There is something so incongruous about stepping outside to go to a Christmas party, and not needing a coat. Tonight was so warm and humid, even after dark, I wondered whether I would overheat in my little black dress, even though my legs were essentially bare. The night held steady at around 70 degrees, even when I left the party at 10. This is the first day of Winter? It can't be. I suppose I should stop complaining, knowing that the heating bill will be negligible.
I haven't been spending a lot of time with my man's coworkers from the home office, while he has been gone, but I did go back for the group holiday party. I think there has been a bit of turnover since last year's party. I recognized so few people, and many of the people I hoped to see had skipped the event because the onsite childcare fell through too late for them to make backup plans. I think I knew six, maybe seven, of the people there. Luckily, I knew two couples well enough to sit with them for dinner, and to play some of the party games. The food was reasonably good, and the liquor was flowing freely (once one paid for the "drink ticket"). It was a good time. My feet did wear out early, even though the heels I wore were modest. The event was held in a museum of fire-fighting equipment, and I enjoyed wandering off to look at the vintage fire engines. One of them was even from one of the little towns in Oklahoma where I lived, when I was three to four years old. Even though I missed many of the people I like from the man's work, I am very glad I went.
They had a large stack of gifts, to be used as prizes for the games and as doorprizes. There were only a few items in the stack that I found interesting, and none that I really needed. After looking at the selection, and listening to what everyone hoped to receive, I thought to myself, I bet I win the Keurig, since just a couple weeks ago, I replaced my old coffeemaker with a fancy new one that can make single cups or pots. The doorprizes were drawn through the entire evening, and the games were spread out as well. With each win, the winners drew envelopes at random to select their prizes. I stayed to the very end, the very last prize. Only the Keurig was left. I was sitting on a bench, watching them draw, wondering whether I should go ahead and stand up and walk toward them, or wait, since my feet hurt so badly. I could have gone ahead and put the pressure on my feet, because they drew my name, as I knew they would. They handed me the envelope that said Keurig. So I was faced with a quick decision to make. I told the man with the microphone that I had just bought one, and I reached into the cup of tickets, and gave it away before I could talk myself out of it in my head. The name I drew was the young man who I thought should have won the "wrapping the odd-shaped item" game, so I felt okay with it. I took a picture so I could show the man what I didn't bring home to clutter up the kitchen further. While I did, someone asked me why I didn't regift it if I didn't want it. Isn't that what I did?
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