Pleasant surprises

So far, our new year has started off with a few pleasant surprises. (I love surprises.)

Surprise #1
We accepted a New Year's Eve party invitation and then began having doubts about the party because I didn't recognize any names or email addresses on the e-vite. I thought it might be boring and/or lame to be at this party for 4+ hours, waiting for midnight with a roomful of strangers. But quite to the contrary, the time passed quickly and we had a ball. We met 2 couples who live near where we used to live in VA, and they were very nice. They have a house here for summers and weekends, very much like we did before we moved here. We also met another couple who live here full time who are very close to our age! We share some mutual interests so I can see us becoming friends in the new year. We also met the parents of one of our hosts and we got a big kick out of them. They've lived here for many years and know everyone. We had a really good time, which was kind of a surprise.

Surprise #2
After sleeping in until 10:30 on Thurs, we had a leisurely morning, then went for an afternoon drive in Big Ella.
I feel like I'm finally getting better acquainted with her since I'm finally able to drive her around. Spouse & I drove through a community where our friends Marty & John have a house. (They live in VA but have a summer and weekend home here.) We saw a car in their driveway so we slowed down. Just as we did, we saw Marty bound out of the house, waving for us to come in. We parked in the driveway and got out to say hi. Marty was excited to finally see Big Ella, since he is also a vintage car enthusiast. He owns this 1959 Edsel:

After looking Big Ella he invited us in to meet their house guests Johnny and Sebastian. We had coffee and talked for a while, then the 6 of us went to dinner at Dos Locos. After dinner we ran home to feed Jordan and let her out, then we went back to Marty & John's and watched 'Enchanted' with them. Quite an enjoyable surprise.

Surprise #3
While eating at Dos Locos, one of the owners noticed Marty & John (who are regular customers there) and stopped at our table to say hi. I instantly recognized him as Jeff, a guy I'd met the previous Sat at karaoke. I had no idea he was one of the owners of Dos Locos, so it was quite a surprise to run into him there, and to learn that he was a friend of John & Marty.

Surprise #4
While Spouse & I were out running an errand today we got a call from Randy & Dean who said they were in town for an unplanned shopping trip. We've not seen them since New Years Eve of last year when we had dinner at their house with Rick & Nick. They live in Salisbury, about an hour away, and decided to take advantage of the tax-free clearance shopping at the Rehoboth outlets. Since it was nearly lunch time I suggested we have lunch together. We had a lovely lunch at our favorite lunch spot in Rehoboth, Cafe Sole, and got caught up on each other's lives. It was a lovely surprise to hear from them, and I was thrilled we weren't already booked.

I wonder what other surprises await me in 2009?

Crush du Jour: Mark Duplass