A smile goes a long way

December 1st.....Christmas will be here before you know it. Black Friday is over and now the countdown begins, which means there are a lot of people who are grumpy, tired, aggravated, frustrated and annoyed. I'm not saying this is true of everyone and even at this exact moment but it will come as Christmas draws near. People start stressing out and panicking and their emotions take over. It can happen very easily around the holidays. BUT this year lets take a step back and relax. Lets remember the REASON for the SEASON.

I was at the post office today and when it was my turn I said hello and smiled to the gentleman helping me. He responded back with "A smile, don't see too many of those." Which doesn't surprise me. The guy in front of me had complained about the service. And its not that the service is bad but that there is only two people working. The post office has lost millions for quite awhile and obviously they have to cut labor. The two that were working today are always nice and friendly and helpful. So please when you are out in public don't take out your bad emotions are those trying to help. It's the holidays which means lines will be longer and traffic will be busier and people can be ruder than usual. Lets amaze people with our kindness, compassion and love. A smile goes a long way and a kind word can make a persons day.

31 Days of Christmas Giving

Looking for a different way to give this Christmas? Check out Glamour's 31 Days of Giving. Some organizations I am familiar with (Krochet Kids International and Tom's) and some I am not. But you can click on the link and check it out for yourself. Most of the "gifts" are very reasonable and can make a huge impact in someone's life or an animals.

Donate on December 1

Give life-saving meds. $5 to faceaids.org will give an HIV-positive pregnant woman in Rwanda vital drugs to help prevent transmission of the virus to her baby.

 Donate on December 2

Save a pet. A gift of $50 to animaladvocatesalliance.org bails a dog or cat out of a high-kill shelter and provides vet care and medicine to help it get healthy for adoption.

Donate on December 3

Teach Gen Next. A full 67 million children worldwide aren’t attending elementary classes today. Just $25 to pencilsofpromise.org sends one child to a new school in a developing country for 78 days; $118 covers an entire year.

Donate on December 4

Give the jobless a leg up—with a pair of slacks or other office clothes your guy is no longer wearing. Careergear.org coaches down-on-their-luck men on how to land a job and loans them the attire to ace the interview.

Donate on December 5

Donate your old cell phone to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ncadv.org), which will refurbish and sell it, then use the proceeds to get survivors back on their feet

Donate on December 6

Send a teddy bear to the child of a deployed marine. For $25, jonathancollins.org gives a plush toy with a voice message recorded by the parent, which will play when the paw is pressed.

Donate on December 7

Pick up the grocery tab for a senior. Some 3.5 million Americans over age 50 don’t have enough to eat; $8 to drivetoendhunger.org feeds one of them healthy meals for a day.

Donate on December 8

Protect newborns in India. $50 helps keep nine babies alive with a genius incubatorlike invention. Go to embraceglobal.org.

Donate on December 9

Help women get free mammograms. Just click the pink button at thebreastcancersite.com. Last year they funded a whopping 2,112 screenings for needy American women.

Donate on December 10

Provide clean H20. Your gift of $30 to wellsbringhope.org gives one villager in West Africa access to safe water and good sanitation for more than 30 years, drastically reducing child mortality.

Donate on December 11

Inspire the next Taylor Swift. Fendermusicfoundation.org uses your $50 to give a guitar to a struggling music program, letting 20 kids play through the school year.

Donate on December 12

Play fairy godmother to a teenage girl who can’t afford a prom dress. Donate the old gown gathering dust in your closet (or any special-occasion accessories) to princessproject.org.

Donate on December 13

Shop for art’s sake. Heart of Haiti gifts ($10 to $120) at macys.com provide steady work for many Haitians.

Photo: Macy's/Hearts of Haiti

Donate on December 14

Start a reading chain. Guatemala has the highest illiteracy rate in Central America; $10 to readingvillage.org helps pay school fees for rural teen leaders, who in turn teach younger children to read

Donate on December 15

Clear the air. An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from debilitating asthma, and dirty air can trigger attacks. Any donation to cleartheair.edf.org defends our breathing supply from polluters.

Donate on December 16

Coupon for a cause. Here’s a win-win: At causeon.com you get deals on everything from scrapbooks to luxurious spa services, and 20 percent of the site’s proceeds goes to a variety of charities in your community.

onate on December 17

Help shape a new Egypt. Check out Glamour Women of the Year Fund winner Esraa Fattah on page 210. A gift to vitalvoices.org will support the Egyptian women who have fought so hard for change, and give them a voice in their country’s future.

Donate on December 18

Make a difference in your zip code. Volunteermatch.org connects you with ways to improve your neighborhood, like working at a food bank, clowning around with seniors and coaching a girls’ soccer team.

Donate on December 19

Prevent blindness. Buy Toms glasses ($135 and up, toms.com) and give someone in Asia sight-saving treatment.

Photo: Toms

Donate on December 20

Pass on your copy of Twilight and other faves to globalliteracyproject.org, which will get books to deprived youth, helping them learn to read.

Donate on December 21

Put sexual abusers behind bars. Your donation to equalitynow.org helps provide legal support, counseling and job training to victims pursuing cases against their assailants around the world

Donate on December 22

Say “hats off” to ending poverty. Cute crocheted caps for $35 and under keep women in Uganda working and educated. Visit krochetkids.org.

Photo: Krochet Kids

Donate on December 23

Get girls up to speed. Your $50 gift to afghaninstituteoflearning.org will allow two Afghan girls to take computer lessons for six months.

Donate on December 24

Stop bullying—for good. Laura and Kirk Smalley lost their tormented son, Ty, 11, to suicide; $25 dollars to standforthesilent.org helps them speak to student groups and prevent more deaths.

Donate on December 25

Preserve our precious oceans. Save half a mile from overfishing and pollution with a $38 gift to conservation.org.

Donate on December 26

Pay a student’s bus fare. $40 to Olivia Wilde’s artistsforpeaceandjustice.org gets a child from the slums of Haiti to a new school for two months.

Donate on December 27

Buy a counseling session for a soldier returning home after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan with your $17 donation to giveanhour.org.

Donate on December 28

Care for a chimp orphaned or harmed by hunters or pet sellers. Just $10 to janegoodall.org buys 22 pounds of food at the renowned primatologist’s clinic in the Republic of Congo.

Donate on December 29

Help women in war-torn countries start a business: $25 buys one woman a sewing kit so she can earn a living as a tailor. Go to womenforwomen.org

Donate on December 30

Aid a woman while stopping deforestation. $2 to greenbeltmovement.org, started by the late Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, pays a disadvantaged gal in Kenya to plant a tree.

Donate on December 31

Get a salad on the table and an at-risk teen on a healthy path. For $25, whyhunger.org helps needy kids grow produce, both for their family’s fridge and to sell at farmers’ markets.