned many traditions. See the magic when their expertise in using words comes at work to describe the celebrations. It is only after reading them, we get to know that the spirit of Xmas transcends mundane world and becomes ethereal.

Christmas Sayings

You might as well do your Christmas hinting early.” - Anon.

At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May’s newfangled mirth;
But life of each thing that in season grows.

- William Shakespeare Love’s Labour’s Lost

I have often thought, says Sir Roger, it happens very well that Xmas should fall in the Middle of winter.

- Joseph Addison

Christmas is the keeping-place for memories of our innocence. - Joan Mills

There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.

Like snowflakes, my Xmas memories gather and dance - each beautiful, unique and too soon gone. - Deborah Whip

For a vast collection of sayings on different aspects of the festival see christmas-quotations.com

http://www.christmas-quotations.com

While we usually tend to focus on games to keep the kiddies entertained, adults can have their games too!

Santa Beard
Adults may find this game fun if they don’t mind getting a bit gooey for a short time! Divide up into 2 teams and get some Vaseline and a bowl of cotton ball for each team. Each team member will put some Vaseline on their chins, and then each team member will run up and dip their chins in the bowl of cotton balls and run back so the next member can have a turn. You’ll want to get as many cotton balls to stick to your chin as possible. The first team to have all members with a beard wins the game! You should be sure and get some pictures and it will make for good laughs in holidays to come! Of course you’ll also want to have some towels and warm water to remove the Vaseline.

Scavenger Hunt
A scavenger hunt was always a fun game as a kid, but just because you’re an adult doesn’t mean you can’t still have one! This scavenger hunt will be for items all related to Christmas since it is that time of year. Divide up into teams of 4 will work best, then give them the list of items they need to gather.

You can contain the search to items that can be found in your home or you can make it even more fun and let them run all over town trying to find the items on the list. You should be creative when coming up with the items and include things such as a picture at a particular location, or a certain type of Christmas box. It’s a great way for everyone to work together and have some fun in the process!

Shopping for Dad always seems pretty easy. He always seems to like whatever you give him. Why not make it special and really give him something to smile about this holiday season?

One suggestion for a gift for Dad might be the traditional tools. A man can never have enough tools for projects around the house. By giving him his favorite tool, one could achieve several things. First, he gets a smile on his face. Second, your home projects might actually get done. Finally, he has a toy of his own.

Another gift idea would be electronics. These would range from MP3 Players/IPODs to GPSs and TVs. They are all great ideas. MP3 Players/IPODs can be taken everywhere and can plug into his car or treadmill. He will enjoy his music while he is either driving or running. Maybe even watch a game or movie on his IPOD. Of course the game would look even better on a brand new television. There are plenty of options between LCD, Plasma and Projection TV. Don’t forget the GPS. Men, especially Dad, will not want to ask for directions this holiday season. Save him the trouble with a new GPS system. This way everyone gets where they need to go safely and on time.

Moms are always expected to look nice for the holidays. Men are starting to take their personal hygiene seriously. There are plenty of products out there to help Dad look and feel his best. These can range from new electric shavers, to nose trimmers, to fog-free mirror in the shower, and maybe even a massage toy to help Dad relax after a long day. All these would contribute to Dad looking and feeling better during the holidays. Dad may even want his favorite cologne or hair product. Surprisingly more and more men are starting to really take an interest in how they look and smell. I am sure moms appreciate this.

Sports, many argue, are the man’s domain at home. Why not spoil Dad this holiday season with tickets to go and see his favorite team play? Another suggestion could be sports memorabilia. Does Dad have a favorite team or player? Maybe get him a poster, jersey, signed card or ball. Maybe Dad doesn’t watch sports, maybe he likes to play. This holiday, upgrade his sports equipment. He will think of you every time he plays. Or maybe Dad doesn’t play sports, but enjoys the competition of a good poker game. Give him something to play this winter like a poker set, table and a poker book. The game is so hot right now and he can invite his buddies over for a nice friendly home game.

Apparel and accessories for Dad work well as a holiday gift. Great suggestions could be a new jacket, work out clothes, sweaters, or even a nice tie! Dad should really throw away that old holey shirt and you can replace it with one from his school alma mater. Maybe he could use a nice black sweater or ski jacket to keep him warm and in style. Watches are also a nice addition to Dad’s wardrobe. They are both functional and contribute to that finished look that makes Dad look complete.

All of these suggestions of holiday gifts I am sure will put a happy face on Dad. Some you can enjoy as a family and others Dad can enjoy by himself or with his buddies. After all, holiday gifts are wonderful to receive and put to use and with these suggestions you will surely not disappoint dear ole Dad.

Christmas party games make any holiday celebration fun. Party games get the party going and keep it going. Like most Christmas traditions, Christmas games were enjoyed throughout the centuries as an important part of holiday celebrations.

As early as the 16th century it was customary to play games at Christmas. Late medieval English law allowed servants and commoners to play games at Christmas that were forbidden the rest of the year. These games included tennis, dice, cards, billiard and others.

Christmas games enjoyed in the modern period were blindman’s bluff, feed the dove and hot cockles. In Hot Cockles each player in turn is blindfolded. The blindfolded player puts his hands behind his back, palms up. One of the other players hits the hands of the blindfolded player. The blindfolded player must guess which of the other players has hit him. If he does so correctly, he may penalize the player whom he “caught.” Those who preferred a greater mental test might retire to a game of chess, while the physically agile might challenge each other to tennis or skittles.

The English also enjoyed playing cards and gambling at Christmas time, especially with dice. During the reign of the Tudor kings, working people may have found greater pleasure in these games than the well-to-do, since they were prohibited by law from playing games except at Christmas time. In the sixteenth and 17th centuries the Puritans condemned those who celebrated Christmas by playing games and gambling.

In Victorian England parlor games remained popular Christmas entertainments throughout the 19th century. Victorians favored such games as Snapdragon, Forfeits, Hoop and Hide (Hide and Seek), charades, Blind Man’s Bluff, Queen of Sheba (a variation on Blind Man’s Bluff), and Hunt the Slipper. In Snapdragon players gathered around a bowl of currants covered with spirits. A lighted match was dropped into the bowl, setting fire to the alcohol. Players challenged one another to grab a flaming currant out of the bowl and pop it into their mouths, thus extinguishing the flames. A bit of light verse describes the fearful delights of this game:

Here he comes with flaming bowl,
Don’t he mean to take his toll,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
Take care you don’t take too much,
Be not greedy in your clutch,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
With his blue and lapping tongue
Many of you will be stung,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
For he snaps at all that comes
Snatching at his feast of plums,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
But Old Christmas makes him come,
Though he looks so fee! fa! fum!
Snip! Snap! Dragon!
Don’t ‘ee fear him, be but bold-
Out he goes, his flames are cold,
Snip! Snap! Dragon!

Players heightened the effect of the glowing, blue flames by extinguishing all other lights in the room except that cast by the burning bowl.

In Hunt the Slipper players formed a circle around one person. They held their hands behind their backs and passed a slipper around the outside of the circle. The person in the center of the circle had to guess who was in possession of the slipper at any given moment.

A number of other English Christmas games have now disappeared so completely that only their picturesque names remain behind. Folklorists cannot now say how they were played. These forgotten games include Shoeing the Wild Mare, Steal the White Loaf, Post and Pair, Feed the Dove, Puss-in-the-Corner, and The Parson Has Lost His Cloak. Before a Christmas party broke up for the evening, the sleepy guests might play one last, quaintly named game called Yawning for a Cheshire Cheese. The players sat in a circle and yawned at one another. Whoever produced the longest, most open-mouthed, and loudest yawn won a Cheshire cheese.

Christmas Games are also played in other Countries. Some traditional Christmas games are for children. In many nations Advent calendars amuse children with a kind of counting game in the weeks before Christmas. Children in Mexico often play games with pinitas at holiday season parties. In Iran youngsters play egg-tapping games at Christmas time. Most Christmas games, however, involve adults and younger people. In a number of different countries sporting matches, games of chance, or fortune-telling games are associated with one or more days of the Christmas season.

In past times Swedes used to play games with Christmas gifts, which they call Julklapp, on December 24. On St. Stephen’s Day both Swedes and Norwegians used to race horses (see Norway, Christmas in). Ethiopians celebrate Christmas Day by playing ganna, a sport that resembles hockey (see Ethiopia, Christmas in). In the United States, many people enjoy watching football bowl games on New Year’s Day. In Lithuania people entertain themselves on Christmas Eve with fortune-telling games.

Some popular Christmas games we enjoy today are Yankee Swap, Elephant Gift Exchange, cookie exchanges, caroling and others. There’s no doubt that Christmas party games still play a big part in making the season special and memorable.

Coming up with Christmas gift ideas that will be original yet appreciated by the person receiving them isn’t always easy.

Birthdays are fairly easy. For a start, they don’t all arrive at once, so you have time to get your creative juices flowing.

Choosing Christmas gifts is different. You need to buy presents for everyone from the youngest niece or nephew, through to grandparents. Sometimes you may not meet these people very often and the decision isn’t made any easier by the relative lack of knowledge.

If you know the person concerned, it could be that they have been kind enough to drop some hints into your conversations with them. Providing these hints aren’t too obscure, those kind of conversations can be life savers.

But what do you do about the other people you need to buy Christmas gifts for?

You could take the easy way out by buying a gift voucher, but that doesn’t look very impressive when it’s wrapped up below the Christmas tree.

DVD sets are often a good choice. Especially if you know one or two of their favorite films or television shows. Amazon’s feature of “people who bought this also bought …” can really come in handy for choosing a present that shows you put some time and thought into it.

If you’ve got the time and creative energy to make a really personalized gift, that can work very well. Anything from a scrapbook covering the year in words and pictures through to a DVD you’ve made from photos and music. There’s a lot of software available nowadays that makes this kind of exercise a lot less daunting than it would have been even a few years ago.

Personalized presents that are ordered online can also make good gifts. You can create t-shirts, mugs, mouse mats and all kind of other presents at the click of a mouse. They’re then delivered to your doorstep a few days later, ready for you to wrap and give for Christmas.

Other personalized gifts can include naming stars, buying land on the moon and even preserving an important minute of time!