For most people choosing normal gifts for birthdays and Christmas is an exercise in frustration and stress, and choosing gifts for special occasions can be even more difficult!  The thing about special occasion gifts that makes them different however isn't only in their appropriateness for the person receiving the gift, but also in the sense of occasion that accompanies the gift.  Special occasion gifts are given to mark certain important events such as landmark birthdays such as 13, 21, 30, 40, and so on.  Other special occasion gifts are given to mark life achievements such as graduation, first job, having a baby, getting married, and the larger wedding anniversaries such as 25, 40, 50 and 60 years of marriage.

As a youngster one of the best times of year was when the sleeping bags were taken from their winter storage place and put out for airing, ready for use.  They would have spent the winter months squashed inside some sort of large garbage bag to keep them clean and no matter how long they'd been stored, as soon as they were shaken out of their confined space, the smell of summer would fill the air. 

There are an increasing number of online colleges to choose from for anyone who is looking for an education without having to leave home.  Many of these are legitimate, some of them even part of a traditional brick college, but there are those which are not, and which will take your money, but not give you the kind of education you are hoping for, or a degree that will get you the job you're dreaming of.

Usually in a family, it's mom who gets all the accolades - except on Fathers Day.  Although for many moms a lot of what she does goes un-noticed by those who live in the home (until a time she doesn't do it and everyone notices what isn't done of course!), it's still mom who is the primary love target for her children.  She's the one who gets the hugs and kisses, the one who's told she's the best, the one the come and confide in when they need someone to share a secret.  She's also the one that faces the dilemma of what to do when they say "don't tell Dad he'll freak out!" - after all, he's her partner and they aren't supposed have secrets! 

Crazy gifts are everywhere.  They don't have to be given for any particular occasion, in fact, some crazy gifts seem to have a short shelf life and so if you wait until a birthday comes around, you may find you can longer buy that perfect singing sunflower that moved in time to the music that you know your best friend would laugh at!

Bamboo might be known to you in the form of bamboo shoots that make up a large proportion of a panda's diet, or alternatively you may have some form of it in your Chinese meals, but did you know that you could buy bamboo ear-rings?  And if you didn't, would you be surprised to learn that these bamboo ear-rings are actually quite nice?