So Jody and I ended up hosting a smallish Christmas gathering this past weekend. We just wanted a chance to see everyone once more before the holidays and heading off to Cuba. We just made it an afternoon gathering with munchies (way too many munchies….), muzak, and a little gift exchange game. The usual suspects were present, altough there were very few really bad ideas put forth. The only things that came close was courtesy of Darcy. For the gift exchange, Darce was kind enough to re-gift a beer blaster, which, lucky for all of us, was chosen by Kevin. Funny enough, Kevin didn’t actually know what it was before. He looked in the package, and didn’t know what it was, so he avoided it on his turn. Because of this, I figured it wasn’t anything good, and skipped it as well. Had I known…. I’d be the proud owner of a beer blaster instead of a plastic flying saucer! Although in the end, Kev donated it to my bar, commenting that the only time he’d probably use it would be at my place anyway :-).

Well, it’s that time of the year, isn’t it? Office Christmas parties. This year, as a result of vaious things, I’m ‘lucky’ enough to attend 5 different events work-related. First, there was a luncheon at the Keg in the Market for all the employees under my executive director. Decent food and a few drinks, with nothing too outrageous taking place. Second event was a CRTC-wide Christmas party held, of all places, at the Legion over in Hull! The food again was good, and there was a fun band. The odd part about this party was that it is attended by mainly Broadcasting people from the CRTC (95% of the attendees). What does that mean? Well, I didn’t really know anyone, and it was on a work night, so Jody and I didn’t stay too long. Next up was Jody’s work party, which was held at the Rideau Club! Hoity toity, fancy schmancy, say what you will, either way you look at it, Suit and Tie is required. That doesn’t mean they stay on all night though! Like last year, this party turned out to be a spectacle of people getting progressively ‘tipsier’ as the night wore on. Now this is what I call and office Christmas party! I’ve put some of the pictures up on flickr, but some, out of respect for the people I didn’t know, were left out! I had originally planned not to drink too much, since Kev and I were planning to go snowshoeing the next morning. However, all that changed when Jody accidentally knocked a full glass of beer (not unlike the one in this picture) all over my suit! Since I smelled like a brewery, I decided I might as well play the part. Needless to say, we closed the party, and there was much bellowing, singing, and dancing. Luckily, we went home at a reasonable hour, and I got enough sleep to go exercising the next morning.

Well, I know I keep talking about this wonderful Oak Bar that I’m building, and that I’ll update this as I go. Well, I’m telling the truth, but it’s taking me longer than I’d like to get rolling on the project. Everytime I start to do some prep work, something else seems to come along and interrupt my momentum. I can say this much for my current status. I have the wood. All the wood now. On Saturday morning, I went out to Adams and Kennedy Wood Source in Manotick to pick up the rest of the Oak wood bits. Man, 2×4 Oak sure is pretty (and costly). They had what I needed, and 9 pieces of wood (and $250) later, I was supposedly ready to go. Instead, I went running. Oh well. The plywood is mostly cut up now as well. What remains is ripping and cross-cutting all the oak planks to the proper dimensions. That will be my next step. I’ve also decided the best way to do this is try and stain and varnish the wood before putting it all together. That should minimize the mess in the living room, and make it easier to finish off. I also have all the odds and ends that I’ll need, like hinges, the sink, shelving, lighting, etc. etc. I really wish it was already done, in time for Christmas, but that is definitely not going to be the case. Rest assured, I’ll survive. But I’ve got to get this done, so I can get back to being lazy in the new rec room! More pics will be posted as I go.