When we are children, our parents, for the most part, try to set us up with a routine... a nightly ritual to help us fall asleep. Usually it goes along the lines of a nice warm bath, turning on the nightlight to scare away the monsters, and then reading a story. A story was always my favorite part. Every night I would go to my bookshelf, a smaller version of the ones my parent had, that offered a variety of books including Pound Puppies (and Kitties), Precious Moments, Golden Books... and classics such as
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and
Where the Wild Things Are. I would take the book up the stairs to my room and my dad would read to me.
Despite these fond memories of reading with my dad, I myself am a rather slow reader and have never found myself wanting to read for pleasure. My mind likes to take in each word and make sure that I am getting the true meaning of each sentence or paragraph... therefore, sometimes I feel compelled to go back and reread sentences. The task of reading, even if just for fun, has often been a rather tedious job. I have always been jealous of people who can breeze over the page in a fraction of the time that it would take me. I am in fact a fan of skimming and scanning for vital information related to researching papers and reading assessments. When I actually read for content though, I disect the passages and usually end up with a headache.
Over the past 18 months, I have dedicated my life to learning a foreign language; I can proudly say I am officially bilingual and am fluent in listening, speaking, and reading. This has sparked my interest in reading books in my free time to gain more information about their culture.
I'm proud to say that yesterday I finished the first book, cover to cover, in approximately four years. Last Christmas, I began reading a book of folk tales on my exodus from work during my series of seven flights to and from my hometown, but I never really got to finishing that last section of stories...
Prior to this, I never really found reading fun. I saw it as an obligation. Reading has made me sick on car rides, given me headaches, and taken time away from doing other things... things I found, at the time, to be more important. In college, I simply listened to lectures and took exquisite notes rather than read the required texts. I actually received better grades in those courses where I did this when compared to the classes where I read each text.
I had always taken the ability to read (since age 5) and write (since age 3) for granted. Twenty years later, I am finally learning to enjoy reading. Today, I am already a few chapters into a new book that I plan on finishing by the end of the year. This is the time of year when we take a look at our lives and consider what we are thankful for and what we hope to improve upon in the new year... Considering the fact that I have learned a foreign language that most native speakers cannot read... I have realized how lucky I am to be literate.
Chop Sabers - If you have anyone on your Christmas list that is a fan of sushi, Chinese take-out, Star Wars, or any combination of these. This makes a great gift. They come in a variety of styles and you can even get them in gift packs depending on which website you order them from. I found these in a magazine on a flight around Christmas time. This ended up being a Valentine's gift for my the boy I was dating at that time. He is a fan of fried rice and Star Wars. One of his favorite colors was red, so I bought him a pair of Light Saber Chopsticks that are magnetized and connect to look like Darth Maul's saber.
Specialty Gifts - For my mother's birthday this year, I remembered that in college a number of my friends were really into creating their own blends of tea and decided to create a blend of specialty tea. I was also able to customize the label and give it a name that has significant meaning to my mother. She has always had an interest in unique teapots and I was also able to find a really cute tea set. Now, when friends come to visit my mom unexpectedly, she can share her special blend and have an impromptu tea party with them. 
I think one of the best ways to find a great gift is to come up with something unexpected. Pay attention to little things that people say in passing. Such as, "I love Jasmine tea," or "Man, when I was little, I had so much fun playing with Lincoln Logs!" If your friend mentions that they have a favorite animal, you can even find them a hand printed t-shirt or other item such as an environmentally friendly canvas bag. My friend is a big fan of squids, octopi, and cuddlefish. He mentioned this to me during a trip to the aquarium earlier this year and I bought him this squid shirt for his birthday.
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays simply because I can be whomever or whatever I want to be... I've wanted to be a mermaid for the last few years; however, dealing with a tail seemed like it would be a big hassle... so I decided to be the next best thing, a sea nymph!
