Dr. Haltzman Releases New Book

Our very own Dr. Scott Haltzman has a new book on sale now! The book is entitled, "The Secrets of Happily Married Women: How to Get More Out of Your Relationship by Doing Less." Dr. Haltzman co-wrote the book with Theresa Foy DiGeronimo so we'd like to congratulate them both on this release.

"In The Secrets of Happily Married Women," Dr. Haltzman tells us stories from real women who are happy in their relationships. These women know how to get more out of their partners by doing less, by not trying so hard to make men perfect, not dragging them to couples therapy, not expecting them to think or behave like a woman. These are women from Dr. Haltzman's clinical practice and culled from thousands of contributors to his website DrScott@HappilyMarriedWomen.com. They have learned to understand how men really work and tap into men's powerful hard-wired desire to please women and 'be a better man.'

If you'd like to hear more, stay tuned for a podcast with me and Dr. Haltzman. If you'd like to purchase the book now, click here!

BeerTender Hits Shore, Soon

When you think of Krups you probably think coffee. When you think Heineken you're talkin' beer. Well, the two companies have paired together to offer home beer drinkers (like there's a market there) a fridge/keg system that offers cold beer on tap. This post from Engadget says the 5-liter Heineken keg will stay fresh for 30 days.

We know the holidays have passed, but I'm sure there's a lot of husbands who wouldn't mind walking into the kitchen to find one of these on the countertop. It'll run you $400, though. Don't worry, you'll have time to save since it's only currently available in Europe and won't hit U.S. shores until March at Williams-Sonoma and everywhere else in April.

Get Some Quality Alone Time Together

The Denver Post interviewed Mira Kirshenbaum, author of "The Weekend Marriage: Abundant Love in a Time-Starved World." The Post asks Kirshenbaum, "Why is it important for couples to get alone time?" Kirshenbaum first makes the distinction between vegging out in front of the TV together without engagement and actually paying attention to the other person. She goes on to say no matter what it is you do, "it's got to be something that makes you feel again the way you felt when you were first together."

Sounds like some pretty good advice. Kirshenbaum takes it one step further, too. Saying that couples should shoot for having at least one real connection a day. Doesn't sound too hard right? Her examples include a real meaningful tight hug or a lingering kiss. Of course, you could take these instances further and go for a walk, play games together, etc.

As your work loads become unbalanced, Kirshenbaum recommends sitting down once a month to discuss what's on the horizon to help keep your time and relationship in balance.

Do you make a concerted effort every day to connect with your spouse?

Milk Linked to Cancer?

The American Journal of Epidemiology says the consumption of low-fat or nonfat milk may increase the risk of the malignancy. Dr. Song-Yi Park, from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, and colleagues, analyzed data from subjects enrolled in the Multiethnic Cohort Study. This study included adults between 45 and 75 years old over a 9-year peried, and were primarily from five different ethnic or racial groups, living in California or Hawaii.

A total of 82,483 men from the study completed a quantitative food frequency questionnaire and various factors, such as weight, smoking status, and education levels were also noted, Park's group said.

During an average follow-up period of 8 years, 4,404 men developed prostate cancer. There was no evidence that calcium or vitamin D from any source increased the risk of prostate cancer. This held true across all racial and ethnic groups. In the article from AOL it says that low-fat or nonfat milk did increase the risk of localized tumors or non-aggressive tumors, while whole milk decreased this risk.

Saying all this, the article quotes Park's team which says, "Our findings do not provide strong support for the hypothesis that calcium and dairy foods increase the risk of prostate cancer. The results from other large...studies, with adequate numbers of advanced and fatal prostate cancers, may shed further light on this question."

To read the full article with more details, click here.

Being Married Is Being Green

Mother Nature is happier when you're married. A new study shows that when a couple divorces, the two resultant households use 53% more electricity and 42% more water than the pre-divorce household. In addition to the added usage of energy resources, it also requires more houses and apartments. The study goes on to say that per household, one-person occupancies, are the largest consumers of energy.

Not that you needed an excuse to reconsider divorce if your mind has drifted in that direction, but Mother Nature will thank you. To read the full article, click here.

Why Flu In the Winter?

It's a question that's plagued scientists forever. Well, according to this article in the New York Times, researchers in New York believe they've discovered the reason why. You wanna know? Okay, we'll tell you. They say it has to do with the virus itself, saying it's more stable and stays in the air longer when air is cold and dry, the exact conditions for much of the flu season. Yep, sounds like winter to us.

Flu viruses are more stable in cold air, and low humidity also helps the virus particles remain in the air. That is because the viruses float in the air in little respiratory droplets, says Dr. Peter Palese, a flu researcher who is professor and chairman of the microbiology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and the lead author of the flu study. When the air is humid, those droplets pick up water, grow larger and fall to the ground.

To read the full NY Times article, click here.

Money, Sex and Love Survey

Elle and msnbc.com are asking people to participate in an anonymous survey. It's not a survey exclusively for married couples, but it does ask some interesting questions about satisfaction with your sex life and how money may be playing a role. It also asks a lot about the woman's role in money matters and how the man feels about it. The results don't come out until next March so we'll keep an eye on things and give you an update on the results when they're available. In the meantime, if you want your relationship and opinion to be represented in this survey, click here to take it yourself.

Holiday Tipping Tip Sheet

Kiplinger.com has put together a nice tip sheet on, well, tipping. We've broken out a couple of the tipping guidelines for you. If you want to read all of them, click here.

CLEANING PERSON
How much to tip: The cost of one visit if he or she visits weekly or bi-weekly, says protocol adviser Rosanne Thomas. Up the tip amount for a cleaning person who works more often.
Exceptions: If you use a cleaning service that works in a team, a box of chocolates for the team is customary.

HAIRSTYLIST
How much to tip: The normal cost of a visit for a stylist you've used all year.
Exceptions: If your stylist doubles as a confidante, include a small personal gift that speaks to his or her interests as well as a monetary gift. If you don't require as much attention from your stylist or barber, you may prefer to give only about $20 as a tip during your December visit.

PERSONAL TRAINER
How much to tip: $50.
Exceptions: The key question to ask yourself is whether you have an ongoing, above-average relationship with the professional, says etiquette expert Charlotte Ford. Tip at year end if you feel you've gotten above-average service year-round.

BABY SITTER
How much to tip: Nanny or au pair -- one week's pay and a small gift from the child; regular sitter -- one to two nights' pay; day-care provider -- $25 to $70.
Exceptions: Only give a holiday tip if you've frequently used the sitter during the year or you had to call on them in an 11th hour emergency, advises Thomas Blaikie, etiquette expert and author of "To the Manner Born."

Married Couples Greener Than Single Households

This one might be filed under the "no duh" category, but married households (I'd like to add that it would only make since that cohabitating couples would be included in this) use 53% less electricity and 42% less water than when the couple divorces and lives separately. This story (click here) says per capita, one-person households are the biggest consumers of energy, land and household goods, consuming 38% more products, 42% more packaging, and 61% more gas.

Just curious, do you do things around your house in an effort to be more green?

Santa Coming to Town--For Only Microseconds

Anders Larsson of the engineering consultancy Sweco told AFP that Santa Clause would have to travel 3,604 miles per second in order to jump from house to house to deliver one gift to every child on earth. He would have 48 hours to complete his journey touching on the estimated 2.5 billion homes. Did we mention this would include his cookie breaks too? To accomplish this feat, "he has 34 microseconds at each stop," says Larsson, to slide down the chimney, drop off the presents, nibble on his cookies and milk and hop back on his sleigh. Larsson also says Santa must live in Kyrgyzstan in order to accomplish this feat. You can ready the entire article here.