And there's nothing worse than trying to slap on the poker face in the early hours of the morning when I open up a box and see a ceramic snowman smiling back at me. I like to shop, and shopping is much more fun and guilt-free when the purchases don't end up on my balance sheet.gift cards are the most wanted gift among women and ranked third with men, according to a Consumer Reports survey. Ultimately, they'll end up in a landfill or incinerator somewhere, which is much worse than failing...

AG UPDATE Signup for disaster assistance with Farm Service Agency By JIMMY SETTLE The Leaf-Chronicle Area farms and ranches experiencing severe drought conditions may be eligible for cost-share assistance under the Emergency Conservation Program, officials have announced. The Leaf Chronicle - www.theleafchronicle.com - Clarksville, TN Welcome toThe Leaf ChronicleClarksville, TN. AG UPDATE Signup for disaster assistance with Farm Service Agency By JIMMY SETTLE The Leaf-Chronicle Area farms...

At Alterra, Ann would be supporting a locally owned business, helping small farmers half a world away who use sustainable agricultural practices and contributing to local sustainable energy and urban agriculture programs. So she just finishes half her lunch, dumps the rest into the trash, along with her Styrofoam plate, plastic utensils, plastic bottle and five paper napkins - four of them unused. And Ann's fashionable refusal to carry home a few ounces of lamb also tainted Meritage's...

You can pretty much pick your pleasure this fall: Stores are filled with chunky cardigans (the freshest have a slight trapeze shape), loose-knit drapey cowlnecks, proper cashmere crewnecks and boldly striped pullovers. For getting food or alcohol out of wool, the American Sheep Industry Association recommends placing a towel under the stain and gently rubbing it with carbonated water toward the center of the spot. To fold a sweater to reduce wrinkles and minimize bulk, Real Simple Magazine...

Director John Lasseter explains that the Pixar programmers wrote code to help him animate the bouncing ball, but he had to figure out how to 'motivate' the lamp cords on his own. While other companies were displaying basic graphic images of geometric shapes moving on screen, Pixar proved that computers could be applied to creative filmmaking. The characterization in the old man's face is quite different than anything cel animation can do, and the story changes the lighting slowly,...

Jeans and scraps of denim are being recycled to produce home insulation that's touted as an environmentally safe and sustainable alternative to the more carbon-intensive cotton-candy-pink batting. The search for the perfect jeans is an elusive but rewarding one for the simple reason that the right pair can produce small miracles: They lift, they curve, they slim, they tone, they plump the rump and now they warm the hump. Bootylicious babes such as Lindsay Lohan, Sheryl Crow and Gwen...