Gift Wrap

When we open our presents at Christmas, I am in charge of gathering up the wrapping paper.I don't know exactly when or why I became my family's designated cleaner-upper, but over the years, as I've gotten to know myself a little bit better, I understand that this was no accident. Getting rid of the wrapping paper is part of who I am.I learned from my mother how to wrap gifts. She wrapped things in plain white tissue paper with a simple ribbon and handmade bow. And after all the presents had been opened, she gathered up the tissue paper, ribbons and bows and saved them to be used again next year.

One of the factors of the San Diego Chargers limping into Sunday's contest against the Ravens with a 4-6 record is the hosts' inability to protect the football. The Chargers have turned the ball over 22 times this season, which is tied with the New York Jets for the fourth-worst mark in the NFL. Only the Kansas City Chiefs (31 turnovers), Philadelphia Eagles (24) and Dallas Cowboys (23) have more turnovers. That would seem to play to the strength of the Ravens, who rank sixth in the league in takeaways with 21. But outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said he's not expecting San Diego to gift-wrap Sunday's game.

One of the factors of the San Diego Chargers limping into Sunday's contest against the Ravens with a 4-6 record is the hosts' inability to protect the football. The Chargers have turned the ball over 22 times this season, which is tied with the New York Jets for the fourth-worst mark in the NFL. Only the Kansas City Chiefs (31 turnovers), Philadelphia Eagles (24) and Dallas Cowboys (23) have more turnovers. That would seem to play to the strength of the Ravens, who rank sixth in the league in takeaways with 21. But outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said he's not expecting San Diego to gift-wrap Sunday's game.

Maybe Ed Reed's sideline scare is a sign and the Ravens are getting hot at the right time. Reed's fourth-quarter interception sealed the Ravens' 20-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns and helped clinch the Ravens' third straight playoff berth, an unprecedented achievement in the team's 15-year history. While there were no celebrations on the sidelines for making the AFC's six-team postseason field, there was some jumping done by the Pro Bowl safety. Reed's body-length jacket caught on fire when he sat too close to a heater, but he leapt up and threw off the smoking coat to avoid any serious injury.

As the holiday shopping season officially begins, here are tips from mall executives about avoiding that harried, hassled feeling:* Don't procrastinate. Waiting until the last minute will remove the pleasure and heighten the panic of shopping.* If you have an aversion to crowds, consider shopping in off-peak hours. At most malls, weekdays before 4 p.m. are less crowded than evenings and weekends.For shoppers with serious time constraints, Owings Mills Mall is introducing a "Before-Hours Shop By Appointment" service.

CURRENT volunteers' news and needs:Covenant Guild is holding its 6th annual walk of love Walk-A-Thon on Sunday beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Pikesville Senior High School, 7621 Labyrinth Road and going 3 1/2 -miles to the Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital which will benefit. For details or sponsor sheets, call 764-1408 or 486-8094.The Humane Society of Baltimore County needs volunteers and donations for its flea market to be held Oct. 26 on the society's grounds at 1601 Nicodemus Road in Reisterstown.

NOW YOU can support your local school and eat chocolates while you're wrapping gifts.PTA and booster clubs need funds to support various programs for students.Hammond High School students and Hammond High Boosters members are selling Geoffrey Chocolates and Sally Foster gift wrap. Several elementary schools are selling the gift wrap.Phelps Luck Elementary's kindergarten teacher Jodi Sacki agreed to wear a "silly" costume to school for a day if at least 350 students returned their signed sales packages before last weekend.

Theme-party business wins $10,000 grantLast July Judy Esposito launched a new business that's won her a $10,000 grant from New Woman magazine and the National Association for Female Executives. Her innovative idea, "Party in a Bag," placed third in the national business competition.Ms. Esposito's creative solution to coordinating children's birthday parties offers over 30 themes, such as "Little Mermaid" or "magic." The one you choose is carried out in invitations, decorations, toys, game ideas, party favors and more, all of which arrive at your door in a brightly colored bag. The cost ranges from $49 to $75 for 8, $3.50 to $4.50 per extra child.

Courses ranging from psychology to thermodynamics will be offered at Glen Burnie Town Center this summer by Anne Arundel Community College. Classes will meet in the Arundel Center North, 101 Crain Highway N.E., beginning May 24. They vary in length at six, eight and 11 weeks. Other classes begin June 19 and July 5. Classes starting May 24 willinclude communication, literature, English as a second language, psychology, thermodynamics, and "Ecosystems and the Environment." The third session will include American government, the history of Western civilization, and introduction to sociology.

Making a list and buying holiday presents is only two-thirds of the gift-giving process. That mountain of material good will still has to be wrapped.But it could be that right about now you feel wrapped too tight to spend hours swaddling boxes in paper and bows. So here are some suggestions from the Time Saver notebook for festive gift presentations that don't require a heavy time -- and in some cases budget -- commitment.* When paying for purchases, ask if the store provides some sort of gift wrap.

I too have had less than stellar success with the "new, improved" recycling ("Single-stream recycling isn't for us," Readers respond, Feb. 22). Home Depot told me I'd have to buy a $68 recycling container. My recycling was not collected several times when I put it out. Why can't we just put both paper and cans in blue bags out together? Why must they be in a special container? I too have pretty much decided to just not recycle if I have to gift wrap it. Leslie Johnston, Baltimore County Send letters to the editor to talkback@baltimoresun.

It's been a tough year for Mary Mack. During the warmer months she traveled with carnivals, but lean times meant fewer dollars spent on "Pick-a-Duck" and "Shoot-A-Cup," the games she operates. When Mack and her husband returned to Baltimore in the fall, they had $200 and no place to go. For several weeks, they slept on the ground outside her aunt's shed. "We just live day by day, whatever we can do," said Mack, adding that Christmas was "terrible" this year. "We had nothing." On Sunday, Mack and family members joined hundreds of others to receive free clothing, housewares and toys given away by a nonprofit group under a Jones Falls Expressway bridge.

M y most memorable Christmas was spent at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1978. My mother, 53 at the time, was a cancer patient there. Beginning in 1972, she had endured a seesaw existence as cancer was detected, surged, then went away for a while. She had recently suffered a collapse requiring her hospitalization. My wife, Ann, and I stopped by to see Mom the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and she was in good spirits. The hospital was decorated appropriately. The kids on her ward were in high spirits, but they always got to me, parading around in hospital gowns with bare skulls and rolling IVs. I thanked my lucky stars none of my childhood Christmases was spent in a hospital ward.

Product recalls for the week beginning Jan. 14: Jan. 15 Name of product: Toy wrestler figures Units: 5,400 Manufacturer: A.A. of America Inc. of East Brunswick, N.J. Hazard: The surface paint contains high levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard. Sold at: Dollar stores and discount stores nationwide from January 2007 through December 2007 for about $1. Remedy: Consumers should take the toy away from children immediately and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

The Ultimate Gift is an irresistible formula film, an inspirational tearjerker complete with a dying kid, a dysfunctional family, a reprobate made to see the error of his ways and the unwavering message that good is, as it should be, its own reward. Based on the novel by Jim Stovall, the film opens with the off-screen death of oil magnate Red Stevens (James Garner). Family and friends gather for the funeral, and it quickly becomes apparent that whatever else Red did in life, he wasn't much of a success at the family thing.

It's May, that nice young man down the street is graduating from college, and you'd like to help him celebrate the occasion with an appropriate gift. Something from the heart. But here's the problem: What do you get a guy who wears diamond earrings so dazzling they could singe your corneas, drives around in luxury SUVs, lives in a house the size of an Air Force base, has his own personal chef and parties with A-list jock celebs like Deion Sanders and Evander Holyfield? Somehow, a pen and pencil set seems so ... inadequate.

On the first day of kindergarten, orientation time for us nervous, novice parents, my wife and I are handed a thick envelope. No explanation is given. Our teacher doesn't have to bother. Little did we realize -- first-timers that we are -- but we've just been given an offer we can't refuse. Inside are gift wrap order forms. The PTA wants us to sell, sell, sell. As Dante might say, "lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate" -- abandon all hope ye who enter here. Within days I'm on the phone with my father, hopeful that he will spare me from the torture of knocking on neighbors' doors or strong-arming acquaintances: How many rolls of wrapping paper, Grandpa?

Product recalls for the week beginning Jan. 14: Jan. 15 Name of product: Toy wrestler figures Units: 5,400 Manufacturer: A.A. of America Inc. of East Brunswick, N.J. Hazard: The surface paint contains high levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard. Sold at: Dollar stores and discount stores nationwide from January 2007 through December 2007 for about $1. Remedy: Consumers should take the toy away from children immediately and return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.