• 03 23,
• Snoop Dogg
• Vicki Kennedy
• The Plastiki
• Conan O'Brien
• Rio Tinto
• 2012 Olympics
• Penelope Cruz
• Dancing With the…
• Tax Refunds
• ACORN

Yahoo Top 10 searches

Yahoo Top 5 for this week

Buy Designer Furniture & Shop Best Gift Ideas 4 World Market Buyers, Buy Vegas Home Decor Accents!

News

• WOMAN CAN'T SHAKE FAMILY ISSUES EVEN 3,000 MILES AWAY

  DEAR ABBY: I live 3,000 miles away from my immediate family. I am happily married and six months' pregnant. In the past, I had man

  y issues with my family. I have a long history of anorexia, and my pregnancy has forced me to give up my self-destructive behaviors. I would never jeopardize my baby.

  I asked my father if I could have a baby shower this month. I don't want to travel when I am further along in my pregnancy, nor do I want negative comments from my family members about my size. After my baby is born, I will not visit for at least a year.

  My father suggested that I have a baby shower then, but my baby will be a year old! He believes having a baby shower "too early" is asking for gifts. I am hurt by his attitude, and I'm having a hard time understanding his logic.

  Meanwhile, my friends and a few family members have offered to host a shower for me next month, but I want my father's support -- which perhaps is another issue in itself. Please advise. -- MOM-TO-BE IN SAN FRANCISCO

  DEAR MOM-TO-BE: You are correct -- your need for your father's approval, and his unwillingness to give it, is "another issue in itself." Unless he comes from a culture in which infant mortality is so high that it is traditional to wait until a child is born to hold a shower, I can only conclude that his unwillingness is a form of punishment.

  My advice is to allow your friends and family members to host the shower. Take plenty of pictures and send copies to your "immediate family." Visit them next year, and don't be surprised if no shower is forthcoming then, either. Live a healthy, happy life, enjoy your husband and child, and do not allow anyone to make you feel less than adequate. And that includes your father.

  P.S. If, after your baby arrives, you begin backsliding with your eating disorder, for your sake and the sake of your child, I urge you to get professional counseling. Children model their eating habits on those of their parents.

  DEAR ABBY: I am a 55-year-old grandmother, twice divorced. I have been living with a man I'll call "Mickey," and we're contemplating marriage.

  My older sister met Mickey for the first time and insists that I abandon my marriage plans. She says that while she talked with him, she realized that he is controlling, possessive and angry. She's convinced that he will ruin my life.

  I love my sister, and I'm not sure how to react to her phone calls and e-mails. I have not discussed this with Mickey because I don't want him thinking poorly of my sister. I know he has problems, anger issues being one of them. And perhaps she's right about his being controlling and possessive.

  I'm not sure what to do here. Mickey wants to get married next month. I'm thinking we need to wait a while longer. We've been together only seven months. -- WENDY IN WASHINGTON STATE

  DEAR WENDY: You have struck out twice at marriage. For your own sake, please do not marry again without at least a year of premarital counseling. The traits your sister spotted, and that you admit Mickey suffers from, are red flags that he could be an abuser. Your mental and physical health could be at risk, so do not allow yourself to be rushed into anything.

  Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

  For everything you need to know about wedding planning, order "How to Have a Lovely Wedding." Send a business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds only) to: Dear Abby, Wedding Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

  ...(more) - 12 14 2007 11:47AM

• Nicole's Winter Delivery

  Los Angeles (E! Online) - Nicole Richie's got a whole new life on her hands, and it's a lot less simple.

  The former rea

  lity star and her fiancé, Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden, welcomed their first child together, daughter Harlow Winter Kate Madden, Friday at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, E! News has confirmed.

  The child weighed in at six pounds, seven ounces and was apparently quite healthy, as the proud parents have already left the building.

  "The beautiful healthy baby girl left the hospital with her ecstatic parents," a rep for the couple told People.

  Nicole's dad, Lionel Richie, and her half-sister, Sophia, were spotted arriving at the hospital Friday afternoon, where they joined a small entourage eagerly awaiting the little one's debut. Lionel's wife, Brenda, reportedly arrived a little earlier with two others, flanked by plain-clothes security.

  Their new addition also capped off a celebrity baby boom at Cedars Friday, as Christina Aguilera, Courtney Thorne-Smith and David Alan Grier's wife were all bearing down elsewhere in the maternity ward today. Aguilera gave birth to her and hubby Jordan Bratman's first child right around the time Baby Madden was born.

  Richie and Madden have been dating for a little over a year. After rampant speculation about the SImple Life star's swelling physique last summer, they confirmed they were expecting during an August interview with Diane Sawyer.

  "I actually didn't even really believe it until I heard the heartbeat," Richie said of learning she was with child.

  Though the pregnancy was unplanned, Richie has called her situation "a blessing in disguise."

  "I owe this baby my life. I owe this baby everything, and I have a responsibility now for someone else," she told Sawyer. "I have to set the right examples. I want to be the best parent I can be. I would really want to be someone my child would look up to."

  Over the course of her pregnancy, Richie has been doing her best to put her money where her mouth is.

  Harlow Winter Kate may be barely a few hours old, but she already has a nonprofit to her name.

  In honor of their firstborn, Richie and Madden created the Richie-Madden Children's Foundation in November, with the goal of giving back to other young families in the community.

  The new parents hosted a holiday party last month at Paramount Studios, treating nearly 200 disadvantaged kids and their parents to Christmas presents.

  Earlier in the month, the twosome also held a baby shower at which they passed out gifts to 100 new and expectant moms in need.

  Richie's Simple Life sidekick Paris Hilton told E! Online the couple plan on tying the knot later this year. And Richie herself has said she is anticipating a "really huge" wedding.

  ...(more) - 01 14 2008 1:09PM

• COUPLE THROWS A WEDDING, BUT NEGLECTS TO GET MARRIED

  DEAR ABBY: My husband and I just found out that his daughter and her boyfriend duped everyone -- including us -- with a formal,

  traditional wedding ceremony, but the "marriage" is not legal. They had no intention of being legally wed, but felt that because they are having a baby, they were entitled to a formal wedding.

  We paid a large amount of money to attend this wedding, Abby, including gifts and a bridal shower. When confronted, they showed no remorse for their deception. In fact, they are extremely arrogant about it. They say it's their personal business and consider themselves "married in the eyes of God."

  I am furious over this scam, which affects more than 100 family members and friends. Please advise. -- DECEIVED IN ARIZONA

  DEAR DECEIVED: Usually when couples are married in a "formal, traditional" wedding ceremony, the clergyperson or other officiant asks the couple -- and their witnesses -- to sign a marriage certificate. How could this not have happened?

  "Marriages in the eyes of God" usually involve special circumstances such as seniors who are in danger of losing pension benefits if they marry in a civil ceremony. I don't blame you for being furious at the deception, which was nothing more than a gift grab. And, embarrassing as it may be, you should inform the others who were also "taken" -- better they hear it from you than think you were part of the deception.

  DEAR ABBY: My wife and I share a joint checking account with both checks and debit cards. When she makes purchases or writes checks, she doesn't record her purchases in the check ledger that we keep at the home computer.

  I am the one who does the family finances, and if I don't check the activity online daily, it comes as a big surprise to me when her checks are cashed by the payee, sometimes weeks later.

  When I confront her about recording her purchases, she turns it around and gets mad at me. It's extremely frustrating. I'm trying hard to avoid bounced checks and insufficient funds fees, but I can't do it alone. I need her help, and she won't listen. How can I get her to cooperate? - FRUSTRATED IN PENNSYLVANIA

  DEAR FRUSTRATED: Your wife's behavior is childish and irresponsible. If she can't remember to enter her checks into her check register or your ledger, then she should save her receipts and give them to you on a regular basis.

  It is well-known that arguments about money and finances frequently cause marriages to fail. If your wife won't listen to you, perhaps she will listen to a marriage counselor and/or financial adviser. And if that doesn't do the trick, close the joint account and have her open one of her own so she can experience firsthand the pain of paying penalty fees.

  DEAR ABBY: My husband has a very special skill that is creating a problem with our friends. He can repair almost any electronic device and has done so for our friends on numerous occasions. However, it has reached the point that now they expect him to fix their devices and offer no thanks -- monetary or otherwise. How can we get the point across that his time is valuable and should be respected as such? -- HANDYMAN'S WIFE, NEWPORT, ORE.

  DEAR HANDYMAN'S WIFE: Your husband should tell these people -- with a smile -- that he does not have the time to fix the item and that it should be taken to a professional repair shop or to the store from which it was purchased.

  Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

  To receive a collection of Abby's most memorable -- and most frequently requested -- poems and essays, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $6 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby -- Keepers Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Postage is included in the price.)

  ...(more) - 12 6 2008 12:22PM