Living the Simple Life: New Beginnings, New Year...

Happy New Year People. I swear I haven' t forgotten you. It's just been a very hectic few days for me. I wanna thank all of you that stopped by the 2nd Annual Rob's New Years Extravaganza. Everyone I anticipated to show up, showed up. I had 21 people stop by this year and party. The saddest part about the party was Missy had to work and he didnt get here until 130am. We all drank many shots in his name wishing he were here. Everyone missed his wit and humor that he always has to offer. A big thanks goes out to Dan, Rachael, Missy, Rachelle, Brian, and Tommy for all their help in making everythng go smoothly. It was strange, on New Years Eve I slowly prepared all the food throughout the afternoon and everything was ready by 5p. I had plenty of time during the day, that I thought I was forgetting to do something. Where, last year when I had it in the Penthouse Suite at Coral Beach, I was non-stop the whole time setting the place up and getting all the food prepared and all. Lesson learned is have the party at home. The food was a total success. The 8 layer dip that I made was awesome. The spinach dip was very tasty. I also had meatballs, lil' smokies, famous NC BBQ (Smithfields), and pasta salad. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We watched the New Years slide show, which was pretty cool. I made a gallon and a half of Washington Apple shots. The drinking game for the evening was everytime someone arrived we had to drink a shot. Well, we ran out of those by midnight. But I made some Jello Shots that tasted exactly like a Fuzzy Navel. By night's end, it was suggested that Dan and I had drank 20 shots each. Somehow though, I never got drunk. I think its because I'm a busy-body host that roams around too much to let the liquor get a hold of me and I always nibbled on the food as I walked past it. Kelly brought some party favors that everyone got a kick out of. At 1155pm we switched to the Dick Clark New Years production and I prepared everyone a shot of Champagne along with a chaser shot of Washington Apple. We all did the wishing everyone a Happy New Year and I decided I would slip outside and take in a fresh breath of air. Well, it just so happened that the fireworks being shot off of a barge down by the pier were going off. I saw them and yelled at everyone. Most everyone came outside and somehow we started hooting and hollering at cars as they were driving. Funny thing is most of the drivers blew their horns back at us. LOL. After that it seemed we all congregated in my bedroom and we all got toasted as we toasted in the New Year for the first time. LOL. By around 1a people started slowly heading home. Missy got here and I had a good hour of partying left in me. We drank some more shots and had a few drinks. We then looked at the pictures I had taken and watched the video footage that had been taken. Missy, Rachael, and Jeff crashed overnight. I crashed in the recliner and slept like a baby. I actually didnt do much New Years day except relax. On Tuesday, I came home and Missy and Jeff stopped by and we pulled everything off the walls in the living room and the hallway. Its very sad to see this place looking very barren. I had a lot of nail holes to plug with caulk. Tonite, I packed a few more totes and boxes with living room, bar, and miscellaneous things. Dan and I went through the kitchen and I got most of my kitchen materials packed up. I hope to be done with everything tomorrow evening. Mary D. is stopping by with the boys tomorrow evening and I plan on watching my new favorite movie. I'm not gonna tell you on here, Im gonna burn a copy of it and send it to you and just make sure you watch it. I havent laughed so hard in a long time. Well, I'm gonna post some pictures that were taken either by me or Rachelle. I hope everyone has the happiest of years to come and stay in good health. I am very happy, healthy, and seem to be doing well in life. I'm looking forward to see what the year has to offer me. I'm in a new job, new city, new home all at the beginning of a new year. It's an interesting feeling to have. Well, as Rachael says, I'm out like trout. Peace out!!