Happy New Year (just two and a half months late)! Lets continue our catch up blog sans pictures (at least until blogger gets it together).
January began with a very floridian 'polar bear plunge', where Vince and Alicia invited everyone to their house to take some shots and jump in the pool. Most of us did it (and it was very, very cold), but some watched from the sidelines. I jumped in the pool, and took a shot because I'm 'down for whatever', a phrase we are using this year to try new things.
While we hung out with grandma, playing this new game, 'Strike' Clint got us for Christmas we got back into some of our volunteering we'd been neglecting. Dog walking, and library classes- I even taught the teens how to make dream catchers, and Hayden wasn't even embarrassed about having me with their group of friends. I also made a trip with Oakley and Fire Theresa to Busch Gardens, and tried to spot a rocket launch with Jen (we are still trying to make that happen- it's always been too cloudy/too rainy, or been scrubbed. Boo!)
Of course that first week of January was a lot of taking down lights. We made it part way mostly by ourselves, but we found Vince and Andy from down the street and they helped as well. Andy's wife made us fresh baked cookies again, which means we're now calling Teresa #3, 'Cookie Teresa'. And Mike even got up in a tree at one point. It's always a little sad the first couple of nights after you come home with the lights down. It looks so plain!
We had our last taco party of the season as well- we landed at 643 tacos this year, far breaking the record thanks to our neighborhood taco parties. The Bucs even won the last game of the season, sending them to the playoffs. And then, they won their first playoff game, which was just bananas! Nobody thought the Baker Mayfield Bucs would make it to the playoffs let alone win a game. They'd go on to lose to the Lions in the divisional round. Though that did mean we got to have another giant pizza But, I had such mixed feelings about them playing the Lions. The game was on the anniversary of my dad's passing, and he was such a Lions fan. We all put on our Navy hats, and I low key rooted for both teams. We also had some hot buttered rum in his honor (though out of our Bucs Super Bowl Champion cups). Of course, the Bucs couldn't hang with the Lions, who were surprisingly good this season. I'm looking forward to next season for both teams though- we've got Baker back, so I'm excited about that. And, I feel like the Lions are contenders now.
My mom left just over a week in January, we made our customary Goody Goody Burger stop after we dropped her off at the airport, and I'm pleased to note the banana pancakes are still just as good as ever. But after all the events and all the visitors, it was time to shut it down for a bit. Asa and I needed some Waterstraut only time. Not that I don't love anyone- but my social meter was depleted. (T'Ola even so nicely sent me a pin that lets you move the needle according to your social meter).
Asa and I made a trip to Seaworld, and collected on our passholder free stuff, including a tray of fish to feed the sealions and a pass to get to ride the new roller coaster when it comes out. Then we stayed overnight at All Star Movies. It's a Disney 'value' resort, aka the 'cheap ones' and it was infact cheap. Something like $100 for the night. The rooms have been redone and are actually quite nice for the value resorts, and we even got ungraded to a preferred room right by the pool and the lobby building. Of course one of the super fun things about the value resorts is their larger than life scenes throughout the resort. We walked through an oversized 'Andy's room', 'wore' a larger than life Mickey hat, and found ourselves on TV with the Dalmations.
We ate over in FLamingo Crossings, had smores, played Ping Pong and made a trip to the Magic Kingdom, catching the end of the fireworks while waiting for the Magic Carpets. And of course, we watched Country Bear Jamboree one more time before it closed for its refurbishment. The next morning we had Mickey Waffles, played putt putt at Winter/Summerland, went back to Seaworld to visit the penguins, and then made our way to Epcot for the Festival of the Arts. We ended our Disney day splitting a sandwich and some fries at Terralina Crafted and getting our favorite coffees at Gideons.
In our Corinne and Asa time, we made it out to see Bella, the goats and the chickens at Beasley with Hayden and their friend Genesis, plus I was super excited I got to wear my sweatpant overalls and wear my winter hat- because it was still pretty chilly here.
Calib made it down to Naples to visit with his grandparents, leaving me and Asa to have a sleepover with the pups. They actually did pretty good, when I lined up all their beds on the floor next to my side of the bed, they knew right where to sleep.
Through it all- I taught a macrame class at the library and walked dogs- until I got a sinus infection. Still, I powered through. And once I was better- we made it to an Andrew Mcmahon in the Wilderness Concert in St Pete at the Pier. It was an amazing concert. He sang some new songs, some from Jacks Mannequin and Something Corporate. So good. He played the piano, pointed to Asa (who was just about four people back from the front), and crowd surfed on an inflatable llama while taking a shot. Seriously, so good. Jake and Ama came and met up with us, because they hadn't seen us in so long, so it was nice to have their company too.
After all of that, Jake came to visit and was here for a week. Although, I think we caught some illness at the concert, and spent the week passing that around. He did bring the Balls and Bacon Fantasy Football trophy with him, because I was the winner, after beating Calib in the Super Bowl. (Suck it, Calib). I'd like to thank Josh Allen, Travis Kelce, and Deebo Samuel for making it all possible.
We also went to all the places we went with Cort, only they were WAY less busy, because, well, if Cort is here- everyone's here. So we did Busch Gardens again, Sparkman Wharf (which has an Everglazed now!), the aquarium, all that fun stuff. We swung by Armature Works and enjoyed the warmer weather. We also had a random power outage at like midnight one night, and Dom and Nando ended up hanging out until it came back on.
And then, of course, we had the NFL Championship Sunday, which is why Jake comes in the first place. This years pizzas: Detroit Lions Thanksgiving pizza vs. San Fransisco Ghrideli pizza for the NFC, and KC BBQ chicken pizza vs. the Baltimore Ravens crab cake pizza for the AFC. Fun fact: the Raven's pizza was the last pizza we had never had. They were all good, but the NFC won for the pizzas for sure.
Jake went home, after his annual January trip and the month that I spent half of sick, came to an end. And now- I'm even more caught up.
Up next: The end of the Waterstraut childhood
