The inauguration is tomorrow and many leaders are urging people to use to day as a day on – doing some kind of community service instead of deciding just taking the day off.

If you don’t have the day off, adding some community service to your life doesn’t have to be on any set day. Also, you could do something on a consistent basis with another group. Giving blood regularly, may be your own form of community service and will definitely have an impact on people. Act in your community.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King spread the message of togetherness and unity. It seems now that on the eve of the swearing in our first black president, what has brought more people together is the economy. Most people are hurting, cutting back and realizing that conspicuous consumption and flaunting of wealth is no longer chic. What is chic is having enough for all your needs (and maybe a few extras) without going into great debt.

History was made last night. Actually if either party’s candidate won, there would have been history made but this time, the history making was on the side of the Democrats.

Millions of people voted and made a choice. The issues remain the same, the poor economy including the poor housing market, unemployment, gasoline prices and costly war. A new president does not mean that all the problems will be resolved overnight. This means that the newly elected and re-elected officials will have to get ready to work with people they haven’t worked with before.

Today is a very different day than yesterday… no more wondering who the next president will be. We know. What we don’t know is who will work with the president to improve the current situation in America… but I do know one thing… Smart is back.

Electing an official who is intelligent and intellectually inquisitive is something that we haven’t seen in the past eight years which will bring new ideas and a freshness to the office, even if that means we all have to roll up our sleeves and work.

Tomorrow is election day. What many people have been waiting for… no more pictures of long lines of people waiting to vote early, no more stories about people registered multiple times to vote.

No matter who you voted for or want to vote for JUST VOTE. Votes carry weight. If you send a letter to someone who does not represent you or where you have never spent money your voice does not have the same validity as those who aren’t patrons.

Voting shouldn’t require incentives, but just in case you happen to walk by a Starbucks, walk in, tell them you voted and get a free cup of coffee.

If you plan to vote but want to make sure that you should still go to the same place to vote, check http://maps.google.com/vote and find the current location of your polling place. This year, I received a card telling me where I should vote and it hasn’t changed the past couple of elections. The information from Google was accurate including the address of my polling place but they couldn’t find the place on the map. Since it’s across the street, I’ll take my chances finding the building.

Remember to get out there and vote. If your candidate wins then you will know that you did your part, if not, you will feel as though you should have gone to vote. Either way, you did your civic duty.

Get rid of stuff! I know it’s the holiday season and we are talking about buying and making new things for gifts. I was looking around my house and saw that I had several good things that I had received as gifts that I no longer want. These items are relatively new but I cannot give them to someone else in good conscience as a new item. I could use an item to make an interesting receptacle for a gift card. Rather than go to the dollar store and buy a new container I could use one of the things I have at home.

Yet there are other things that I have received that I used only once or twice and these items need a good home. Not mine. So I have decided that I am going to get rid of some items and take them to goodwill because near Christmas many people may be looking for something to give as a gift.

I would rather get rid of some things than to have them cluttering my house. I am in a couple of groups that have “white elephant” sales/swaps around Christmas. Since some of the gifts may have come from those people I can’t take the items there so I have decided that I just want to take the items to a place where they will really be used.

If these were things that were profession related like swapping or giving away teaching materials that I no longer use for a certain subject or age group then that’s not as bad as saying I really don’t like the statuette that is sucking up space in my living room. Or that specialty hot chocolate maker that I really didn’t want. Or that zip around collapsible duffle bag. I really did try to use that one for my crocheting projects; it’s too small.

Look around and I am sure that you can find a few things to get rid of. If you are industrious and your items are in close to mint condition you may want to sell them to people you know or on eBay. There are gifts that sometimes people admire and you can’t stand. Be generous and just give the gift to them. Don’t give the item away in front of the recipient though.

My mother and I used to trade stocking stuffers from the stockings that my grandmother made for us. We had identical stockings and some items my mother used more often and other things I did so we would swap. My grandmother didn’t mind, other gift givers may not be as accepting.

Get rid of some things and you won’t be resentful that you received something you couldn’t or wouldn’t use.

Gift baskets and gift sets seem like an easy choice to make when shopping for gifts for people. It is not necessarily the best choice. If you want to five someone a gift filled with items that you know they will use then you may be better off making your own gift basket.

Stores often try to make things easy for you. I was looking in the paper today and saw that a local shop had a coffee set on sale with coffee, biscotti, and flavored syrup in the gift set. I love coffee but never eat the biscotti or use flavored syrup. So the person who gave me a similar set before I felt as though I was wasting the person’s money. I have a couple of coffee lovers on my gift list and I would rather just buy them some good coffee and put them in a box or bag.

Other items that comes in sets are fragrances. Even if it is a person’s favorite scent, he or she may not want the after shave, or scented soap. Although if it costs the same then buy it. I went shopping this weekend and saw that two gift sets for the same cologne were the same price but one had 3 additional pieces and the other had only one and both included a 3.3 oz. cologne. It may sound crazy but sometimes you get more for the same price. Only get it if you think the person will use all of the pieces. Some people do not like shower gel so a gift set with shower gel might not be used. Other people may prefer scented lotions while other only want their perfume to do the scenting for them.

Do the math… sometimes gift sets are on sale or offered at a special price. So in that case you are getting a bonus. If the gift set is the same price or less than individual pieces the gift set is the best way to go. I was looking at Bath and Body Works and with the discount they were giving some sets were less than buying the individual pieces. The same was not true with the sets available from the Body Shop. The gift sets allow you to purchase some of the more popular fragranced body butters but in smaller sizes. Buy the person’s favorite scent in a larger container for less. Avon has some full size small items that can be used for stocking stuffers on sale.

Know your recipient as well as you can. If you are unsure then the more lavish looking gift may make it seem like you spent a lot more than you did.

Shop around.