Party Time

This was a very busy weekend. Christmas party time, you know.

Thursday night, we took the youth caroling. Took the bus this year, which I was very thankful for. Only made four stops, and we kept having to go back and forth because one gated community was going to let us in, then wasn't, then was.... What's really funny is we had no problem getting in a couple weeks ago.

Friday, I met for lunch with Pastor Jon. we talked about my future in ministry in the church, and specifically youth ministry. We reached absolutely no conclusions other then the fact that I would definitely stay through January. Still, it was a very good time.

Friday night, Jon took the youth staff out to dinner. It turned out being mostly Jr. High staff. We were going to the Cheesecake Factory down in Hollywood. Since no one got there to put our name in before 7:30, it was 10 PM before we were seated. That's what happens when you have a large group on a busy night. Most of us hung out at the Barnes and Nobel next door the entire time. That's where I found the book Smart Answers to Dumb Questions. A cartoon book depecting the sarcastic comments you often want to say to the questions you get asked all the time. "Would you liked to see our menu?" "No thanks. we'll just guess what you have?" "Is this book supposed to be funny?" "No, it's supposed to be read." Or my personal favorite exchange. Guy entering elevator on bottom floor: "Going up?" Guy in elevator: "Actually, we thought we'd break the monotony and go sideways today." Ok, so have I ever claimed not to be a wise guy? I came so close to buying the book, but I didn't at the last minute. Now I'm wishing I had.

Anyway, we did finally get seats and get food. It was quite good, and the cheesecake was fabulous. I also really enjoyed hanging out with these friends. The down side was, we didn't get home until 1 AM.

Naturally, I slept in on Saturday. Which didn't give me time to do anything much before I had to be down at Konrad and Carol's for the game night. We met early so we could spend some time making chocolates. Then we played Mexican Train Dominoes. I lost royally. It might have had something to do with me drawing more dominoes then anyone else to start.

Sunday evening was the annual Christmas carol sing at church. I always love that service, and this year was no exception. We didn't have a time for requests this year, but we still sang "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly," a personal favorite that is often overlooked. And we ended with "Come On, Ring Those Bells." I couldn't have planned it better.

After that (no, my partying isn't over yet), I went to Stephen and Natalie's for their annual Christmas party. Plus I got to meet their new son, Dylan. Again, I had a wonderful time. We played Wise and Otherwise, a game kinda like Balderdash using old proverbs. I loved it and am quite disappointed to learn that the game appears to be out of print.

At the end of the party, one of their guests, told me I needed to get a wife when she heard me talking about enjoying TV and books. I was too offended at the time, but later I thought about how funny it was. If she only know what my weekend had been like. Plus it tied in to a discussion we had at the game night about how the church puts pressure on people to be married.

So that's the tale of my weekend.