I Suck At Holiday Parties

Feeling that there was very little time between now and Christmas, I spent most of Saturday putting up our Christmas tree. Luckily for Karen and I, our Christmas tree is artificial and does not require much effort to actually place in a stand. Had Karen and I gotten a real tree, things would have taken a lot more time.

Needless to say, our Christmas tree is up and decorated. As well, Karen decorated the rest of our house with holiday items. For anyone curious, one of my favorite holiday decorations is this tiny little glass frog with a Santa hat on it. The tiny glass frog was something that Karen and I just happened to pick up while on vacation.

Anyway, we were able to finish decorating the house for the holidays just in time for my BFF's (Kerry) holiday party that evening. For anyone curious, I suck at holiday parties.

This was the eighth annual holiday party that Kerry has hosted. If I had to guess, I would guess that her holiday party is one of the things that she looks forward to every year. Because of that fact, I have attended every single one of her holiday parties thus far, with the exception of one. (And for anyone curious, that exception happened to be a result of the party being scheduled on the birthday celebration of another friend.)

Shortly before the party, I received a call from my friend (Carlos). The Check Engine Light appeared in Carlos's car as he was coming back from the gym. Hesitant to continue driving the car, especially from Quincy to Salem where the party was being held, he asked for Kerry's number to notify her that he could not make the party. Naturally, I offered him a ride instead.

It was definitely good to see Carlos again. Prior to the week before at the Quincy parade, I had not seen Carlos since probably February. So it has been a long time. I thought the drive both to and from the party would be a nice way to catch up on things. And it was. Among the things that I do miss about working in downtown Boston is hanging out with Carlos. Hanging out with Aimee and Hot Amy are other things too that I miss. And of course, I also miss the food.

Anyway, the holiday party itself was an interesting time. I think a bunch of us got to learn some new friend facts. Granted, most of those facts centered around Kerry's friend (Steve). Steve was thought to be a long time Rhode Island resident, since that is how all of us came to know him (via Kerry and her connections to Rhode Island). It turns out, Steve is from Massachusetts.

Another random fact: Steve also scored a 1440 on his SAT scores. I happen to remember this fact only because immediately after he told everyone, I thought about my friend (Sam). Back in the day, Sam scored a 1300 on his SATs. And to make sure that everyone knew about this amazing feat, Sam kept his SAT results in his wallet. Sam would then promptly (and proudly) show anyone who asked about his results. Naturally, that led me to wonder if Steve did the same thing with his scores.

Karen and I had a nice time. I think it was good to get out of the house without our baby daughter (Briana). For sanity reasons, I think it's always good to do things without feeling handcuffed by your child.

Luckily, Kerry's adults only party provided the much needed relief. Interestingly enough, I think Karen and I may have been the only ones at the party who even had a child. Regardless, it was fun. As usual, it was good to hang out with friends at the party. Joining in on the festivities this year were our friends (Cass, Ellen, Marc, Kelley, Garv, Leeann, and Andrea). So all in all, it was a fun time.