December 31, 2012 Happy New Year!!!

We had the greatest time with our friends, Dezi and Brian, at a little Irish pub in Santa Paula tonight!  It was the most different New Year's I've ever had (and that includes the year I went to a Greek Orthodox party with my parents).  Dinner was both delicious and fun!  The bar owner is a hoot and the service was superb.  The company was fabulous and we laughed and joked and sang and danced our way into the new year together.  Dezi and I got up and learned a little Irish folk dancing, then taught them a little line dancing in return.  Everyone was incredibly friendly and the mood was festive and light.  We were near the band, but it was never so loud that you couldn't carry on a conversation.  The music and dancing were amazing!  It seemed like only minutes before they were counting down to midnight, yet we were there for five hours!!!  We also discovered more mutual interests because we had time to just sit and talk, unlike our crazy, dance every dance mentality when we're at Borderline.

All in all, it was a nice change of pace, and I'm so glad we decided to change our plans and go someplace new and different.  We even took a route I'd never taken before.  Checking Yahoo Maps, I found that the canyon I usually take to get to the Fillmore/Santa Paula area was about 5 miles longer than the recommended route, so we had a little adventure on the way to our destination.  It was a cute little canyon road with a few twists, but no sharp drops.  And Santa Paula, itself, is rather quaint with old, clapboard houses and a Main Street right out of the 19th century (minus the horse drawn carriages).  It prompted Heather to suggest taking a drive out there one weekend to just wander around.  It's a little like downtown Ventura with rows of little shops and slotted parking right on the main street except that there are no parking meters. 

I don't even have my Joy Jar yet, and I already have something to put into it!   But I know what I'll put on the first note to go into it.  "Had a wonderful time, welcoming in the New Year with good friends, good food and an awesome place!" 

Brian said they have a trivia night there which he thinks is on Fridays.  We might just have to get a team together for one!  We might not win a prize, but it's sure to be hilarious.  We're also going to try to coordinate Ren Faire this year, and Miss Heather will finally get to make me a wench!  (better hit the gym really hard over the next few months!)  We also talked about going to the Highland Games when they are at the Ventura Fairgrounds.  Someone told me they'd gone and had a great time, so between the sturdy men tossing telephone poles in kilts (the men, not the poles) and the music, it's  trip worth adding to our calendar.

And speaking of trips, the line dance cruise is less than two weeks away!  That is sure to be a blast with the people I know are going!  Dezi has promised to properly indoctrinate me into the art of cruising,  This should be interesting!!! 

I am so amped up because I drank about three cups of coffee when I found myself getting a little sleepy, and now, I don't think I'll be able to sleep for hours!  Good thing tomorrow is another sleep in day!   But truly, I am so excited about this new year of ours.  We've survived the end of the world scare and people are really starting to look at things differently.  I'm seeing tons of great posts on Facebook with incredible positive energy.  People are kinder already, and that behaviour is only going to grow.  Sweet love and affection are becoming more and more common and at the rate they're growing, hate and cruelty will soon be overwhelmed.  This is a wonderful, exciting, exhilarating time to be alive!  I feel so blessed to be a part of this shifting in the world consciousness!  The Beatles had it right.  "Love is all you need".

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for an unexpectedly amazing beginning to the New Year.
2. I am grateful to have stepped outside my comfort zone...and found magic!
3. I am grateful for friends who expand my horizons.
4. I am grateful for busy weekends full of energy and exercise.
5. I am grateful for love in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Love and light.