Holiday Conundrums - Gifting

I can't help you with electronic devices. But if I didn't know what to do with a flower bed, I'd pick the brains of the people at the nearest *local* nursery. They know what grows well in your part of the country (and there's a lot that grows well in Georgia!), what will grow well in your type of soil, and what will grow well in the given amount of sunlight. They can give you all sorts of great advice so you won't have to do too much guessing. Of course, they hope you'll buy from them, and maybe that will be worthwhile. Local professionals are terrific folks to know.

A wishlist is a WISH list in our home. If you can't afford it, don't want to buy it, etc. then you might not get it. It sounds like you researched it and don't think it's good for her right now.

What I would do about the TV is get a switch. We have a 3 way adapter so the adapter is plugged in and then there are 3 sets of plugs for our DVD player, SD's Wii, etc. Just push the button to the device you want to use. The store selling the TV should be able to sell you the HD cables, adapters, etc. too.

As far as the Nook vs Kindle, I don't have one and can't tell you. SS has one of them (maybe the Nook) and it didn't do something he wanted, but he also likes comic books. Either way, when we traveled he was constantly looking to plug it in and that was annoying. Get her a gift card to Barns and Nobel and she can shop online - they have great shipping.

I love kindle books and rarely if ever pay for books from amazon. I use two websites to search for free books. This one is my favorite:

http://www.fkbooksandtips.com/

and this one is a little tougher to navigate and the books aren't reviewed first, so you have to really sort through some junk to find good ones:

http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/

I'm not sure what Barnes & Noble has for free books.

I have never gotten a book from the library on the kindle, but I do know that it's just like checking one out, that only one person can have it at a time (something to do with the licensing agreement) so if it's a popular book there's a waiting period just like checking out a hardcopy book.

I use the kindle app for android on my phone. I can buy books from amazon.

I get library books on my android phone using the overdrive app. Check with your library to see if they support that app.

I would look into a kindle app for an ipod and give her a gift certificate for amazon that she can use for books.

I don't think you can use the amazon prime account with the kindle app, only with an actual kindle device.

I LOVE my Nook. Yes, you can check out books from the library with it. I guess the selection depends on your individual library. I would check that first. Don't be discouraged about the Harry Potter books...I think that they are just now coming out in e-book format.

the Nook HD is real cool.
I have a relative, that spent a lot of time researching it etc, and she bought one. But it is not cheap.
But the Barnes & Noble stores, have a Nook counter in the store, and it is free customer service for Nook owners.

For your flower bed... "annuals" will die out after awhile. It is not a year round bedding. "Perennials" are year round. You need to decide, on which kind you want. You can put nice decorative foliage plants AND flowers combined. Go to a Home Depot or something, and just buy what you like, ask the workers there about the plants, come home and just pop em' in your flower bed. Refresh the soil though, and fertilize, add some compost etc. So it revitalizes the dirt.
BUT winter time is not a good time... to do this. It is a hibernation time for plants/flowers. So wait until Spring... to have your Husband re-do the flower bed.
And add some wood chips or decorative river rocks, to keep the weeds at bay. Roses, are higher maintenance plants. Get plants that are low maintenance. I also know some people, who instead of planting just flowers... they ALSO plant Herb plants too in their bedding... because it is pretty and smells nice, and combines well with flowering plants. And it is useful, being it is herbs. Herb plants also deter insect pests.

For the TV: Sears has great sales... and the Samsung flat screens are "smart TV's" which has all the input/outputs you need. We got ours from Sears, on sale. And the Samsungs have great reviews. If you get a "Smart TV" then you will have SO many options and all the AV input/outputs you need. And it can go online too.
For the DVD player, well Costo has those.

I can't give you advice on the other stuff. We have one TV, a super old 13 inch tube TV from at least years ago, and one year old DVD player. No ipods, pads, otherwise. I CAN give advice about free books, though!!

If you get a nook, go to the BN website (bn.com) and click on "nook books." Once you are there, type 0.00 in the search bar. That brings up many, many free books. These are other sites I use, for free books.
http://manybooks.net/
http://openlibrary.org/
http://www.gutenberg.org/
overdrive.com/

Oh, and my library allows you to check out ereader books online. AND, you can get SOOO many free books on amazon, Search in kindle books in your preferred category, and sort by price. (From low to high.) Also, if you are a prime member (totally worth the cost!!) you get many, many books for free.

Nooks are great. My daughter is also 11 and got one last Christmas from her Uncle-Santa. You can indeed get library books for them -- ask in person at the library; they'll tell you how. And you can get a remarkable number of FREE and very, very low-cost books off the Internet -- we have gotten a slew of classic literature on her Nook for nothing or for a very few bucks, cheaper than paperbacks. I don't know about Kindle but if you can only buy full-price books via one supplier (Amazon) -- is that the case with Kindle?? If so, why lock yourself into one supplier?

No idea what to suggest on the other electronics, but I would suggest going to your library and speaking directly with a librarian. He/She will be able to pull up a list of nook books, or you can at least find out what format most lending books use. I bought a kindle touch after researching everything, for I only wanted mine for reading. I can check out books from the library or buy books--I also review books for Booksneeze, and I can download them free just as easily.

I'm not saying to get a kindle. But I chose this format because the library's acquisitions were nearly all in kindle format.

Good luck, and don't let all of this stress you out. It isn't worth it. Your daughter won't remember her years at home by what you bought or didn't buy for her. She'll remember how much you cared about her...