Tonight was Lauren’s company Christmas party, rescheduled after the December 17 record-setting snowstorm wiped out the first one. We made an arrangement after my company party December 3: the person who doesn’t work at the company gets to let loose and have as many drinks as they want. There are two really good reasons for this. First, we don’t want to get drunk and do something stupid in front of our own co-workers, but it’s perfectly fine for the spouse to do so. Secondly, the spouse needs a little extra liquid courage to engage in conversation with strangers. Lauren did this at my party and it worked beautifully. She and the other wives (it’s literally 95% male employees at Microboards) were having a jolly good time. And tonight, it worked perfectly for me. At one point during the night, I would go so far as to say I was the life of the party… not an easy feat for me, but once I broke out the breathalyzer–always a party favorite–all eyes were on me. There was a Christmas gift exchange and I ended up with a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, and I was so adamant about selecting that present that no one dared try trading for it. I may have growled at someone who looked in the cheesecake’s direction. But in the end, I was surprised that I had a lot of fun. Lauren’s co-workers are pretty cool when they aren’t talking business.

Now it is 1:16 am and we are sitting on the couch under a blanket, tuned into the Music Choice True Country channel. Lauren is fast asleep with a laptop dangling on her lap, about to tumble onto the floor. I am catching my second wind. Anyway, this is my favorite channel to watch after midnight. Country music from 1989-1998 is my all-time favorite. Clint Black, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, Shenandoah, Radney Foster, and Vince Gill are some of the artists who have been on in the last few minutes. Something about listening to music on TV is a little better than the radio; there seems to be a slight echo which I like. There are also random facts about the artists that scroll across the screen. A recent one just said “Trace Adkins was shot in the heart and lungs after an argument with his ex-wife, but he didn’t press charges.” Wow. Just another day for Trace, I guess.

Today (Sunday) should be an interesting day. I have never seen the original three Star Wars movies from the late 70s/early 80s, and over the years I have received a lot of crap about it. Lauren has planned a little get-together with a few friends to watch episodes IV-VI in one sitting. I am not holding out a lot of hope that I’ll enjoy myself, based on the fact that I’ve seen the three new episodes from the 2000s and I hated them almost as much as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But I guess I’ll give them a chance.