The New Year is here! It seems like 2015 just flew by.  I spent this New Year’s Eve very much the same as last, with a small gathering of close friends.  We played Cards Against Humanity, Epic Spell Wars, and Exploding Kittens, and we ate a delicious ham cooked by Miss K.  It was great seeing old friends and getting to know new friends.  It’s really strange how friendships that shouldn’t work out have become some of the strongest bonds in my life.

The first challenge of the new year comes to me straight from my own home.  The cable modem gives us the gift of weird ass internet!  Download speeds are great, but upload is almost completely absent, meaning that I can watch Youtube videos, but I can’t get Facebook to load.  I can get on Guild Wars 2 for a while and run around, but after a few minutes I’ve sent too many complicated signals and I lose my connection.  Luckily, I already have many of the images for this blog uploaded.  I just won’t be able to put anything unscheduled up until Monday when the net repair guy gets here (or whenever we get the new modem).

There are some cool things I can tell you about.  Since it’s 2016, I can spill the beans on a product I’ve been testing out. Influenster sent me a tin of Vaseline Lip Therapy.  It has been available in the UK, but not in the US until now.  There are four kinds; I received aloe.  It smells and feels wonderful.  It’s a little lighter than plain Vaseline, but it’s great for overnight protection in these months with the heater cranked up.  There’s a ton of lip balm in the tin, so you have plenty to last a while, and when you’re done you can reuse the tin.  This gives it a pretty good advantage over tube lip balm.  The only downside, in my opinion, is that you have to stick your fingers in it.  I don’t take it in my purse, since I can’t guarantee my fingers will be freshly washed when my lips need help.  Instead, I keep it on my nightstand.  Maybe they should make a lip balm with aromatherapy for relaxing and getting to sleep.  That would be great!

Another cool thing I can talk about is my cool necklace.  My friend offered me a handmade blown glass pendant made by another of our friends.  She had intended to made the band, but has been having trouble with her hands.  She gave me the pendant at the party and I said I could do it.  Honestly, it had been years since I’d made one of my macrame bands, so I thought I’d have to look up the directions for it.  I prepared my strings and my hands just started doing the work like it was something they did every day.  To my surprise, I had the band finished in no time.  The whole thing gave me hope as I’ve been feeling a need to get back into crafting lately.  There are so many things I would love to learn/do/make this year, and it’s really off to a good start.

I’m working on one other product campaign at the moment, and have received yet another eBay guides opportunity.  I’ll definitely be writing that up when the internet is working again.  I couldn’t say no to a $25 eBay gift card.

My older cat seems to be on the mend; my younger cat is sneezing today.  We’ll see where that goes.  We’re also working out a deal for a new-to-us vehicle.  My truck is 21 years old now, and needs repairs frequently.  The one we’re being offered is ten years newer in excellent condition and previously owned by my mom’s boyfriend’s grandmother.  He and his stepdad have done any work that it needed over the years, so they’re very familiar with the vehicle.  It would be a tremendous boon.

I have pretty high hopes for 2016, so cross your fingers and send me some good vibes.

What do you have planned for the new year?