Party Season Kickoff

Wife and I at Party Last Night

Last night saw the first Christmas Party of the season with the festivities co-hosted by my company and the union. We had to contend with some drama as there’s an internal fight going on within the union but we had a surprisingly good turnout and everyone that did attend had a very good time. The party got off to a rousing start when I received a FaceTime call from the First Blog Reader who apparently wanted to share in the celebration. She looked a little confused at all the strange faces but eventually got around to charming everyone as is her wont.

The Charmer

There was way too much food and the usual generous helping of adult beverages. My wife has a self-imposed mourning period following the death of her dad in October so she would not dance. I could tell how difficult it was for her as many of her favorite songs were played by the disk jockey. Anyone who knows her realizes how much a sacrifice this was for her. She spent most of the night trying to police my cake consumption. I’ve always felt that cake and beer were a match made if not in heaven, then certainly some divine place. Since we already had the beer underway I discovered the cake and it was delicious. Cue the night long battle for me and friends from table assisting trying to smuggle additional cake.

Table Selfie

Dance Floor Missing my Wife

Since there was extra food from the buffet many people were making up take home platters with usual styrofoam containers. One of my partners in crime prepared one full of cake and tried to slip it in next to me. The eagle eyed Panamanian spotted it though and sent it home with a couple with young children. That’s okay, Christmas cookie season is almost upon us.

It was a really cold day yesterday so of course I had to spend some of it outside. We’re expecting the first snow storm of the season tonight and I had to prep the snow blower for its maiden voyage. I had to make a couple adjustments from the factory settings and they both worked out. Amazing what you can accomplish if you take the time to actually read the directions. It’s ready to rock for tomorrow morning.

The rest of the day was kind of somnambulant, wrapping Christmas presents and watching the Army team finally beat the Navy. My operations manager goes to the game each year and he was bombarding me with texts about the pageantry and associated football game. I spotted a couple of the generals that I’d spent time with during my career when we were all of much lower rank and decidedly less serious. So a good kickoff to the season, especially since I got to share some of it with my granddaughter.