I love a man in uniform. And if that uniform happens to be a big, black frock, well, mea culpa. Anyone who’s been to Rome knows that there’s some surprisingly steamy men in those Vatican vestments, so it only stands to reason that there should be a calendar celebrating the (celibate) male form. The Calendario Romano is available in bric-a-brac stores all along the major arteries of Rome, but you can snap up a copy of your own via eBay. Not all the monastic men are heavenly hunky, and repeat owners may remember a few familiar faces from one year to the next. Still, it’s a great tongue-in-cheek gift for the minister’s daughter or gay former altar boy in your life.

(via World of Wonder) 

Here’s a groovy gift idea for that very Zen someone on your list: Relax4Life’s finger labyrinths serve as a meditation tool, helping to unwind your mind in the same manner as a full-size walking labyrinth. Last year I experienced labyrinth-walking for the first time at Sycamore Mineral Springs in San Luis Obispo and was amazed at the happy calm that overcame me as I strolled through the set stone-lined path. Finger labyrinths, according to ThisNexter kayzee can achieve a similar effect, allowing you to “meditate your cares away.” You can even get a maple or compressed wood model of the Chartres Cathedral in France, said to bring about an especially deep and introspective “journey to the center.”

Carolyn of Kansas — a wife, mom, grandma, friend, niece, co-worker, VBS director, and church secretary who also (somehow) manages to find time to produce A Prairie View — recommends the wise and wonderful Worn Out Woman:When Your Life is Full and Your Spirit Is Empty by Dr. Steve Stephens & Alice Gray.  Among its telling chapter headings: “Telling Your Story:, “Shoulds and Oughts”, “Time for a Change”, “Playing to your Strengths”, “The Secret of Simplicity” and “The Gift of Forgiveness.”  “This book’s authors encourage us and want to inspire us, the reader, because they believe there is hope,” Carolyn says, as she shares the ups and downs of her own journey in an insightful and personal blog.

What is it they say about an unexamined life?  ~m~ of Screaming Mommy Toy is the exact opposite: here’s a woman, a mom, a wife, who clearly examines everything about it, from her kids to her clothes to the polishon her nails, and it’s a pleasure to get a glimpse into what she’s thinking, doing, feeling.  (Only the title of the blog itself is a mystery…but it DOES make you look!)