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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Friday, January 1, 2016

Happy New Year!

Boy, trying to find something to eat around here is not easy on a holiday!!  My houseguests like to sleep later in the morning than do I and knowing this, I didn't really plan much as regards breakfast. My brother-in-law, David, did get up earlier today thinking this morning was the day they were going to the movies for 9:00 am. Nope, that's tomorrow since we don't have near enough stuff to do already!!  He went back to bed for a while and then came out to enjoy a cup of coffee or two, refusing my offer of making some toast. He did have some orange juice as well. David is able to work from here so he did some of that before the rest of the family got up. 

Justin and Dustin are sharing his room, and I am not sure what time Justin got in last night. My family had gone to St. Augustine to enjoy the sights and watch the fireworks which was scheduled for midnight, obviously, but they came home instead of staying for them. It seems they were being launched from a site 5 miles away and since they'd been there all afternoon and evening, they decided to just head back. I was already in bed and sleeping and never heard them come in. NyQuil is good about that!  

Once the gang was all up and ready to go, we headed out in both cars to have late breakfast or lunch at Grumpy's. The bad news is---they were not open!  So, Plan B was to try La Napolera to have a nice lunch, but, alas, they also were closed. Nuts!!  Justin and I did notice that Sonny's BBQ was open so we grabbed it, not really an ideal choice, I thought, but I thought wrong!! They loved it, absolutely loved it, especially after I introduced them to corn nuggets. Good thing we ordered two appetizers of nuggets because they went quickly. All enjoyed their meals and Lori and Dusty particularly loved the freshly brewed coffee which was made just for them. Who drinks coffee at a bbq place???  

Once finished eating, Lori mentioned that Dusty wanted to see downtown JAX and asked if it was okay for them to do that. Absolutely it was fine to go exploring. As it happened, their good friend, Lynn, from their town, had flown to JAX on the very same flight (and will fly back together again, too!) as her son is part of the marching band that will play at the GatorBowl today. They were able to find each other in the crazy time which is The Landing, as the bands were taking turns marching around down there. I love it that they found each other, even for a little while. 

I took care of some preparations for the party tomorrow including setting a couple Jell-Os and made a double batch of baked beans. Justin loves Jell-O and it was made at his request. Of course, I've been fussing and fretting, worrying that all be ready to go for the party. So many details to take care of, timing of events for getting over to church and set up. I have lists, lists, and more lists for who does what and from where it comes, etc. Helps me to keep the ducks in a row to write it down---several times!  Because of their going to the movies (to see Star Wars yet again!!) I am concerned about the time element but oh well....

David suggested we order pizza for dinner and play a board game. Perfect idea! Justin has coupons for Papa John's Pizza, official pizza of the Jaguars. It would be only the three of us since Justin and Dusty were joining some others at Whitey's. At first there was talk of all of us going as one of Justin's favorite entertainers was playing, but I really didn't think it was a good idea for me to sit out in the cold and damp with this goofy head cold. Lori tried to persuade me until David came up with the idea of the pizza and games. I found the "Seinfeld" trivia game which I love playing and we just put the disc in and let the questions come up. Didn't use the board at all which is good since I never played it that way! The guys came home earlier than I expected, and answered a few questions with us. Fun fun fun!

The Schippers are quite taken with Public TV and radio, and tonight were thrilled that the season premier of "Sherlock" is on. I am fine with my laptop in the family room while they enjoyed their program. I think Justin is watching, too, while also on his device. They also like "Downton Abbey" which is PBS plus a another TV show called "Fargo" which others in my extended family enjoy. I know all about it now since I heard them talking about it at ThanksLiving when I was up in WI. A nice, quiet night before the flurry of activity tomorrow! And I rule the "Seinfeld" game!!