Lifestyle

Experienced holiday shoppers know out-of-town gifts need their attention now.

Ex-etiquette is a weekly column. Each week I answer your questions about breaking up, starting over, and co-parenting. In last week’s column I made a comment about not being in favor of co-parents splitting the holidays. Because my readers felt this was out of character, I got a lot of email. Comments like, “You always say children have the right to time with both parents. How can you say you are not in favor of splitting the holidays? I thought you were about what’s fair.”

I’m the first to admit I was a pretty terrible cook as a newlywed. Granted, I was barely a year out of college with little-to-no actual cooking experience under my 20-something belt, but still. Some of those first few meals I served my new husband were god-awful.

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Can a backpack really be worth $3,600? I always read those “Holiday Gift Guides” and wonder who would spend so much money on some of that stuff. The backpack was a gift suggestion “For The Sporty & The Posh.” It’s a black leather backpack from the Louis Vuitton FIFA World Cup 2022 “capsule collection.” What is a capsule collection anyhow?

Choose your reading materials wisely and you will finish every book you start.

According to a Gallup poll, each of us Americans expects to spend an average of $932 on Christmas gifts this year. I, for one, like practical gifts. (My daugher was thrilled last year when I told her I needed a new crockpot.)

Adding the cold, dark days of winter on top of holiday stress can do a number on a person’s mental health. It could lead to seasonal affective disorder ― a type of depression that’s related to changes in seasons.

Dear Healthy Men: You’ve mentioned several times in this column that men don’t go to the doctor as often as women and that they live shorter, sicker lives than women. I’m sure that’s true. But what I really want to know is why. Why don’t men take better care of themselves?

Regular screening is one of the most important ways to prevent colorectal cancer (colon and rectal).

LIMA — Don Barnes has experienced a lot since he first began the southern rock band 38 Special alongside other Jacksonville-based pioneers of the genre like Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers Band and Molly Hatchet. One memory that has stayed with him is the last time the band performed in Lima for 2009’s Square Fair. He is hoping to recapture some of the same magic of that night when they return to Veterans Memorial Civic Center at 7:30 p.m. today.