EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts safely returned to Earth yesterday, taking a detour to sunny California after storms hit the main landing strip in Florida.

Endeavour wrapped up a 16-day trip that left the international space station freshly remodeled and capable of housing bigger crews. The shuttle dropped off all kinds of home improvement equipment, including a new bathroom, kitchenette and a recycling system designed to convert astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water.

NASA always prefers to land the shuttles at their home base in Florida. It takes about a week and costs $1.8 million to transport a shuttle from California to Florida, atop a modified jumbo jet.

WASHINGTON -- First lady Laura Bush kicked off the holiday season yesterday by standing out in the rain to receive this year's White House Christmas tree.

A horse-drawn wagon pulled the 20-foot Fraser fir, which will decorate the Blue Room, up to the White House. Mrs. Bush was waiting under an umbrella.

Jessie Davis and Russell Estes, owners of River Ridge Tree Farms in Crumpler, N.C., where the tree was grown, joined the first lady, along with their families.

Mrs. Bush said this year's holiday decorating theme would be announced later this week.

Given the economic downturn, some might balk at the $86,609 price tag for the items in the carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

That's this year's cost, according to the annual "Christmas Price Index" compiled by PNC Wealth Management, which tallies the single partridge in a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming, purchased repeatedly as the song suggests. The price is up $8,508, or 10.9 percent, from $78,100 last year.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., says he's ready for a tough re-election race in 2010, whether it's against MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews or someone else.

Mr. Specter, 78, declined to speculate on whether he would face Mr. Matthews, who reportedly met with Pennsylvania Democratic Party leaders last week about a run. But the GOP moderate said he expected challenges from the left and right as he seeks a sixth term.

There was no immediate response from Mr. Matthews, 62, yesterday to a message left for him through an NBC spokeswoman. Mr. Matthews' contract with MSNBC expires in June.

ATLANTA -- About one in 10 doctors who vaccinate privately insured children are considering dropping that service largely because they are losing money when they do it, according to a new survey.

A second survey revealed startling differences between what doctors pay for vaccines and what private health insurers reimburse: For example, one in 10 doctors lost money on one recommended infant vaccine, but others made almost $40 per dose on the same shot.

The survey was revealing even to some doctors. The studies are the first to attach numbers to doctors' long-simmering complaints that they are only breaking even -- or even losing money -- when they give shots.

This year, U.S. measles cases rose to the highest level in more than a decade, mainly because some parents are opting out of getting their kids vaccinated.

Health officials fear that problem, along with doctor's economic concerns, could set the stage for bigger outbreaks in the future.