Yesterday the kids and I made the first of what I’m sure will be MANY trips to the local Halloween store. Annie and James still love being scared by all the creepy displays (I wasn’t blown away by the offerings this year, but there were still a few good ones). James seems pretty set on being a Minecraft character for Halloween, which is great because I already have the costume! Thanks, day-after-Halloween sales! Annie is undecided. She always has to be something scary, and right now she’s waffling between being the haunted Annabelle Doll from the movies or being a scary clown. I’m not exactly thrilled by either option but I’m glad she’s still into Halloween. It’s my favorite day of the year!

Around The ‘Net

~An engineer of the 9/11 recovery: She fled Pentagon wreckage — then turned it into a chapel

~She was killed by the Nazis in 1942. Her secret diary is to be published after 70 years in a bank vault

~These Teens Were Hospitalized With Vaping Injuries. Now They’re Sharing Their Stories And Helping Other Young People Quit.

~The hotter the planet grows, the less children are learning

~A Famous Argument Against Free Will Has Been Debunked

~Astronomers just found an interstellar comet, the second visitor of its kind ever detected

~Her body was found in the woods in 1991. This week police arrested her then-boyfriend after new technology matched a pair of socks

~Drowning in plastic

~A new dinosaur has been unearthed in Japan, and it’s the first of its kind

~The Book of Prince

~The expiration dates on your food are probably wrong

~For decades, Ireland’s mother and baby homes were shrouded in secrecy. Some say the veil still hasn’t lifted

~Mariah Carey Says No Holiday Music ‘Til After Halloween, As Per Law

~Oregon Woman Turns School Buses Into Tiny Homes for Working Homeless Families

~A Decade of Music Is Lost on Your iPod. These Are The Deleted Years. Now Let Us Praise Them.

~Meet the country that passes no law unless it improves citizens’ well-being

~Alabama tracking students at stadium, penalizing them if they leave football game early

Fun Finds

~Did you guys know that “worm on a string” is a thing again? That crappy little pipe cleaner thing we used to get at school carnivals is now “super cool.” YOUTHS ARE BAFFLING.
~Speaking of baffling, scrunchies are also a thing again. When I was talking to some of the girls on Annie’s softball team about how I had scrunchies when I was their age, one of the girls looked at me incredulously and said, “They had SCRUNCHIES when you were a kid?! No way.” Damn, that cut deep.
~I hate paper straws, so I finally caved and bought a set of reusable silicone straws. I like them so far, they’re easy to clean and I’m not afraid they’re going to chip my teeth like the reusable metal straws. And you can chew on them, which Mike likes!

Happy Sunday, everyone!