We also have updated our Mother's Day Gift Store on Amazon.  Though there are often similar themes to the types of presents that make good gifts for moms sometimes there are new product entries.  This year a new product that looks very promising it the new Flip SlideHD Camcorder.  The Flip SlideHD is offered by Flip Video which popularized the handheld mini camcorder.  The most notable feature for this new Flip is of course the slide up widescreen viewer that allows you to view and show the videos that you have just shot.  Offering HD output as well it is the perfect gift for the gadget lover.  A new mom would also find it handy for keeping track of all of the milestone moments with their babies.

Our favorites tend to be gadget gifts like the SlideHD, the IPod Touch, and the Kindle but you will also find some other ideas at the store as well.  Check out more gift ideas for mom at the store.

The term Secretary is in some ways outdated.  Many people prefer to be called administrative assistant.  The higher level secretaries are often called Executive assistants nowadays.  Secretaries Day was started back in 1952 the the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Since 1952, the International Association of Administrative Professionals has honored office workers by sponsoring Administrative Professionals Week. Today, it is one of the largest workplace observances outside of employee birthdays and major holidays.

In the year 2000, IAAP announced a name change for Professional Secretaries Week and Professional Secretaries Day. The names were changed to Administrative Professionals Week and Administrative Professionals Day to keep pace with changing job titles and expanding responsibilities of today’s administrative workforce.

Whatever you are calling them in your life, now is the time to show them that you care about what they do day in and day out and that you appreciate them.  If you have not already planned something like taking them out to lunch or something like that there are many other things you can do to send that last minute gift.

If you have time to run to the pharmacy go get a card, though ecards can simplify your life they don't pack the same I am thoughtful vibe than a physical card.  You can actually write something in them that reflects your appreciation for the administrative professional involved.  Gift cards are great last minute gifts.  Nowadays you can even get them at the supermarket even though they do hit you with a fee.  You can find gift cards for restaurants or specific stores like Best Buy.

Younger folks  are actually easier because you can get them at Amazon and print them out right at your desk and or email them to the person you are giving them to.  ITunes gift certificates are also easily bought online and make great last minute gifts.

You may also have time to order some flowers which tend to be great for older administrative professionals who don't "live" online.

Good Luck!

When picking a card you may struggle with what is too cheesy or what is something that would seem as though it is coming from your heart.  It really all depends on your personality or that of your mother's.  Maybe your mother is someone who would really appreciate funny mother's day cards.  Maybe she is more the sentimental poetic type that appreciates a good mother's day poem.

Homemade Mothers Day cards are also a legitimate choice.  Again you need to look at the Mother's personality.  Will she think you are being cheap or will she think you are being thoughtful and creative?  In these tougher economic times most Mothers would not hold it against you if you choose to make a handmade Mother's Day card just to save money.  Let's face it cards can range from as little as a dollar to fancy cards that can cost $20 (like the ones you can record something on).  That doesn't mean you should not go all out on making the perfect handmade card.  You may already have materials like construction paper, lace, glue and markers on hand.  Get creative.  Be sure to include a message that comes from your heart and will show your mother that you have put some time into it.

Another option for homemade cards is to buy card making software.  Mother's Day printable cards will save you money in the long run if you consider you would be buying the card software for all sorts of different occasions like Father's Day, Birthdays and Anniversaries just to name a few.  Many of us already have the hardware we need on hand.  Most homes have a computer and a decent color printer.  One card software program that I have heard a lot about is Hallmark Card Studio.  Who can forget their slogan "When you Care Enough to Send the Very Best" so n this case it would be "When You Care Enough to Make the Very Best".

Whatever kind of Mother's Day Card you decide on, keep in mind most Mothers keep their cards forever!

Easter gift ideas for kids usually revolve around an Easter Gift Basket of one kind or another.  Many times you can find them even at pharmacies like CVS and Walgreen's if you are in a pinch.  Easter gift baskets usually include some amount of candy.  Plush toys like Easter Rabbits, Easter Chicks, and Easter Lambs are also good gifts particularly for younger kids.  My daughter likes Easter Lambs more than Easter Bunnies.

You can make your own Easter Gift Baskets by buying a basket and then creating a theme around it.  For example, there is an Easter Gift Basket on Amazon that combines a bunch of Ben 10 toys.  This is great if the boy on your Easter gift list is a big fan.  Another possibility that comes to mind is Bakugan which also is very popular with boys.  For girls Easter Gift Baskets can be themed for dolls that they like or even one that revolves around a makeover.  This could include age appropriate beauty supplies and hair products.

For the host of the Easter gathering you should also remember to bring a little something.  Flowers are an easy bet.  You can also bring more sophisticated boxed chocolates.

We have put together an Easter Amazon store with some of our recommendations.  The Easter Gift Ideas there also include Easter Books and Movies.  Easter is symbolic of rebirth.  Celebrate spring with a splash!

A major selling point for the Discovery Store is that the products and toys they offer are educational in nature.  There is always a cool factor as well especially with the Robot Toys they sell.  Robot toys like Discovery Joebot and Rocky the Robot Dumptruck are great gifts for boys on your list.  Remote Control toys like RC Stunt Psycho and Discovery Remote Control T-Rex are also good gift ideas for boys.

On the girls side The Discovery Ultimate Pottery Wheel or the Green Dollhouse with Furniture are just a couple of cool gifts that the girls on your list will love.  Another gift that I found interesting was the Sticker Maker that they are offering at 20% off already.  My children love stickers in fact they have been obsessed by them.  They are also offering 2 best selling scientific/educational toys at discounted prices for the tinkerer on your list.  The Discovery Electronic Gadget Lab and the Discovery Tornado Lab remind me of displays that my son and I played with at a trip to the local Discovery Museum.

The Discovery Store 20% off storewide sale takes place from Saturday 12/12 at 12:01am PST to Monday 12/14 at 11.59pm PST. Take an additional 20% off all Discovery orders when you click through this link. Shop now!

Black Friday is usually the Friday after Thanksgiving.   This year in 2009 we are seeing retailers starting their Black Friday promotions and deals early.  There are a few reasons for this.  The major one is the recession.  Stores are afraid they are not going to get as many shoppers in the store so they are hoping to entice them with deals on what they consider hot items.  This is good news for us the buyers because prices will be lower.  The other reason is that due to the way the calendar falls there only 4 shopping weekends this year.  That is why you see stores like Best Buy and Sears other major retailers offering deals starting as early as this weekend or Monday.

The good news is that you may be able to get your Christmas gift shopping done early.  You also need to be careful this year because according to reports on CNBC retailers are not stocking up as much as last year.  Last year they were burned with lots of inventory that they practically had to give away at the end of the shopping season.  This year you may find hot toys and gifts being sold out much earlier so if you have one of those on your list shop early!

In the past few years more visibility has been given to the dangers of high levels of lead in certain toys.  The website that attempts to test and track results for a variety of chemicals in toys is HealthyStuff.org.  They actually test more than just toys so here is the direct link to the toy section that allows you to search for toys in their database.  They actually put out a list of toys each year.  Their 2009 list does not seem to be out yet.

The other site that provides general safety data for toys is ToySafety.org which has come up with their 10 Worst List for 2009.  Those toys would probably make for bad choices for gifts.  Not everyone agrees with how either of these organizations come up with their lists but as a gift giver you definitely don't want to give toys that will be thought unsafe by the parents involved.  The 10 Worst Toy list has been generated since 1973 and has helped determine improvements in the manufacturing of toys.

Grandparents Day Gift Ideas

Easy and affordable gifts can be homemade or just be thoughtful.  If the grandparents are really involved in your children's lives and help take care of them and raise them maybe they need a night out.  Treat them to a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant.  If they like wine get them a bottle or even a wine basket.

Homemade cards from the kids are especially nice since it gets them involved in the gift giving and in understanding the nature of the special day, appreciating grandparents.

If the grandparents are not able to spend a lot of time with their grandchildren pictures and/or home movies are a simple yet usually much appreciated gift.  My mother-in-law can never get enough pictures and sometimes we don't take the time to go through those pictures in our hard drives.  You can put them in traditional picture frames or buy a digital one where you can load more than one.

You can make an album or slide show type of movie with pictures you just haven't had the chance to do anything with.  Recently I have been using a software program called Muvee to produce slide shows accompanied by music and titles.  My parents were blown away by one I sent them with pictures from our last visit with them.  Not everyone likes video editing but you may already have an application that you can do this with on the computer you have.

You can always keep to the basics of flowers and wine and most importantly your time!

At this point you may run into shipping issues with some of your Father's Day gift choices but keep in mind that online gift stores know that time is running out too.  They do their best to offer whatever expedited shipping options they can.  Keep in mind you have until Saturday to get the gift delivered to you if you are going to be hand delivering it.  You can also use my late gift strategy from my Mother's Day gift post if you think you are not going to get the gift delivered in time:

1. Get a Great Father's Day Card
2. Include a Printed Picture of the Present
3. Make sure the Father involved gets the card on or before Father's Day!

So now that that's out of the way let's look at what will make a good last minute gift.  Here are the top 5:

1. Shaving Related
2. Framed Picture/Digital Photo Frame
3. An HD Camcorder or Camera
4. A Gift Certificate to his Favorite Games Store
5. DVD Set of One of His Favorite TV Series

These are not necessarily in order since I have used all of these before with success.

1)Shaving can be a man's biggest pain.  My husband has sensitive skin and a year or two ago I was told of higher end shaving products from The Art of Shaving.  You don't necessarily have to get that brand but you can check with clerks at your department store for something equivalent if you can't find this line.  Their products can be expensive but they do offer a better shaving experience that results in smoother better looking skin.  If the Dad on your list does not shave you can always get some grooming tools for his beard or goatee.

2)Framed pictures and digital photo frames are great because most fathers love to have the latest pictures of their kids.  I am buying a digital photo frame for my husband this year because every year I end up buying a new frame for the most recent picture of the kids he wants in his office.  You can add pictures and change them and most digital picture frames come with different color frames that can be swapped out depending on the decor.  This is also great for grandfathers who want the latest pictures of their grandkids.

3)Men love tech toys.  If the father on your list has not upgraded to HD and HD camcorder might just make his day.  Nowadays you can get the Flip or Sony equivalents for around $200.  You need to make sure it had HD capabilities though since the Flip still has the non-HD versions out on the market.

4)If the man is a gamer and you don't know the difference between World of WarCraft and Guitar Hero you might want to buy him a gift card or certificate at a place like  GameStop.  If you know the specific title he has been waiting to get his hands on go for it and really make his day.

5)TV Series on DVD have made a bunch of older and very popular TV series available for purchase.  Men tend to love slapstick type of comedy and you can get them anything from the Three Stooges to Seinfeld.  I have done well with Seasons of The Office and 30 Rock.  You can also look at movie collections as well like The Matrix, The Terminator, Lord of the Rings, The Bourne Trilogy…

So there you have it, 5 ideas for great last minute Father's Day gifts.

Some of you may be asking why a laptop and not a desktop.  Today's student requires the mobility offered by a laptop.  Though laptops are usually more expensive than desktops the additional expense is necessary.  At time college students are taking notes right on their laptops in class.  You can't carry around a desktop.

One big factor to consider when buying the laptop is the college or university that they will be attending.  You need to find out what the requirements are and what software they recommend.  You don't want to buy a PC Windows based computer only to find that a Macintosh computer is required.  Many graphic and art schools rely on Apples versus PCs.

This leads us to the question of when you should buy the laptop.  If you can get the requirements for the institution your grad will be attending I personally think the sooner the better.  That can be as early as graduation.  The main reason for this is that every computer and software program has a learning curve and you should have your high school grad hit the ground running when they start college.

Picking a computer may be hard but once you have the requirements regarding operating system, memory, processor and hard drive space I would recommend looking at reviews online.  Amazon has a section with a breakdown by brand which includes reviews and best seller lists which may be helpful in picking the right laptop.

This is usually a graduation gift that is pretty hard to beat and will save the grad a buck or two come the fall.