However You Say It...Happy New Year!

2016...what can I say about it? This year has flown by with 50 hour work weeks, the never-ending tide of football, soccer, lacrosse & basketball while trying to squeeze in a work-out and grocery shopping...let's just say it's been batshit crazy this year. I know I'm not alone with those sentiments, time has flown by with gale force winds pushing us through time with no control. Now I find myself waiting to bring in the New Year and hoping the next one is better. So I got to thinking, why do we even celebrate New Year's? What is so darn special about the passing of time other than it inches us closer to meeting our maker? Well, we get to hang a new calendar, we get to "forget" the last year, we get a fresh slate to start anew...well, I don't hang calendars, I can't forget the last year and I have too many more gray hairs and wrinkles to start fresh. Nope, I'm a realist, nothing magical is going to happen on the first, so why do we even bother? Well it seems humans have been celebrating the New Year before Jesus was born, 2000 B.C. to be correct, but then the Mesopotamian "new year" was in what we call March and was aligned with the vernal equinox where many farmers would begin their planting. It wasn't until the Romans in 153 B.C. moved it to January 1st coinciding with elected officials starting their terms. Also, keep in mind those Romans increased the year from 355 days to 445 days just to mess with people's heads (I'm sure there was some logic to it). It wasn't until 1582 when we finally got to our current 365 days in a year with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar and through the centuries New Year's Day moved in relation to what those in power thought best. And new to me, New Year's Day is also a day of celebrating the circumcision of Jesus. He was Jewish after all and on the 8th day of life is traditionally when Jewish boys are circumcised...eight days after Christmas...think about it, "Happy New Year! SNIP-SNIP"

While we're singing "Auld Lang Syne" not everyone around the world is celebrating with us. For many people the New Year falls at a different time and has different meanings & traditions associated with it. Here are some examples:

• Ethiopian New Year called Enkutatash. It is celebrated on September 11 (September 12 in leap years). The new year is the end of the summer rainy season.
• Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar and is corrected for the solar every three years. The holiday normally falls between January 20 and February 20. The holiday is celebrated with food, families, lucky money (usually in a red envelope), and many other red things for good luck.
• Thai New Year is celebrated on April 13 or April 14 and is called Songkran. People usually come out to splash water on one another. The throwing of water originated as a blessing. By capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder.
• Hijri New Year in the Islamic culture is also known as Islamic new year is the day that marks the beginning of a new Islamic calendar year. New Year moves from year to year because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. The first day of the year is observed on the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar.
• Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, is celebrated by Jews throughout the world. The date is not set according to the Gregorian calendar, but it always falls during September or October. The holiday is celebrated by religious services and special meals.

Whether you're celebrating on the 1st of January or another time, whether it's to flush the past or welcome the future we all can find at least one thing (maybe more) to embrace and be thankful for. Here's to another year ahead, more "natural" highlights and a few more smile lines.

2017 Here We Come!

Santa Died This Year & I Miss Him

This was the year. The year my kid stopped believing in Santa. I'm sitting here, sipping coffee from my percolator, contemplating what it means when your child stops believing in Santa. To me it's akin to a balloon popping but with no fun confetti flying everywhere, just a loud noise followed by silence.

I don't remember when I stopped believing, I do remember I was ok with it. I didn't have an older sibling to spoil it for me and I wasn't bombarded with TV and other social media saying it wasn't true, it just happened naturally. My son and I had the conversation last year and I left it up to him whether Santa was real or not. He asked and I simply responded back with, "Well, what do you think?" It worked, barely. This year was different. He came to the conversation armed with what his friends at school said, what he saw on TV and said, "Mom, you have to tell me the TRUTH. Don't lie to me!" I again asked him what he thought, he said he knew Santa wasn't real and stared me down like a cop interrogating a witness, just looking for any tell-tale signs I was fibbing. So right then and there I made the choice not to lie. I took a deep breath and told him he was right, there was no Santa. Those were hard words for me to say and I never knew how much I was going to dread saying them until I was forced to.

For me, having to tell my son there is no Santa (or tooth fairy, or Easter bunny) signified an end to innocence, an end to the belief in magic, an end to the simplicity of imagination and childhood. I wanted one more year where I had to wrap gifts in the middle of the night and write out tags saying, "From: Santa" one more year where we would snuggle up and watch the Norad Santa Tracker and falling asleep just minutes before Santa flew over our house. The fun of moving Mr. Igglewiggle (our Elf on the Shelf) from place to place, seeing the notes and goodies he brought back from the North Pole. Just one more year where he believed in the magic and the possibility of his imagination.

This year was different. When I brought something home that was a Christmas gift, I just told him to go in the other room while I stored it away. He touched Mr. Igglewiggle for the first time ever as we made him our tree topper beside the angel. He would say things like, "Now that you don't have to buy all the gifts that Santa used to bring, you can save that money and we can go to Disney." His mind automatically went to the practical aspect of it. But I'm left with the longing for that magic that only Santa brings. The wonder and excitement in his eyes talking about the North Pole and Rudolph, he believed and through him I got to believe again too.

I always knew this day would come, but now Christmas is different. So, if your child still believes let them for as long as possible, enjoy the wonder and excitement they have because before you know it, it'll be lost forever.

Review: BarkBox - Fun Stuff for the Dog in Your Life

At this moment I have "Dogs just wanna have fun. Oh they wanna have fu-un" going through my head in the tune of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" from 1983. Yes, it's my '80s reference for the day, I can't help it. Now, some dogs like to cuddle with their families, some have the attention span of Dug from "Up" -- "Squirrel!" Some are just plain Fruitloops. Regardless of their personality, they end up being members of our families and as we know, some have more dysfunctional families than others. Anyway...a co-worker of mine loves to talk about his dog and what kind of mischief he (the dog) gets into. One day he (the co-worker) comes in and was talking about how his dog loves getting his monthly BarkBox package. So of course I had to ask, "What the heck is a BarkBox?" in my most incredulous tone. He goes on to explain it's a monthly subscription of goodies sent to your dog. These goodies are toys and treats all neatly packaged and ready for your pooch's enjoyment. Me, always looking for neat things to try and write about said, "Send me the link!"

I clicked on the link and it took me to the BarkBox site. They walk you through the signup process with fun cartoons / graphics. You get to pic your dog's size, the monthly plan from one month to 12, the more months the cheaper is it per month, and because my friend sent his referral link not only did he get a free month, so did I. How awesome is that? The website is straight-forward and easy to navigate and find what you need. They have neat little graphics, fun dog pics and "dog language" like "Spread the ruv..." throughout the site. It made signing up fun and easy! I signed up for six months, for a small dog at $24 / mos.

Like the litter in the background?

My son and I eagerly waited for the first box to arrive. He was just as excited as I was to see what Gizmo would do with it. The day came and it was waiting on the porch when we got home. We brought it in and let Gizmo sniff the box. We popped it open and everything was neatly packaged. There were five items in the box, two toys and three treats. The toys appeared to be well made and the treats were healthy. Gizmo sniffed the contents and you could tell he wanted to the toys, but then again what dog doesn't? Tags came off, dog got toys...and they actually lasted longer than most of the store bought toys we've had and disposed of within minutes. Gizmo is one of the best destroyers of toys I've seen in a long time. He can literally shred, pull apart, get the squeaker out, remove an arm or ear within minutes of putting his mouth on it. He can remove the inside stuffing of a toy quicker than The Flash can get a cup of joe at Jitters. Regardless, he loved his

Inside Box before Gizmo!

first BarkBox, he loved the toys and the treats. Which in turn made my son and I happy. It was a BIG hit with the pooch.

We've received a few other BarkBoxes since the first and each one has been a hit with the doggie. However since Gizmo loves to destroy the toys, I emailed them and asked if they had recommendations or other options I could choose from. In less than 24 hours they responded with a very fun email with lots of "dog language" like "Howloo" instead of hello and "Pee.S." instead of P.S. and provided me with two options one which was free and one that was a upgrade. How often do you find a company that will make a change that's free instead of just saying that the only option available is at an extra cost? I liked that! And even though it took me a couple weeks to respond, when I did they made the change without hassle and responded within a few hours. Yes, I said a few hours and it's Christmas Eve. I know they have template emails and maybe even a robo-email program, but it's still nice, as a customer, to receive a response that quickly and without a ton of hassle. What can I say, another plus for this company. 

First BarkBox

I'll have to let you know how the stronger toys hold up against The Fruitloop, but I have nothing but positive things to say about BarkBox and their customer service. If you have a pup it's definitely worth a shot. Enjoy!!

BarkBox main page: www. barkbox.com

Referral link: https://www.barkbox.com/r/K1DEW1ZDO7