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It's a brand new year! A fresh start. A year full of possibilities. And a perfect time for celebration, reflection and tradition. To start you off on the right foot in 2016, I thought I'd share a few little-known fun facts about New Year's celebrations.
Did you know...
We didn’t always make “resolutions" and we didn’t always celebrate the new year on January 1st? Starting around 2,000 B.C., the Mesopotamians celebrated the new year on the vernal equinox (around mid-March). Theirs are the earliest New Year's celebrations on record.
The first major city to ring in the new year is Gisborne, New Zealand? It lies about 300 miles west of the International Dateline.
Dubai's is one of the most expensive New Year’s Eve displays on earth? They launch a dazzling firework display from the Burj Khalifa, which is now the world’s tallest building.
New Year’s Eve is really a family holiday in Russia? Families gather to listen to the president’s speech before the Kremlin clock rings out midnight.
A million people will be at Times Square when the ball drops? Close to a billion more will watch on TV.
I hope you had a great New Year's Eve celebration. And I hope you got your new calendars already, but just in case, I picked a few of my favorites for you:
I hope you've had as much fun as I did finding the perfect gift for your special someone this year. I love my work so much -- mostly because of all of you wonderful gift-givers -- and it means so much to be able to share it with you.
So on this Christmas Day, I just want to pause amidst the festivities to say thank you and happy holidays to you and yours from all of us here at The Lighter Side.
I hope you're able to spend time with your friends and family, share a meal, a few laughs and some warm moments. In short, I hope you get everything you want for Christmas.
Now that the tree is up, the stockings are hung and most of our shopping is complete, it's time to start turning on the holiday cheer at home. Here are a few ways to add some sparkle and pop to your home decor this year.
Light the way. Holiday path lighting is a must if you're going to have guests. And cords conceal easily along the path so you don't have to worry about anyone tripping.
Light your wine. Lighted bottle toppers are popular this year. And it's a great way to show guests which bottles are already open.
Light yourself. Pick out a lighted bow to top your Christmas outfit. It's fun and festive.
Those are just a few bright ideas. What will you do to light up your holiday this year?
I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of those videos that "breaks the Internet". It's already gone "viral" with over a quarter million worldwide views in two days. Even if it does break the web, I just have to do my part to spread the "bug" — because this is one everyone should catch!
A budding magician, while visiting the Barcelona Zoo, deciding to see if he could fool this orangutan with a little sleight-of-hand. Watch as the little ape intently watches the man's every move and then reacts with shock and hilarity when the trick is over:
Now, I hope the video doesn't really break the Internet. After all, we still have shopping to do! But I hope it gave you a break from your holiday rush and a good laugh, too!
How is your holiday shopping going? I'm doing pretty well, but, well it seems there's always more to do...right up until the Big Day.
I'm working on my stocking stuffers now. I had always tried to find tiny games, candies, t-shirts...you know the kind of thing we ALL stuff stockings with. But a few years ago I came up with one idea that made my "stuffer shopping" so much easier.
Socks.
They're useful (and warm on a cold winter's night.). They're easy to find. And inexpensive. The perfect gifts. And I just couldn't resist the silliness of a sock stuffed with socks. Try it and see if your family enjoys the fun and humor of getting socks-in-a-sock, too. And if not...well...at least they'll have toasty toes!
Winter arrived in force this week...just in time for the holidays. And it is cold, cold, cold in most of the country. Even here in Florida, people were frantically digging out their hoodies, hand warmers and fuzzy slippers.
Thankfully, we didn't have to travel "over the river and through the woods" this year. Small surprise: the northern branches of the family wanted to spend Thanksgiving here. Which was fine by me. I don't like to be cold. Not one bit.
A lot of people say it doesn't feel like the holidays when it's sunny and warm. I disagree. Any time the family gathers around a festive table to give thanks and eat together feels like a holiday to me. No matter what the weather.
When I first read about the health effects of "social jet lag", I thought it would be a side effect of too much tweeting, posting, sharing and etc. Easy fix, right? Shut off the computer, put away the tablet and silence the phone.
But as it turns out, it's a real problem and it has nothing (well, very little) to do with social media. It happens when your circadian rhythms get interrupted. We're all familiar with that. We go through it twice a year when we "spring forward" and "fall back".
Some people, however, live in a constant state of circadian disruption, which puts them at risk for developing certain metabolic diseases and other health issues. Researchers believe it's the "unnatural" demands of both work and social life that contribute to the problem. Social jet lag pops up when people sleep less on workdays and more on free days — likely trying to "make up" for a lack of sleep during the week.
So what to do if you feel like you're suffering from social jet lag? Well, it certainly couldn't hurt to shut off all the devices and try to get to bed earlier. But the real solution seems to be setting a schedule and sticking to it — whether it's a workday or a play day. A few people came up with a pretty clever solution — set your alarm twice a day: once for bedtime and once for the morning so you stick to a healthy sleep routine.
