Happy New Year! We had a nice New Year’s Eve. Our party plans fell through, so we stayed home and celebrated as a family. Annie insisted that we “get fancy,” so she and I put on sparkly clothes and did each other’s hair and makeup. She gave me a LOT of gold glitter eyeshadow, which I didn’t even know we had in our house and am planning on “accidentally” misplacing ASAP. A week and several showers later and I swear I’m still finding tiny pieces of glitter on my face. Glitter is the worst!

Both kids go back to school tomorrow *cue singing angels.* It’s been nice not having a schedule these last two weeks but they really need to go to school and be around other people now.

Around The ‘Net

~Sex Trafficking Is on the Rise in West Virginia Due to This Growing Problem

~The Case for the Subway

~‘Forget About the Stigma’: Male Nurses Explain Why Nursing Is a Job of the Future for Men

~A Cuban Island That Has Played Both Paradise and Prison

~The Struggling Artist at 86

~What Kids Eat Around the World In One Week

~An Eyelash-Freezing ‘Icy Hell’: The One Spot That Could Feel Like Minus 100

~Super blue blood moon: End of January to see stunning collision of three lunar sights

~There’s a reason using a period in a text message makes you sound angry

~A Voracious Starfish Is Destroying the Great Barrier Reef

~Airlines Are Phasing Out Seat-Back Entertainment Screens Because We Bring Enough Screens With Us

~Food-safety expert warns latest bizarre Silicon Valley $60 ‘raw water’ trend could quickly turn deadly

~Google’s Latest Search: What Happened to Its Bikes?

~Lonely 12-Yr-Old Golden Gets Fluffy Gift & His Reaction Will Give You The Feels.

Ding Dong

Last week, our doorbell chime (the one that’s inside the house) decided to stop working mid-ring. Because it was mid-ring, it was stuck in this unbelievably annoying loud buzzing position and I seriously wanted to go all Phoebe Buffay on it.

When I was looking online to order a replacement chime, I discovered that there are actually doorbells that will ring with whatever you want. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one that’s compatible with my Ring doorbell camera, but if one of you want to be alerted to guests with a rock song or whatever, get this doorbell and live my dream by programming it to play “Ring My Bell.”

Cool Stuff

~Annie really likes making stop-motion movies with her iPod, so I bought her this little tripod Stickbot set for her birthday so her videos won’t be shaky. This is a great free app (there’s also a paid version but we haven’t tried it) that Annie uses to make her movies!
~I just downloaded the Soothe app, which provides on-demand massages right in your home. If you haven’t tried it, here’s $20 toward your first massage! You. Are. Welcome.
~Two words: interactive Porg.

Happy Sunday, everyone!