I can see why Storm and Chris take this time off every year.  It is bitterly cold!  This morning was the coldest I have experienced in years.  Now it wasn’t the coldest temperatures ever but since I was 4 in the morning, it seemed colder than mornings before in late December. Anyways, I make the mad dash from my apartment to my car (thank goodness for keyless entry), start it up and notice the frost on the windshield is blocking my view.  Since the car is freezing cold itself, the defrost was doing nothing but blowing cold air.  So I decide to swish away the ice with some windshield washer fluid. I pull the wiper arm control bar and hear the pump begin…but no fluid.  I know there is plenty of fluid in the reserve…as my car alerts me when it is low and there is no alert.  I then put two together..the fluid was frozen inside the motor!!!!

Time for plan B.  I reach for my wallet and dig out a credit card to begin scraping off the ice.  I pick my Flexible Spending Account card (no reason in particular) and scrape the frozen ice crystals from my front windshield.  Ahh…enough for me to see through, so I begin driving to work.  About 10 minutes later, just as the car warms to a snuggle and fall back asleep temperature, just as I arrive at work.  Later when the sun was up I went out and opened by hood to see if there was any windshield fluid left.  Yes, there it is in it’s blue glory!  I never imagined that the windshield washer fluid would freeze when I moved to the Sunshine State!

Take the family on a tour of holiday lights!

Click here for a map of holiday light displays in the Alachua County area.

Click here for a map of holiday light displays in the Marion County area.

The Most Expensive Gift at 12 American Retailers

Buying all the goodies sung about in the holiday classic The Twelve Days of Christmas will cost $23,439 this year. But what if you want to be an extra-generous Santa in 2010 and buy, say, the most expensive item for sale at each of 12 popular U.S. retailers? Well, according to an unscientific survey by 24/7 Wall St, that would set you back nearly $15 million (thanks mainly to a visit to Tiffany).

Although this will be a tough holiday season for millions of Americans still caught in the recession’s clutches, no matter how bad the economy is some people always have a good year. The most fortunate of those have spent their entire lives having one good year after another. And they can afford to splurge.

With that in mind, 24/7 Wall St visited a number of stores and interviewed store managers at large retailers to find their most expensive gifts. Some of the stores, like Tiffany, count the superrich among their regular customers. Others, such as Radio Shack, cater to the middle class. Many of the merchants on this list have customer groups that overlap, and some sell nothing that costs more than a few hundred dollars. But here (in ascending order of cost) is what you’ll find on the top shelves of this all-American dozen.

Read ‘em and weep.

10 New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep

New Year’s is a time for starting fresh and setting goals that you’d like to accomplish. For many people this comes in the form of New Year’s resolutions. Get fit, stop smoking, learn a new language and lose 30 pounds are just a few of the popular resolutions that just never seem to come to fruition. Instead of making promises you can’t keep again this year, face the reality and start making resolutions that are within your means. Here are 10 New Year’s resolutions you can actually keep.

Read ‘em all here.

Is it okay to give upscale used clothing as a gift?

A man called Chris yesterday with a gift-giving question.  He wanted to know if it would be appropriate to buy used, brand label clothing as a gift.  His idea was that he could get a good deal and get the most bang for his buck at an upscale resale boutique, on items that, if purchased new, would be very expensive.

Chris thought that if he knew the recipient very, VERY well and if he made sure he didn’t represent that the item was new, then it would be okay.  But later, when she talked to one of her girlfriends about it, her friend told her it was a TERRIBLE idea and that he shouldn’t even consider buying used clothing as a gift.

So we decided to take it to the KTK Listenerverse for some advice.

Tell us!  Is it okay to give upscale used clothing as a gift?

12.16.10.2.Is it Okay to Give Used Clothing as a Gift

12.16.10.3.Used Clothing as a Gift Calls

12.16.10.4.More Used Clothing as a Gift Calls

12.16.10.5.Last Used Clothing as a Gift Call

Sweet Malia just wants a forever family for Christmas; could that be you?

My name is Malia and I am a wonderful girl!  I am very spunky and love to play and go for walks.  I am the total package with a great personality-please come and love me today!

• Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
• Gainesville, FL
• (352)395-6131

• Email Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
• See more pets from Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
• Share on Facebook

Rules for regifting

Welcome, one and all, to a frank discussion of a grand old holiday tradition we all practice and pretend we don’t.  Even Peggy Post, etiquette advice columnist for Good Housekeeping, admits she’s done it.

Read all the rules here.

TV remotes prompt most Christmas Day fights

Rows over who is in charge of changing channels beat a host of other reasons for bust-ups on the big day, including cheating at board games, who washes up and Dad getting drunk.

The second most common reason for family feuds is Mom getting stressed in the kitchen, followed by the kids not pulling their weight around the house.

Check out the top 20 reasons for Christmas family feuds here.

Go to Caroling Corner to get the rest of the lyrics to your favorite holiday songs!

Inexpensive Gift Ideas for Christmas (and Beyond!)

The best gifts are appropriate for the recipient, yet don’t cost a small fortune. You want your gift to say “I know what you like”, not “I didn’t have a clue of what to get you for a gift for but here it is anyway”.

Get some ideas here.