Oily puddle near the tailpipe, what is it?

Could the liquid be coolant? If so, you likely have a broken heater core. Or... it could be condensate from the a/c evaporator is not exiting via the hose that is designed to take it out of the car (ever notice how a puddle forms under a car that has the a/c on?). If your car doesn't have the puddle, it's because a bug made a nest in that tube (or some other blockage) and the water is overflowing and coming into the cabin.

oil from the hide?

POSSIBLE A/C DRAIN, DO YOU NOTICE AFTER YOU DRIVE WITH A/C ON... DOES FLUID HAVE A SMELL OR OILY FEEL?

hi
light blue smoke would suggest a small amount of oil being burnt in the cylinder. could be a valve stem seal, or a faulty oil control ring on a piston.

grey/ black smoke would suggest excess fuel, usually due to a clogged air filter.

white smoke would suggest water being burnt in the cylinder from a blown heat gasket. this would usually smell slightly sweet and sugary from the antifreeze/summer coolant in the water.

any smoke from the tailpipe should be checked as the emissions could be out of limits as well.

check the spark plugs one at a time.
blackened dry plugs would suggest excess fuel.
black and oily plugs would suggest oil in that piston.
it should give you an idea of where to start looking for the fault.

Your brother is on to something I believe.

Your coolant is rusty or milkshake-like?

If you arent leaking coolant or oil I think the both being burned in the combustion chambers! Look for oily steam at the tailpipe!

The check engine light probably came on because your O2 sensors are both shot from the excessive oil and coolant baking onto them!

If you still have brakes and it sounds like you do.
Air suspension?
But I would go for shock oil.

White smoke on startup could be a head gasket leak between the water jacket and the cylinder. Won't always show in the oil. Antifreeze makes it smell oily or sweet. Compression test will tell for sure. Bluish is oil that was burned. White is usually water or oil into exhaust after combustion.

I concur with emissionswiz; it sounds like a typical sign of a leaking of 'blown' head gasket and the white smoke could well be coolant+water.

Well for starters, that oil has to be going somewhere, obviously.  So most likely it is the piston rings, these wear out over time regardless of how well taken care of your car is.  Check the exhaust out while the car is running, if there is a white-blueish smoke, thats piston rings.  if it is more grey-ish, thats most likely a head gasket, in which case check the coolant overflow for color, and remove the oil filler cap and look on the inside, if you see a nasty looking white film, thats caused by water/coolant in the oil, most likely leaking through a bad head gasket.  Or it may be leaking out somewhere, if there are no puddles it may be leaking near a hot exhaust pipe/manifold and burning off.  
As long as you keep enough oil in it, it should be fine for a few years, just get it fixed eventually.  in the mean time you can also use oil additives to help string things along, ask the rep at your local auto parts store.  hope this helps!