By ANN WEBER, Toledo Blade

Dorms can teach hard lessons about living with others

True story: There was once a college student who apparently didn't like to take the trouble to walk from his dorm room to the community bathroom. So he'd urinate into a big plastic pop bottle, cap it and leave it on his desk until the next time nature called.

Disgusting -- but instructive.

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Outdoor lights enhance your landscape

Let there be light.

But not too much. When it comes to outdoor accent lighting, less is more.

Shining up through branches and down on flower beds, illuminating walkways and steps, and washing softly over the front of the house, low-voltage and solar lights are popular ways to dress up homes and landscapes when night falls.

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'Grandma Science' makes lessons fun

Take one adult who didn't like science as a kid, toss in a few common household items, some life experience and a little showmanship, and just like that you've got Grandma Science.

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Canceled weddings hurt people, and businesses suffer

A canceled wedding is like a 50-car pileup on a slick highway: The initial crash sets off a chain reaction that jolts relatives, friends and complete strangers.

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You canceled the wedding. Now what do you do?

Be brief and discreet when letting guests know that a wedding has been canceled, advises Jill-Marie Zachman, owner of First Impressions Etiquette Training and Image Development in Waterville, Ohio.

In other words: no gory details.

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Breaking the pacifier habit

Dentists are cautioning parents that children should give up their pacifiers by the time they're 3 years old.

The timing varies, but it's generally 2-1/2 to 3, according to Maumee, Ohio, pediatric dentists Stephen Pero and Michael Glinka, who have been in practice together for more than 36 years.

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Giving up car keys means narrower world for elderly

Richard Huhn drove his uncle's flashy 1929 Buick when he was just 12.

Years later, assigned to the Army motor pool in World War II, he chauffeured officers in France, Belgium and Germany. "I drove down the main street in Paris," he remembers.

Now 94, his vision severely impaired, Huhn doesn't drive anymore. His ophthalmologist insisted he quit about four years ago.

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Dress to emphasize positives about your shape

The mirror doesn't lie to you. But who says you can't lie to the mirror?
Knowing how to tell a believable fashion fib -- with color, cut, pattern and accessories -- allows you to dress in a way that emphasizes what's good about your figure and minimizes what's not.

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'Eco-cops' understand it's still not easy being green

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Joan Schroeder works in a beauty salon in Toledo, Ohio, but she doesn't hesitate to get ugly if need be.Not with customers. No, she'll get tough with any co-workers she catches throwing away plastic bottles, paper or aluminum cans.

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Mineral cosmetics mined for help with good looks

'Scuse me. I have to go powder my nose.What once served as a demure exit strategy for ladies who needed to visit the women's room is now legit. The powder is for real: Cute little pots, jars and compacts of it are showing up in makeup bags, accompanied by large, fluffy brushes to buff it on and smaller brushes to apply it on problem spots.

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