CHRISTMAS BELLS ARE RINGING

I had such a fun weekend! FUN FUN FUN!!! (Aside from the whole spare tire stealing incident of course). Lots of exploration, discovery and realizing that being broke during the holidays is utterly confining, but not the worst thing in the world when you’re surrounded by good fortune and countless blessings.

Making the best of it…

My weekend began on Friday. We had our office holiday lunch at one of our client’s properties, a restaurant at this golf course in North Hollywood. We were all expecting this somewhat respectable establishment, complete with the Mexican buffet luncheon we were advised would be on the menu. Suffice it to say, when we got there, disappointment set in. The place looked like an IHOP, a Denny’s, with windows so dusty and dirty it looked like it was foggy outside on that sunny Friday afternoon. Our table hadn’t been prepared (we had a 3 pm reservation), it was a pretty unpleasant place. AND THEN they tell us that there’s no Mexican buffet because they were short-handed that day and had to cater to a large party that same afternoon so they settled for a simpler buffet menu (the sliced turkey – what was left of it, lookin’ nice and dry under the heatlamp; the mashed potatoes – lumpy and runny if you can imagine that; and the green beans – which were no more enticing than the turkey and mashed potatoes). We called our client, the one who owned the restaurant, to complain jokingly that we’d been had, so the head of their office drove up to treat us to some drinks as consolation.

After we’d been filled with our late lunch, the mood had lightened and suddenly it didn’t matter where we were. Laughter and immense gratitude had overtaken the disappointment from 30 minutes before. The important thing was that all of us were gathered together during this holiday season to recount the year’s high points and wohs, and thank each other for a job that would be unbearable if not for our concerted efforts to reach success. I got my LORD OF THE RINGS: Trilogy edition desk daily calendar!!! SUCH A GEEK I KNOW!!!

Getting jacked for the holidays…

Saturday morning was hilarious! My cousin, Ben, was supposed to arrive at LAX at 10:30 am from Charlotte, NC. His flight was 8 am EST. I get a call at 7:54 am from Ben (almost 11 am over there) and he tells me that he overslept and missed his flight! Thankfully, our party that evening was in Culver City at Andrew and Larnie’s house so his arrival that evening would be no problem since they live so close to the airport.

That evening we had our annual holiday homie gift exchange. Our ploy this year was to make a collage of pictures from magazines, etc that represented our holiday homie. Some people truly outdid themselves, from the most clever presentations (My sister did my Fantone collage, 3D, moveable!…Jean’s storybook poem about Will, Cile’s unbelievable drawing for Ate Cyn, etc.) to the most hilarious and makeshift (Larnie couldn’t find any glue 1 HOUR BEFORE THE PARTY so she used rice to stick the pictures to the paper, Joemama forgot to do one so he used a catalog of PAINT SAMPLES he found at the house to represent Larnie! Ha ha ha…).

Then we played white elephant where I LITERALLY owned BRIEFLY 5 or 6 different gifts because I kept getting jacked of the ones I was opening or taking from other people! I opened up a poker pocket game – which Joemama stole, a laundry bag – which Gary took, a lint shaver – which Leia stole, a folding chair – which Jean took and the Disney puzzle I stole from Fernie – FREAKIN’ ISA TOOK AWAY! I hate this game! In the end I ended up with a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts and a shell necklace/bracelet/anklet that Jason had just brought back from Hawaii. Mmmmmm…We all got what we asked for. I got my Lord of the Rings monopoly (GEEK!!!) and Father of the Bride 1 & 2 dvds (Thanks Joe!!!). But I got more out of that evening than a bag of wonderful presents and cards. I got to spend another evening in the company of the some of the most wonderful people I have the pleasure of calling my friends and now we all have a bunch of new inside jokes to recall. Thanks for allowing me to finally feel the holidays guys! Can’t wait for next year!