By GRETCHEN McKAY, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The holidays are not usually a time when people think about going green -- Christmas is all about conspicuous consumption, right? With growing awareness about climate change and the importance of energy conservation, this may be the year to take your first bite of the (sustainable) bullet.

Though she now chases ghosts for fun, Patty Antol never believed in the paranormal before she moved to a 1950s ranch in the Pittsburgh area in 1992. Even after an antique grandfather's clock that hadn't worked in more than 20 years suddenly started tick-tocking in her house -- and then stopping dead at precisely 1 a.m. -- ghosts were the last thing on her mind.

When putting in a new kitchen, some folks try to impress with their choice of appliances. But only serious cooks need a high-end commercial range, right? If you really want your kitchen to sizzle, focus on the countertops.

HAMILTON, Ohio -- Having taught two teen-age boys to drive and lived through clothes-shopping with 'tween daughters, I'm not a gal who scares easily. But shooting guns for pleasure? That's one frightening activity I've always steered clear of.

EAST BRADY, Pa. -- Few things in life are more stressful than a seriously ill child. Just ask Scott and Jessica Day, whose 2-year-old son, Scott Jr., was diagnosed in utero with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare congenital defect in which the left side of the heart never fully develops.

C'mon, parents. Fess up. After more than two months of summer vacation, you're ready for the kids to go back to school. Getting you and your family back into the school routine after so many weeks of taking it easy, though, can be a challenge.

It used to be that all kids had to do to pay Grandma or Grandpa a visit was walk up the street or hop in the station wagon and take a short car ride across town. In today's mobile society, though, it's not unusual for extended families to live farther apart than they'd like -- sometimes even halfway around the world.It makes it tough to build a relationship.

WASHINGTON -- Chalk it up to the eternal conflict between good and evil, but Americans have always been fascinated with crime.From the stocks and pillories used during Colonial times, to the bloody shootout at the O.K. Corral, to the notoriety of serial killer Ted Bundy, who confessed to 30 murders before being executed in 1989 -- it all fuels our imagination.

What would happen if someone obtained the screenplays for three recent 'tween hits -- "High School Musical," "High School Musical 2" and "Mean Girls" -- threw them all up in the air, reassembled the pages in random order and then slapped on a new title page?