Christmas

The countdown to Christmas is down to three days and many families are defrosting the turkey as I write this post. A recent study from Del Monte Holiday Meal Census says Mainers are very dedicated when it comes to making the holiday meal.

We have our Christmas traditions in the United States like Christmas cards, Christmas trees, stuffing stockings and many more. Not everyone around the world has the same traditions. Most countries celebrate Christmas but they do it in their own way.

This time of year, a lot of people are wondering what type of gift or tip should they give service workers. People like babysitters, day care providers, sanitation workers or mail delivers. Whatever you give, you should always put it in a card. Here’s a guild line to follow for tipping.

Buying a gift for the holiday is stressful enough but after your purchases you have wrap all the presents and that can take a lot of time. There is technique that may help you cut time off of gift wrapping. It comes from an employee of a department Store in japan that shows how to wrap a present in 15 seconds. Check out this video.

Christmas present buying is at crunch time now but you still should put some thought into the present and who it for. What do they like, what would they actually use. There are a lot of unwanted gifts that are bought during this time of the year and according from years past, here are the gifts people hope not to receive.

Something that has been building for a couple of years and now has reached an all-time high is ‘self-gifting’. There has been a 27% jumping in the last 5 years of people buying gifts for their own personal use. They usually spend $237 on self-gifting.

Poinsettia Day is celebrated on December 12, it is also known as the flower of Christmas but wasn’t always that way. The poinsettia is native to Mexico and goes back to the Aztecs who used them for flowers, cosmetics, to make purple dye and medicines.

An email from a University of Maine supervisor that directed employees to refrain from displaying Christmas or other religious-themed decorations on campus, has set off an outrage on the campus and the community.

There are so many family friendly events throughout Maine this weekend, many based around Christmas in Maine. One of the biggest events is this Saturday in Madison.

With Christmas about three weeks away, the office Christmas parties will be coming up, and maybe you'll be that person who gets the gag gift during the Yankee swap. Or maybe, you have that one aunt that buys you socks every year.

With the Thanksgiving Day celebration here and gone, let the Christmas music ring on B98.5. I will admit that I like Christmas music in small doses, but when I hear while I am at the Supermarket, the gym, yes the gym, and wherever else it seems I am. Then it can get tedious.

Coming on December 5th, on CBS, will be a show called ‘A Very Grammy Christmas”. The show will unveil album of the year nominees and Grammy Award news for 2015.

The stars of the 80’s T.V. show Dukes of Hazzard are making a Christmas album to celebrate the 35 anniversary of the show. John Schneider and Tom Wopat will be backed by a big band and do classic songs and some lesser known numbers.

If you have ever wondered how many people share the same date as you for your birthday, there is a chart that was made to show you. The chart was devised by Matt Stiles, a data journalist with National Public Radio.

See...even the President is in the holiday spirit--kind of.

Once the holidays roll around, you can expect to see an influx of updates from loved ones in your mailbox. This year, instead of taking the traditional approach (and kill a bunch of trees in the process), one family decided to take advantage of a little thing called the Internet and shoot a video recap of its 2013.