A few weeks ago I thought it was a given that I wouldn’t sleep well tonight. It’s not because I thought Santa would wake me (he stopped coming to my house years ago), but because I was having trouble sleeping every night. What I didn’t know was that I was being plagued by a mild sleep disorder.

The last time I was in the doctor’s office sick, I mentioned that I had trouble sleeping. My doctor suggested I see a sleep specialist because the symptoms I described, waking up multiple times at night, feeling unrested when I woke up and lethargy, were symptoms of sleep apnea.

According to the National Library of Medicine, sleep apnea is a condition where one has episodes of stopped breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea can be a serious sleeping disorder because complications can include pulmonary hypertension and stroke. Symptoms include lethargy, loud snoring and waking up out of breath. Causes include obesity and blocked breathing passages.

When I went to the sleep specialist he checked my neck and throat to see if there were any blockages in my airways and he recommended a sleep test. Last week I got the results of my sleep test. The doctor said I do have sleep apnea, but it’s very mild and most likely caused by my sinuses, which act up continuously because of my allergies.

There are a number of treatments for sleep apnea. The most severe cases require surgery or a CPAP machine that opens breathing passages during sleep by pushing air through them. In my case my doctor suggested I take an antihistamine tablet before I go to bed and to not drink fluids two hours before bedtime.

So far this treatment has worked and tonight I should have no problem taking a long winter nap.

Millions of Americans will travel to someone else’s home to celebrate Christmas or New Years this year. Good luck if you’re the one expecting all those visitors, they’re probably going to be very hungry when they arrive! Here are some tips on cooking for large groups of people, food safety, and great recipes to help you out.

The most important thing when cooking for large groups is to make sure you’re aware of 4 basic food safety principles:

1. Clean hands, cutting boards and other kitchen surfaces regularly.
2. Separate raw meat, seafood and poultry (and their juices) from ready-to-eat foods and produce.
3. Cook foods to their recommended temperatures – use a food thermometer to verify the temperature.
4. Chill refrigerated foods properly to below 40 degrees fahrenheit and put leftovers away within 2 hours. Always thaw foods in the refrigerator, not on the counter.

You’d hate to have a houseful of sick guests because you forgot to use your meat thermometer on the turkey, turducken, rib roast or ham, right?

Also, be sure to take extra care preparing holiday goodies that call for eggs by ensuring they’re fully cooked before you partake. No licking the spoon for the cookie dough, folks! And be careful with the egg nog – alcohol doesn’t kill the bacteria in the eggs!

Remember that foods might require a little extra prep if any of your guests are members of at risk groups including expectant moms (like me!), children and seniors.  It will make your guests feel good to know you’ve taken the time to prepare food that they can enjoy safely.

I’d love to hear about any of your favorite holiday traditions or recipes – you can leave them in the comments.

For the past month, I've been coming home to a mailbox filled with letters from charities, asking for end-of-the-year donations. I think I've gotten more of those than I have catalogs and holiday cards combined, this year. And no wonder--charitable giving is down all over the country right now and nonprofits know that the holiday season traditionally brings out the spirit of giving, while people think about making last minute, end-of-the-year contributions for tax deductions.   

Whatever motivates you, if you're considering some year-end charitable contributions, I've got some quick tips to help you understand the basic tax rules about charitable giving and to help you find charities you can trust to be good managers of the work they do and the money you send them.

Over the last couple years, the IRS has tightened its rules about keeping record of your donations and about what you donate and how it's valued.

If you're giving a cash, check or credit card donation, you'll need a written record of the transaction from the charity or from your bank, with the name of the charity, the date and the dollar amount of your contribution. Used to be, you only needed a written record of a contribution if it was over $250. Now, if you want the tax credit, you need the paperwork, regardless of the dollar amount.

Have clothing or household items you're boxing up for Goodwill, the Salvation Army or another nonprofit that accepts used goods? The new rule is, what you donate has to be in good, used condition or better for you to receive a tax deduction for the donation.  If the stereo's broken or the shirt is full of holes, you won't get a tax break for it. So save the charity the trouble of disposing of it for you and send those things directly to the trash or recycling bin!   

I see ads all over the place from charities asking people to donate their used vehicles.  It can be a good deal if old Betsy is up on blocks in your yard and you'd need to have it hauled or towed away and you wouldn't expect to get much for it from the junk man. But if you're donating a car, truck, boat or recreational vehicle that's in running condition, primarily for the reason of getting the tax break, you may want to think a little about it. If the charity you donate your vehicle to will in turn sell it at auction, you'll be entitled to claim only the gross proceeds from the sale--which is usually well below Blue Book value. The charity is required by the IRS to contact you after the auction to let you know what that dollar amount was.  If, however, the charity you donate your vehicle to improves or uses the vehicle, or if it gives the vehicle or sells it to a person in need at significantly below fair market value, you may then be able to claim the fair market value of the vehicle on your tax return.

Before you entrust your vehicle or cash to a nonprofit, it makes sense to check out the organization--making sure it's reputable and that it manages its programs and funds well. While the overwhelming majority of nonprofits are good organizations that work hard to create change and help the world and its inhabitants, fraudulent "charities" still abound. And they love targeting seniors and anybody else they can get to trust them.

Be wary of any "charity" that phones you, unsolicited, for a contribution and refuses to mail you written information about the organization or its tax ID number when you ask for more facts in writing about it before you give. And never entrust your bank account, credit card or Social Security number to anyone over the phone. I know this sounds like common sense, but when you're on the line with someone skilled at playing on your emotions by telling you that you can help save starving kids in Africa, puppies at the local pound or provide for the children of fallen firefighters, it's easy to let your defenses down and give a potential scammer all the information he or she needs to clean out your checking account. 

Your local Better Business Bureau and state regulatory and licensing agencies are good places to find out if an organization you're considering donating to is registered with them or has had complaints filed against it. Online databases like Charity Navigator and Give.org track the work and financial management of hundreds of major nonprofit organizations.  And there are also a few specialized financial accountability groups you can find online that track specific types of nonprofits like religious charities.

When you find charities you can trust that are doing work that inspires you, giving to them feels good...not just during the holidays, but anytime.

I may be biased but many fabulous things have come out of Georgia.  Delicious food, R.E.M., Hank Aaron, the Varsity, Gone With the Wind…I could keep going.  But it wasn’t till I read this recent Washington Post article that I realized how many great authors are from the Peach State (this coming from a girl who took a year of GA history).

The article looks at six major American fiction writers and the ongoing efforts to preserve their homes and other landmarks.  These authors include such luminaries as Alice Walker, Flannery O’ Connor, and Carson McCullers.  After reading the article, I was really surprised at how many of their books I hadn’t read.  How could I’ve missed a book that summarizes my single gal woes in one simple phrase:  A Good Man is Hard to Find.

With this realization, I decided to put together a list of books that I wanted to read this winter.  I started my search at the Big Read blog.  The Big Read  is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.  It provides citizens across the country an opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities.  The books are some of the most iconic in literature, including one of my all time favorites, The Great Gatsby.

Of course a search of great books would not be complete without a stop at the Library of Congress.  The Center for the Book, along with this wonderful thread from the Library’s blog, gave me plenty of interesting selections for my list.  But I didn’t stop there.  Here are just a few more sites that I checked out for my ultimate winter reading list:

• The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2007
• TIME’S 100 Best Novels
• We the People Bookshelf “On Becoming American”
• We the People Bookshelf “On the Pursuit of Happiness”

Before I head off to the library, I would love to get recommendations from y’all.  Some of my favorites are Beach Music by Pat Conroy and Personal History, the autobiography of Katharine Graham. 

It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where Santa is?

Christmas is fast approaching, and the kids can’t wait. On Christmas Eve our family will gather and the kids will really start getting excited because Christmas day just won’t come soon enough.

But before bed, we’ve got a few things to do. We’ll sprinkle some magic reindeer food in the yard for Rudolf and his mates. Then we’ll send Santa an e-mail to wish him safe journeys. Santa’s a busy man, but Chuckles & Buckley, Santa's Hospitality Elves, will get your message to the big guy and send you a reply. I wonder if Santa has a Blackberry so he can catch up on his e-mail while he’s in the sleigh? On second thought, he should probably keep his eyes on the sky and pay attention to where he’s going!

When I was a kid I would gaze into the night sky on Christmas Eve, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa’s sleigh, and lay awake in bed eagerly awaiting the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof. But today’s children don’t have to wonder. Now we’ve got advanced technology and the guessing is over thanks to the good people at NORAD. This year on Christmas Eve, we’ll sit together in the warm glow of the computer monitor and track Santa's journey! Beginning at 2:00 am MTN on Christmas Eve, you can track Santa live as he makes his historic journey around the world! I’ll warn you that to track Santa with this tool, you’ll have to download Google Earth (for free) if you don’t already have it.

And finally just before it’s time to tuck into bed, we’ll of course leave a plate of cookies for Santa and turn off the Christmas tree lights.