Mild Michigan weather is going to blow out of here by the weekend

We had measurable snowfall in October. November was rainy and downright balmy. December is lurking just around the corner and with it some winter weather. The Mining Journal showed a picture of a man surfing (yes surfing) yesterday in Lake Superior near Marquette. Alas, all of this is simply a mirage for those of us familiar with Michigan weather. You know there is that saying that only in Michigan will you have to run the air conditioner and furnace in the course of one day.

Over here on the western side of the state they are calling for a 70% chance of snow on Friday and temperatures in the 30s with more chances of snow over the weekend.

I need to wrap up one last outdoor project on the house today before the weather turns. This will most likely be the last warm day we'll see for a long while. Better enjoy it!

Having problems entering a shipping address in our checkout?

Very rarely someone will email or call me and tell me that our online shopping cart doesn't work because it will not accept the address of the person they want to send a gift basket. Every time someone has brought this to my attention I have had to do some digging to see what is wrong and each and every time I have had the same result. The customer has been entering an incorrect address or an address in an incorrect format.

Thankfully there is a way to avoid this. In order to make sure your address is correct you can call the U.S. Postal Service or you can check the address at usps.com.

Hopefully this will keep anyone else from having any difficulties using our online shopping cart.

Have a Great Day!

Put up your Christmas lights before it gets cold

I put up our Christmas lights last Friday with temperatures in the upper 50s. It hasn't been that warm when I have put up our Christmas lights in about three years. It was not a coincidence that that was one of the most enjoyable times I have had putting up the lights. Anyway, it is going to get cold here in Michigan towards the end of the week so you if are planning on putting up Christmas lights you might want to do it sooner rather than later. Just my $.02.

Here is a short video clip of those famous Christmas lights from last year. You probably saw them on the news last year. I saw them on the internet and had them emailed to me.

Pretty cool. If I were a neighbor it would be cool for one night. After that I would dread the day the guy ever put up all of those lights. The music that the lights are set to is by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

If the video player does not work you can view it here.

Listen to Christmas music online at these Michigan radio stations

Update:Well, it's October and people are already searching for Christmas music. Yikes. So, if you can't wait you can use the player below to get your Christmas music fix.

Wherever you are at this time of the year you can always find a station or two (or three or four - you get the picture) playing nothing but Christmas music. I don't remember radio stations playing Christmas music this far in advance of Christmas when I was a kid. It seemed like a week or two before Christmas was about the only time you heard Christmas music on the good ol' FM.

Now, you can listen to Christmas music through the internet. You can pick up stations from around the world, but I thought I would share a quick list of Michigan radio stations that stream their Christmas music online.

If you find more Michigan stations streaming Christmas music feel free to list them in the comments for this post.

• 100.3 WNIC out of Detroit - need to view in Explorer, I couldn't get the embedded audio player to work in Firefox - probably because the player is the Windows Media player
• Star 105.7 WOOD-FM - Grand Rapids - they play a few video (yep, video not audio) commercials before the audio stream begins. They have to pay for the expense of the online streaming somehow so I won't quibble about the ads.
• Star 108 - Muskegon - no problems in Firefox and no video commercials before the audio stream begins
• 100.5 FM The River - Grand Rapids - they make you enter whether you are male or female, year of birth, and zip code before the audio stream begins. Come on, I just wanted to listen to some music online not take a brief survey.

Via MikesRadioWorld.com

Here are the shipping deadlines for Christmas 2006

Here are the details on the shipping deadlines for the Christmas 2006 shipping season. You can also find the details on our website here. Don't forget that you can place your order now and we will hold it for shipment until December 18th so it will arrive just before Christmas. It is a new feature for this year and you can find out more about it at our 2006 Shipping Calendar page. You will receive an email on December 18th with the tracking information and shipping confirmation.

• *Gift Baskets shipped to Michigan need to be ordered by 1 P.M. EST on December 21st.
• *Gift Baskets shipped to all other states excluding Hawaii and Alaska need to be ordered by 1 P.M. EST on December 20th.
• *Orders sent to Alaska and Hawaii need to be ordered by 1 P.M. EST on December 19th.
• **All states can be shipped using USPS Express Mail as late as 1 P.M. EST on December 22nd.

* US Postal Service delivery is likely, but not guaranteed.

** Please call for this service as we will need to charge the actual rate and check with the Post Office to ensure delivery.

Free shipping on gift basket orders today only!

Today, November 27, 2006, when you order $50 or more in gift baskets we will ship your order for FREE! There are not any codes or coupons necessary. If you have more than $50 in your shopping cart you will not be charged shipping during the checkout process. This is a special offer for online orders only. Phone and fax orders will be charged shipping.

All baskets in each order must be going to the same address in order to receive the free shipping. This offer ends at 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time today, November 27, 2006.

Don't forget to take advantage of our new option this year that allows you to place your Christmas orders early and have us wait to ship them until December 18th. We guarantee that your gift baskets will arrive at their destinations just before Christmas! Find out more about it at our 2006 Christmas Shipping Calendar page.