My Busy Weekend

The alarm went off at 5am Saturday morning and I was off like a shot to start
cooking turkeys.  I'd been told over a week earlier that we were cooking
for 90 people.



When we put the turkeys in the oven, we were told that it was actually
200.  Not sure on the exact numbers, so we decided to make as much of
everything else as we could --aiming for 120 people.



For hours we mashed, mixed and cooked potatoes, veggies, dressing and 5 big
turkeys.  And then we heard that they were expecting 120 people for the
lunch and we felt much better as we had food for at least 120 if not more.



It was 120 people, but we only needed to cook for 60.



So, our good cause for the day turned into a good cause for a number of days as
the leftovers should still be served for a few days into this week.



I got home about 4 in the evening and had to get ready pretty much right away
for the company Christmas party.  I was so tired that I had this feeling
I'd be the first person carried out of the party --not for drinking-- but for
falling asleep.  Exciting times, I'm sure.



I had my times mixed up for the party and it was cocktails at 6 and dinner at
6:30.  I left home for the 20 minute drive at 6:25.



The place for the party was confusing as it was an outdoor resort with several
buildings set aside for such functions and all were in use that night.  I'm
wandering around the woods in the dark peeking in windows to see if I recognize
anyone and don't.



To make matters worse, I'm passing cars with our parking passes in the
windows.... they gotta be around here somewhere!!

Finally, I see a familiar face in the first building I'd passed by.  I'm
cold and wet, but I finally made it to the dinner  even later than I'd
thought I was going to be.



I got inside (snuck in a back door to get in too) and saw that the people I was
supposed to be sitting with were in the buffet line so I snuck in with them to
grab a plate.  



Sadly, they'd given away my seat since I was late and said I could still join
them (good thing, or I would have had to sit with the Deans) if I could find an
extra chair somewhere.  While waiting in line, I started trying to think up
excuses for carrying a chair across a semi-crowded banquet hall. 
"Someone stole my chair" was the best I could come up with.  Then
I realized I didn't have any cutlery either.  "Someone stole my chair
and all my cutlery while I was getting my dinner!"  



What a lame excuse.



Fortunately, a co-workers' husband made it to the table first and walked over to
the dean's table and grabbed the chair and cutlery, explaining they were for
'the boss'.  This guy had no idea who he was talking to and they watched to
see who was sitting in the chair.



Hehe.



Dinner consisted of a choice of turkey or vegetarian lasagne.  I had lasagne
as I didn't really want to see another turkey for quite some time.  Of
course, Sunday night's dinner was going to be turkey for my family's Christmas.



Sunday rolled around and we worked furiously to get the turkey cooked and
served.  Then it was time to open presents.  My mother's philosophy is
that any history book she's interested in will make a great gift for me. 
So, while I mainly focus on Victorian England, my mother's gift added books on
the war of 1812, Medieval art, and one on Celtic saints.  Hmm.



In the days of digital technology, you'd think the last thing I'd want is a
VCR.  But both of mine crapped out a few weeks' back.  I've found that
there's about 10 shows I really want to watch, but they're mostly on 2 nights of
the week.  By taping them on 2 VCRs, I have a couple of hours' viewing for
each night of the week.  As it is, one of my favourite shows jumps around
the schedule so much that I've resorted to downloading the episodes and watching
them on the computer --usually late at night when I'm typing things like this.



By the time my head hit the pillow I was ready for a good 24 hours' sleep. 
Sadly I had 5 hours to go before my return to work.