Reality Matters

• Age Differences

• Aphrodisiac

• Attraction

• Body Language

• Breaking Up

• Careers

• Chemistry

• Communication

• Dating

• Dating Budge

• Expressions

• First Date

• Flirting

• Friendship

• Insecurity

• Interracial

• Long Distance

• Love Poems

• Meeting Places

• Men Only

• Online Dating

• Relationships

• Romantic Cooking

• Romantic Occasions

• Seniors

• Soulmate

• Women Only

Learning the Language of Love

The Internet has done more to bring people of different cultures together than any means previously available to the citizens of Earth. The Net gives us the impression that the world is shrinking, yet it isn’t. There may still thousands of miles to travel to meet your new acquaintance face to face. As air travel grows ever more expensive and difficult, one might want to make absolutely sure that the trip is going to be worth the effort before traversing the globe to get to know someone a bit better.

Instant messaging and emailing your way to true romance is a challenging endeavor. In the good old days you could tell something about another person while listening to their voice on the telephone, or looking deep into their eyes over coffee. In the world of Internet romance, you may get to have an occasional telephone conversation, or exchange pictures of yourselves with one another, but building a lasting bond on a computer keyboard is close to impossible.

The process of Internet romance is further complicated if there are language differences between you and your new love interest, or if time zones prohibit you from chatting frequently with one another. You and your new friend may find that you need to acquire a few new tools to get to know each other well enough to make a visit worthwhile. Both a web camera and a video camera are a great help in better understanding who another person really is, and what their life is like. Berlitz language learning software, and online translation guides are also useful to decipher what each of you is trying to say to the other.

A webcam will allow you to see one another as you converse. Facial expressions, body language, and cadence, tone, and volume of speech can give you a good deal of insight into what someone means to say, and provide clues as to how that person is feeling. A video camera is useful to record your daily life so that the other person can see what your home and workplace look like. You can introduce them to your friends and family via video, and they will be able to see where you hang out. You can tape your holiday celebrations, your pets or children doing cute things, or your irritating neighbor doing aggravating things, and send them along to your new friend to help cultivate a better understanding of the things you talk to her about. Narrate the video as you make it by saying short phrases like, “My dog Spot,” or “My apartment balcony.” Using simple sentences will help teach your friend your language while showcasing your life.

Berlitz tapes will help you learn the other person’s language, and they yours. When you are both simultaneously learning the language of the other person you will find that your communication challenges fade more quickly than if just one of you is trying to speak the other’s tongue. Translation websites will convert your typed message from your language to that of the other person. There are some problems with these sites, however, in that they make very literal translations, and don’t accommodate regional dialects. You may find you have said something you never intended to say when the translation misinterprets your language usage.

Whether talking with or writing to someone whose primary language is not the same as yours, avoid clichés, colloquialisms, slang, complex sentences, obscure words, and sarcasm. None of these are easy to translate, and are considered to be advanced language skills. Stick to basic language when communicating with someone who is having difficulty understanding you.

For some strange reason, it is common for people to speak louder when communicating with someone who is having trouble comprehending them. This sends the wrong message to the other person. You will sound angry, patronizing, impatient or rude if you use this strategy as an attempt to clarify your message. Speak clearly, slowly, and in low voice tones to help the other person hear each word you say distinctly.

When you cannot understand the other person because their use of English is broken, or heavily accented, ask them to repeat the word you cannot understand. If you still can’t understand the word after three tries, ask them to repeat the full sentence again using another word with a similar meaning. Never pretend to understand when you do not, and ask the other person to be honest with you in saying when they do and do not understand you. Pretending can have dire consequences, lead to grave misinterpretations, and evoke commitments to things that you never intended to commit to.

When you are getting to know someone for who English is a second language, let your feelings show in your facial expressions. Smile, frowns, tears and giggles are hard to misinterpret. On the other hand, gestures are easy to misinterpret. Many gestures have culturally specific meanings, and can send exactly the opposite message you intended to send. Keep gestures to a minimum unless you are using a commonly understood gesture like waving hello or goodbye.

Be aware of the fact that different cultures tend to place their words in different contexts. Context refers to how much you have to know before a conversation begins, and how much knowledge is shared during conversation. There are both low and high context cultures, and some cultures such as the culture of the United States, has a mix of both, depending on the region of the country that you visit, and the heritage of the people you are speaking with.

High Context Cultures

Low Context Cultures

Symbols, pictures, objects, body language, and commonly understood gestures can all be used to further clarify your meaning. You may even consider learning sign language, which is universal, to communicate with one another.

Seek out others in your own community who speak the same language as your new friend, and ask for their assistance in helping you to communicate with your far off friend. This is a way that you can learn about both the culture and language of your special person. Most immigrants are eager to share tales of their home country.

Learning to communicate with another across language barriers is a loving gesture that will provide proof of your honorable intentions to your prospective soul mate. Once the two of you feel you can communicate well enough to get to know one another on a deeper level, a visit may be in order.

Touch is another form of communication that can help advance a relationship. Hugs, hand holding, and cuddling will give you clues as to how another person is feeling and what they are thinking as well. The body language of love is fairly universal, and often speaks much louder and clearer than words.

Communicating across languages and cultures is a life enhancing experience that will help you and your friend to be more intelligent and feel more intelligent. Others will admire you for your bi-lingual abilities, and knowing how to speak more than one language may provide both personal and professional opportunities for you than were previously beyond your reach. Don’t let a small think like linguistics keep you from getting to know someone who may turn out to be the love of your life.

• Care

  • Gold Care

  • Silver Care

• Gold

• Jewelry

  • Necklaces

  • Rings

• Pearls

• Silver

• History

  • American

  • Middle Ages

Collar pearl necklaces measure 10″ to 13″ in length and are just about right for the neck of a lady. These pearl necklaces are highly recommended and go well with tight fitting attires. Choker pearl necklaces measure between 14″ to 16″ - these items are intended to wrap closely round a woman’s neck. These pearl necklaces are ideal for low cut necklines or turtle neck tops. Princess pearl necklaces measures between 17″ and 20″ and these items are indeed fit for a princess. Matinee pearl necklaces are of a rather longer length (20″ to 24″). They look great with summer or more casual dresses. Opera pearl necklaces vary between 28″ and 34″ and are good for loose fitting dresses or sweaters. Rope pearl necklaces measure 45″ or more and are in fact huge strands of pearls that are worn wrapped round in several loops or in knots.

If you are seriously thinking of buying pearl necklaces for your girl or want to present one to your wife or partner, please do not rush. There are a few things to consider before you make a purchase.

First of all, establish a price range that you are likely going to spend. Secondly, decide on the type of pearls that attracts you most - whether you want Akoya, Freshwater, South Sea or Tahitian. Mind you, each type is unique in color, shape, size and price. However as a thumb rule, South Sea is more expensive than Freshwater. Your next decision should be on the length of the pearl necklaces, a brief account of which has already been given above.

A word of caution: Price of pearl necklaces need not depend on its length only; there are other factors that determine the selling price of pearl necklaces.

Your final decision would be on color, size, shape and quality that are likely to meet your price range. Remember, the color and luster is the two vitally important qualities that require special attention. Also, there are various grading systems to identify the surface quality of pearls and a reputable jeweler would not hesitate to acquaint you with them. Armed thus, you may take a deep breath and plunge headlong.

The finest pearl necklaces await you.

Maps Then & Now

Maps and models of the world that surrounds us have been around for a very long time. In this section, you can explore a timeline of maps and mapmaking from ancient times to the future of mapmaking.

The idea of where there is from here is one that has fascinated people the world over. Maps and the rules of making maps have changed and developed over time. Investigate the timeline of mapping development in five periods:

Global perception maps are just as dependent on individual values as neighbourhood localized mental map. For instance, some families are very aware of their heritage and ancestors, so their mental map of the globe may be very accurate in the area where their family originally came from.

But what shapes the values that shape our mental maps? The media advertising such as in newspapers, magazines, and television is a huge part of how our values are shaped. If people were asked where they would like to travel for a vacation if they could go anywhere in the world, one place might be Australia. Find Australia on a world map. Newspapers and television make Australia sound like a wonderful place to go to the beach, see different wildlife and plants, and certainly it is a wonderful place to go and see all those things.

But what about Africa? Countries in Africa like Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa (find these countries on a map) are located at approximately the same latitude as Australia, and all but Botswana have coastline but how often do you hear someone saying how much they’d like to go to Namibia for a vacation? Why is that? One reason is that Namibia isn’t marketed to us as a vacation destination.

Hands on Activity

Draw a mental map of the world. Examine your map, what does it show? Trade mental world maps with someone else? What does their map show? Why would their map be different than yours?

Cartography

Cartography is traditionally defined as the art and science of maps. Cartography is also much more than that; it is the making, the study, and even the use of maps.

Cartographers are all sorts of people. They are teachers and educators, map curators, and librarians. They work in governments, in schools, and in private businesses. Cartographers provide a very important service in the world today, as they have for thousands of years, in creating a visual representation of the world in which we live.

Explore this section to learn more about cartography, who cartographers are, what skills they have, and what kind of subjects they studied in school. Throughout this section, click on the video clips to listen to interviews of real cartographers, and other professionals who use cartography in their jobs every day!

• Composing

  • Editing

  • Planning

  • Revising

  • Word Processing

  • Writing a Draft

• Grammar

  • Adjective

  • Adverbs

  • Clauses

    • Adjective Clauses

    • Adverb Clauses

    • Noun Clauses

  • Conjunctions

  • Interjections

  • Nouns

  • Phrases

    • Absolute Phrases

    • Appositive Phrases

    • Prepositional Phrases

    • Verbal Phrases

  • Pronouns

  • Propositions

  • Sentences

    • Complements

    • Objects

    • Predicates

    • Subjects

  • Verbs

• Paragraphs

  • Development

  • Transitional Words

  • Unity

Words in Transition was designed for editors and writers who want to develop their skills in applying the principles of effective writing to the editing of nonfiction book manuscripts. It focuses on two phases of substantive editing: line editing and developmental editing. These types of editing focus on the art of proposing editorial changes other than those required to correct errors or to achieve a consistent editorial style. You learn how to edit for clarity and concision, how to identify problems of cohesion and coherence (logical flow), and how to refine and invigorate an author’s style.

Editors must have a strong command of English grammar, syntax, and mechanics in order to edit the work of others clearly, confidently, and correctly. This resource provides a practical understanding of grammar and the logic governing syntax and punctuation use. Topics include the basic terminology necessary for analyzing grammar and syntax, sentence structure, verb tenses, punctuation, capitalization, transitions, and word usage.

Diagnostic tests are provided for review purposes, with practical exercises, and quizzes.

A good prose composition, regardless of its length, is purposeful and well organized. In the following essay Harold Krents uses examples from his personal experience to argue for an enlightened understanding of people’s abilities and limitations.

Darkness at Noon

Blind from birth, I have never had the opportunity to see myself and have been completely dependent on the image I create in the eye of the observer. To date it has not been narcissistic.

There are those who assume that since I can’t see, I obviously also cannot hear. Very often people will converse with me at the top of their lungs, enunciating each word very carefully. Conversely, people will also whisper, assuming that since my eyes don’t work, my ears don’t either.

For example, when I go to the airport and ask the ticket agent for assistance to the plane, he or she will invariably go to the phone, call a passenger agent and whisper: “Hi, Jane, we’ve got a 76 here.” I have concluded that the word “blind” is not used for one of two reasons: either they fear that if the dread word is spoken, the ticket agent’s retina will immediately detach or they are reluctant to inform me of my condition of which I may not have been previously aware.

On the other hand, others know that of course I can hear, but believe that I can’t talk. Often, therefore, when my wife and I go out for dinner, a waiter or waitress will ask Kit if “he would like a drink” to which I respond that “indeed he would.”

This point was graphically driven home to me while we were in England. I had been given a year’s leave of absence from my law firm to study for a diploma in law degree at Oxford University. During the year I became ill and was hospitalized. Immediately after admission, I was wheeled down to the X-ray room. Just at the door sat an elderly woman-elderly I would judge from the sound of her voice. “What is his name?” the woman asked the orderly who had been wheeling me.

“What’s your name?” the orderly repeated to me. “Harold Krents,” I replied.

“Harold Krents,” he repeated.

“When was he born?”

“When were you born?”

“November 5, 1944,” I responded.

“November 5, 1944,” the orderly intoned.

This procedure continued for approximately five minutes at which point even my saint-like disposition deserted me. “Look,” I finally blurted out, “this is absolutely ridiculous. Okay, granted I can’t see, but it’s got to have become pretty clear to both of you that I don’t need an interpreter.”

“He says he doesn’t need an interpreter,” the orderly reported to the woman.

The toughest misconception of all is that because I can’t see, I can’t work. I was turned down by over forty law firms because of my blindness, even though my qualifications included a cum laude degree from my university and a good ranking in my law school class.

The attempt to find employment, the continuous frustration of being told that it was impossible for a blind person to practise law, the rejection letters, not based on my lack of ability but my disability, will always remain one of the most disillusioning experiences of my life.

Fortunately, this view of limitation and exclusion is beginning to change. The federal government has issued regulations that mandate equalemployment opportunities for the handicapped. By and large, the business community’s response to offering employment to the disabled has been enthusiastic.

I therefore look forward to the day, with the expectation that it is certain to come, when employers will view their handicapped workers as a little child did me years ago.

I was playing basketball with my father in our backyard according to procedures we had developed. My father would stand beneath the hoop, shout, and I would shoot over his head at the basket attached to our garage. Our next-door neighbour, aged five, wandered over into our yard with a playmate. “He’s blind,” our neighbour whispered to her friend in a voice that could be heard distinctly by Dad and me. Dad shot and missed; I did the same. Dad hit the rim; I missed entirely. Dad shot and missed the garage entirely. “Which one is blind?” whispered back the little friend.

I would hope that in the near future when a plant manager is touring the factory with the foreman and comes upon a handicapped and nonhandicapped person working together, his comment after watching them work will be, “Which one is disabled?”

Writers like Harold Krents do not rely on luck or inspiration to produce an effective piece of writing. Good writers plan, write, revise, and edit. Keep in mind, however, that the writing process is rarely as simple and straightforward as this. Often the process is recursive, moving back and forth among the four stages. Moreover, writing is very personalno two people go about it exactly the same way. Still, it is possible to describe steps in the writing process and thereby have a reassuring and reliable method for undertaking a writing task and writing a good composition.

• Alfalfa

• Allspice

• Aloe

• Angelica

• Anise

• Apples

• Balm

• Barberry

• Basil

• Bay

• Bayberry

• Black Cohosh

• Black Haw

• Blackberry

• Blue Cohosh

• Boneset

• Buchu

• Buckthorn

• Burdock

• Caraway

• Cascara Sagrada

• Catnip

• Celery Seed

• Chamomile

• Chaparral

• Cinnamon

• Clove

• Cocoa

• Coffee

• Coltsfoot

• Comfrey

• Coriander

• Cranberry

• Dandelion

• Dill

• Echinacea

• Elecampane

• Ephedra

• Eucalyptus

• Fennel

• Fenugreek

• Feverfew

• Garlic

• Gentian

• Ginger

• Ginkgo

• Ginseng

• Goldenseal

• Gotu Kola

• Hawthorn

• Hop

• Horehound

• Horsetail

• Hyssop

• Juniper

• Kelp

• Kola

• Licorice

• Marjoram

• Marsh Mallow

• Mate

• Meadowsweet

• Mints

• Mistletoe

• Motherwort

• Mullein

• Myrrh

• Nettle

• Oregano

• Papaya

• Parsley

• Passionflower

• Pennyroyal

• Psyllium

• Raspberry

• Red Clover

• Red Pepper

• Rhubarb

• Rose

• Rosemary

• Saffron

• Sage

• Sarsaparilla

• Savory

• Senna

• Shepherds Purse

• Skullcap

• Slippery Elm

• St Johns Wort

• Tarragon

• Tea

• Thyme

• Turmeric

• Uva Ursi

• Valerian

• Vervain

• White Willow

• Wild Cherry

• Witch Hazel

• Yarrow

It is hardly a deep excursion into the science of botany to point out that all plants belong to families. The knowledge of plant families may seem unimportant to the amateur herbalist, and yet it may be helpful to know relationships. For instance, if you know that a particular plant belongs to the Mint family you could assume it is aromatic; to the Cashew family, that the plant might be poisonous; to the Composite family, that the flower is daisylike.

The line illustrations are intended partly for identification but mostly as a reminder of some of the characteristics of leaf and flower.

We have in this country a great variety of good medicinal plants which may be administered to the people with great advantage, if properly adapted to the season, age, and constitution of the patient… If their virtues were well known… then those very herbs or roots, I suppose, might continue or increase their reputation.John Bartram – Philadelphia, 1751 in an introduction to a work by Thomas Short

To provide a measure of uniformity, the nomenclature throughout is that of Gray’s Manual of Botany, eighth edition, except where the plants have fallen out of the range of that book; in those cases reliable regional authorities were consulted. Set on separate lines, the botanical name is shown in boldface italics; the family name in caps and small caps; the common name in italics.

The remembrance of these astounding folk discoveries… should sober our thoughts when we criticise too freely the old pharmacopoeias. It is easy to make fun of medieval recipes: it is more difficult and may be wiser to investigate them. Instead of assuming that the medieval pharmacist was a benighted foot we might wonder whether there was not sometimes a justification for his strange procedure. — George Sartori, Harvard Professor and Author

DISCLAIMER: Green Papaya offers Home Remedies with specific annotations to health and well-being. Such remedy advices are offered as emergency first aid and are governed by the Good Samaritan Act. Under the common ‘Good Samaritan laws’ - “a citizen is obliged to provide first aid when necessary and is immune from prosecution if assistance given in good faith turns out to be harmful”. Within our developing “wireless world” there comes a time when the only immediate assistance is that offered through the Internet. Green Papaya therefore feels that obligation and thereby offers this resource of Home Remedies as necessary.

Green Papaya’s home remedies are meant for temporary relief and first aid measures; for the average person without any special needs or uncommon or compounding medical conditions. Green Papaya’s advice, regardless of the situation, IS NOT a replacement for professional care and consultation. Please consultant with your family doctor or any emergency service immediately.

Preparing Plants for Medicinal Use

It is medicine, not scenery, for which a sick man must go a-searching — Seneca, Episiolae Civ. 18

Consideration of the use of wild plants as medicine must include a few words on collecting and preparing the plants. The freshness of herbs is related to potency, as is also the time of year when each plant or plant part is gathered and processed.

Collecting Plants

Primarily it should be understood that an armamentarium of drugs cannot be acquired on one trip nor at one season. The plants whose medicinal values are confined to the root system will usually be most potent in the spring before much growth takes place; the properties of bark will be available when the plant is in an active growing state; buds, which are often highly potent, can only be obtained in the spring; pollen will be obtainable only during a short season; the strength of drugs obtained from leaves and stem tips will probably be best when the plants are just about to come into flower; and seeds of value as medicine obviously can only be obtained when the fruit ripens. Hence, those who wish to secure and prepare their own plant medicines must get out in the open the year around.

The collection of plants will have values other than that of healthful tramping in the woods. It will sharpen your senses, for plant gathering requires the use of the eyes for keen observation, and your senses of smell and taste. It is probable that the professional herb gatherers of the Blue Ridge Mountains depend a great deal on finding the plants through smell and the completion of certification by tasting. Thus is sharpened those senses otherwise too often neglected.

Another observation which the searching herbalist is apt to find interesting is the extent to which there is an effect of soil and climate on the potency of drugs. Present-day botanical explorers and herbalists of earlier generations are agreed that specimens of the same plant grown in different localities will vary infinitely in the proportions of the medicinal principles yielded. The ability of plants of any kind to secure mineral properties from the soil or rocks on which they grow is remarkable. As proof, taste the difference in apples from, say, the state of Washington against those from the rocky soils of the Hudson Valley or Vermont. Or consider the different tastes of wines pressed from the same varieties of grapes, but grown on different soils; differences, for instance, such as one will find between some of the merely palatable California wines, as related to many of the flavorful wines from mineral-rich soils of New York’s Lake district.

Similarly, there are also identifiable differences between plants growing wild in the natural humus of the woods, and those same plants transplanted and grown in a garden with chemical fertilizers.

Basically the successful gathering of herbs is dependent on correct identification of the plant desired. Here one may have to rely on knowing friends or go on the collecting trip armed with a well-keyed floral guide to the region. Professional herb gatherers of the Appalachians and other sections accumulate their knowledge from childhood, while even botanists who work with plants all their lives are puzzled at times by the members of one or another genus; hence the amateur should not feel discouraged in his hunt for, and identification of, some of the herbs he will need. If at all in doubt about the plant, let the decision be negative, until an expert can decide.

Having identified the plant, the collector must then be certain that he knows which part of the plant is used for medicinal purposes. There is small use in collecting whole plants if only the roots are used, nor is conservation served by digging up the roots of a plant when only the leaves are needed. Consult Chapter V for specific gathering and identification information on over 160 plants.

Patent Medicine Era

Some Americans who appreciated the combination of Indian and Colonial herb practice wrote about it. One such, Dr. Samuel Thomson (1769 - 1843) of New Hampshire, in 1822 produced an 800-page manual at the then almost prohibitive price of $20.00.

Dr. Thomson is worth more than passing mention. He was not a quack; although self-taught, his prescriptions were so useful that they were widely copied. In 1813, having found certain compounds of plant medicines valuable in easily diagnosed circumstances, he had them patented, and thus started the vogue for patent medicines. This patenting, he claimed, was not for personal profit nor credit, but to protect the public from the misrepresentations of his imitators.

It can easily be understood that a doctor without credentials in the early nineteenth century (or in any century for that matter) would be a thorn in the side of the graduates of medical schools, and Dr. Thomson’s life was filled with litigations. But, curiously, the years seemed to have justified his beliefs. For example, one claim made by the doctor was for the peculiar efficacy of Lobelia inflata, a plant which soon appeared in the United States Pharmacopoeia and has remained a reputable drug until the present time. In fact, of 65 major plants from which his medicines were compounded, at least 50 species are still valued.

Returning from Washington with his patent, Dr. Thomson stopped in Philadelphia to discuss his ideas with Dr. Rush, and especially with Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton (1766 - 1815), a physician and scientist who had written Materia Medica of the United States. It is from a work such as his that we know a great deal of the Indian medical lore.

The successes of Thomson and the writings of Barton and others focused public interest on medically useful American plants. Soon there appeared other works on the subject, some scientifically founded, others purely popular. Of the former, notable was Good’s Family Flora, which was issued in parts (as was the custom of the time), by Peter P. Good of Elizabethtown, New Jersey. Another was The Complete Herbalist, or The People Their Own Physicians By The Use Of Nature’s Remedies, by Dr. O. Phelps Brown of Jersey City, New Jersey.

The circulation of such writings stimulated the use of plant drugs, but there were few sources for their purchase in quantity, except as people went into the woods themselves or grew the plants in their gardens. For a good description of the gathering of medicinal herbs by settlers in isolated areas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we turn again to an article by Joseph Chase Allen, September 1, 1961, in the Martha’s Vineyard Gazette.

Not quite all the herbs they collected were to be found in the swamps … The thoroughwort, still heavy with its greenish-white blooms, kidney wort, with its pink clusters, and bloodwort, also pink, these were to be found rooted in the soft, black mud … Celandine, with its tiny orange trumpets, grew almost in the water … and withe-wood, the bark of which was saved and dried for the annual spring tonic. Long before sulphur was available, the rude forefathers of the hamlet had mixed up pulverized withe-wood bark and either steeped it or blended it with molasses to be taken as a conditioner … On their way to and from the very wet places, the herb gatherers collected other things. Catnip, in its second bloom, apt to be heavier, and certainly with more and larger leaves … There were tansy, leaves and blooms, yarrow, both the pink and white, and baskets of wild cherry twigs. These last, steeped while yet green, produced a bitter tea … for the appetite, they said.

On the higher, drier land, they gathered pennyroyal, which was always regarded as a “woman’s medicine.”

Somehow the preparation and even the application of herb remedies never appeared to attract any particular attention. It was accepted as a part of life…

• Baby Gifts

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• Testaments

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• Parenting

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• Mommy Advice

  • Postpartum

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  • Caesarean Section

You ache any time the nurses take her for tests, and you deny offers from well meaning friends and family who offer to hold her while you get some sleep. All you want to do is be with your new baby, and you’ll forego food, water and sleep to do just that!

Ten fingers, ten toes, a rosebud mouth, and a turned up nose…Your new baby is nothing short of a miracle. As you watch them sleep, you think, I want to give them the perfect life… something they’ll cherish as much as I cherish them.At Cuddles ‘n Gifts, you can find that perfect gift.

Personalized blankets and lovies are destined to become your child’s constant companions. Baby gift baskets and Radio Flyer “Welcome Wagon” sets provide the new arrival with everything they need to feel loved. Baby book gift baskets satisfy baby’s curiosity and feed the imagination.

Need more than just a baby gift? Search our store for a charming gift to congratulate those new parents with! Whether pampering or celebratory, new parent gift baskets let Mom and Dad revel in their new status.

Babies don’t stay small for long, but Cuddles ‘n Gifts helps you catch the cuddles while you can!

Cuddles ‘n Gifts, an established online retail store, specializes in ‘Creating Worlds of Joy and Babies’ First Smiles!

In the United States of America, 3,000,000 babies are born each year and that number increases each sequential year by another half million. As a proud mother of two young children, a realization of the potential market and a dream to fulfill a niche in the gift industry, Lee-Anne Robert founded Cuddles ‘n Gifts in 2003. Since then, she has gained enormous pleasure from bringing happiness and joy to people’s lives through gift-giving.

In February 2004, Cuddles ‘n Gifts was proudly awarded the ‘Parenting Site Golden Seal’ from the American Baby Contest. The Parenting Site Gold Seal Award was established to recognize quality websites that are family friendly and are of interest and use to parents.

Cuddles ‘n Gifts’ gift line expanded in the spring of 2004 to include a wider selection of gifts for consumers to choose. The Company now offers an impressive selection of gift baskets and gifts for holidays and special occasions.

With a vast assortment of over 200 different gift selections ranging in price from $15 to $250, their online catalog is designed to meet the needs of every budget, taste and occasion. There is something for everyone!

Cuddles ‘n Gifts’ gift line expanded again in the fall of 2005 to include a nursery and parenting essentials including: strollers, car seats, cribs, basinets, and color coordinated boys and girls nursery furniture.

On January 2, 2008 Cuddles ‘n Gifts relocated to Carson City, Nevada.

Cuddles ‘n Gifts caters to new parents, family and friends for all your (their) baby needs.

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Funerals USA offers funeral planning advice for a family’s executor in making many critical decisions. Features comparative pricing models for interment services in the United States.

…disposal of the dead falls rather into a class with fashions, than with either customs or folkways on the one hand, or institutions on the other … social practices of disposing of the dead are of a kind with fashions of dress, luxury and etiquette.

One of the interesting things about burial practices is that they provide many a clue to the customs and society of the living. The very word “antiquarian” conjures up the picture of a mild-eyed historian groping about amidst old tombstones, copying down epitaphs with their folksy inscriptions and irregular spelling, extrapolating from these a picture of the quaint people and homey ways of yore. There is unconscious wit: the widow’s epitaph to her husband, “Rest in peace - until we meet again.”

We are left to wonder if this is some ritual act of contemplation, a heartfelt belief that when we die we meet those that have gone before us, or comforting words left for those that remain.

For purposes of comparison they might recall the words of Andrew Marvell, a poet from an earlier culture, who thus addressed his coy mistress:

The grave’s a fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace.

They might rashly conclude that twentieth-century America was a nation of abjectly imitative conformists, devoted to machine-made gadgetry and mass-produced art of a debased quality; that its dominant theology was a weird mixture of primitive superstitions, superficial attitudes towards death, overlaid with a distinct tendency towards necrophilism…

Where did our burial practices come from? There is little scholarship on the subject. Thousands of books have been written describing, cataloguing, theorizing about the funeral procedures of ancient and modern peoples from Aztecs to Zulus; but about contemporary American burial practices almost nothing has been written.

The official historians of American undertaking describe the origin of our burial practices as follows:

“As a result of a long slow development, with its roots deep in the history of Western civilization, it is the common American mind today that the dead merit professional funeral services from a lay occupational group. These services include embalming, the preparation of the body for final viewing, a waiting period between death and disposition, the use for everyone of a casket that is attractive and protects the remains, a dignified and ceremonious service with consideration for the feelings of the bereaved, and an expression of the individual and group beliefs. . . .” Elsewhere they assert:

“The roots of American funeral behavior extend back in a direct line several thousand years to early Judaeo-Christian beliefs as to the nature of God, man and the hereafter … Despite the antiquity of these roots their importance as regards the treatment of the dead in the world that commonly calls itself Christian today cannot be overemphasized.”

In two misinformation-packed paragraphs, we are assured not only that American funerals are based on hallowed custom and tradition, but that they conform to long-held religious doctrine. There is more than a hint of warning in these words for the would-be funeral reformer; he who would be bold enough to make light of or tamper with the fundamental beliefs and ancient traditions of a society in so sensitive an area as behavior towards its dead, had better think twice.

A “long, slow development with its roots deep in the history of Western civilization,” or a short, fast sprint with its roots deep in money-making? A brief look backward would seem to establish that there is no resemblance between the funeral practices of today and those of even fifty to one hundred years ago, and that there is nothing in the “history of Western civilization” to support the thesis of continuity and gradual development of funeral customs. On the contrary, the salient features of the contemporary American funeral (beautification of the corpse, metal casket and vault, banks of store-bought flowers, ubiquitous offices of the “funeral director”) are all of very recent vintage in this country, and each has been methodically designed and tailored to extract maximum profit for the trade.
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