Company Christmas Party

Tonight was C's company Christmas party. It was at a more expensive and nice restaurant out of town. We've been there several times, and always look forward to going there. I was delighted to know that we would be going there, free of charge!

First, we sat down with some friends/coworker. They turned out to be fun to sit with. We got our drinks. I just got a Coke, and C was intrigued by the coworker's wife's Mojito? So he asked for one without alcohol - a lime and mint drink. It was really strong. I was not really impressed, because the flavors (real) were too strong for me.

Then they brought out a salad...which was more like a head of lettuce cut in half and stuck on a plate with dressing. Seriously. The dressing was a weird and kind of spicy sauce. Then it was on to the entrees. I chose the Alderwood Grilled Chicken - my dinner of choice everytime I go. The wait for every course was very long. There probably was close to 70 or 80 people there, which is a lot to serve at once. So they brought out my chicken, with mashed potatoes...and the chicken was grilled all right...but not cooked inside at all. The waitresses were really hard to flag down, but I finally got the attention of one and she brought me a new plate, with fully cooked bird.

After I called for a box for my dinner, they served dessert. I got cheesecake and C got this huge piece of "fancy" chocolate cake. They were both very good, but nothing too special really. I ran out of water before I finished my dessert, and kept wanting a refill, but never got asked. I was a bit disappointed with the service tonight. I think it was just because we were such a big group, but still. If I hadn't been there before, I would have really been disappointed. Anyway. On to the rest of the evening.

As tradition goes, several rituals must happen. "Coaster boy" is one. Every year, someone picks a photo of an older employee that is many years old and puts it on a coaster and has them printed and distributed. Everyone tries to guess who's on the coaster. This year it was the main boss.
The next tradition involves one of the employees getting up in front of everyone and telling funny stories that he has collected all year, and presenting the subjects with gag gifts to embarass them. It's a lot of fun, and it just makes me glad that I'm not employeed there to be the brunt of a joke! The story about C and his coworker just involved the paint machines breaking down a lot. So he provided them with a survival kit involving kitty litter, goggles, a hat, a sign to put on the desk, coveralls and a paint bucket to put it all in. It was pretty funny.
After this point, we were all invited to head downstairs to the "new" nightclub downstairs. C and I took a look. It was pretty snazzy. The bar countertop had LED lights in it that blinked and stuff. After we had our look, we headed home.

Our neighbors put up a nativity scene that we checked out once home. We walked over in the cold (it's been around 15 degrees for a couple days) and had a look. It's nice.

Tomorrow is my last day of "school" and I have one more assignment left that I have procrastinated on. But I WILL get it done!