You don’t have to be Irish to celebrate St. Patty’s Day.  Any excuse for a party—right?  Do you know why we celebrate?  OK, since I am Irish, I have the answer to this question.

National Women’s History Month began in March 8, 1857, when the women of a New York City factory stood up and protested over poor working conditions.  Congress in 1981 established National Women’s History Week to be commemorated the second week of March.  Then in 1987, Congress expanded the week to a month.

I have family living out of state that I visit every summer and every other Christmas.  With my fear of flying, I decided years ago to make the long trip by car.  The older I got, the older (and longer) the trips got. I even tried letting Greyhound do the driving for me one year–well I won’t even go into just how many reasons I have for NOT doing that again!! Soooo, I relented and started flying.  I have to admit that it is so much easier and actually cost less.  BUT, you may not want to be “the one” sitting beside me on that 2 hour flight!  I’m just sayin’!

When racking your brain for gift ideas for the Holidays, consider a donation on behalf of your recipient.   Please consider the  St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  They have an online gift catalog which offers many reasonably priced gifts for Christmas as well as gifts for all occasions.  Check out  the “Celebrity Friend Collections” which features some beautiful gifts from well known artists like Keith Urban, Daisy Fuentes among others, with 100% of the profits, after all related expenses, benefiting St. Jude’s children. 

I don’t know about you, but  every year I struggle with gift ideas for the holidays while trying not to break the bank!   How do we give a thoughtful gift on a budget?