A Night Of Gay Abandon!

Funny how I've morphed into a party enthusiast though I've never ever been a keen party animal before! I actually had had no plans earlier of attending the workplace Christmas party, but the husband was the one who decided I ought to have some fun and encouraged me to go. He even promised to give me, and also my friend Gayane, a ride to the Empire Landmark Hotel on Robson in downtown Vancouver, the venue of the party. Gayane asked her son Artak to pick us up late in the evening, and he ever so graciously agreed to chauffeur us jolly women (read "tipsy!") safely back home.

Well, Roz, another colleague of ours decided to join us, and boy oh boy oh boy, didn't we three women have a blast! My husband and the kid drove us for an hour through insane traffic in the early evening hours and we were giggling like schoolgirls and talking incessantly on our way to the Crystal Ballroom. The topics ranged from our exploits around the world, to plans for Christmas, our international students, etc. etc., while the husband lamely volunteered a comment or two, and the kid valiantly tried to ignore our chatter by listening to his iPod. The truth was, we never gave the guys a chance to get a word in sideways! It looks like my son had some choice comments about our excitement, which he made to his Dad after we were dropped off and they were off to their sushi dinner downtown. The brat!

There were at least 150 people, our colleagues, elegantly dressed in their party outfits in the resplendent ballroom. The chandeliers were ablaze, reflecting the merriment on our eager faces. It was nice to see all of us professionals in a social setting! No more talk of Canadian Language Benchmarks or lesson plans or workshops or recalcitrant students! It felt great to unwind and let our hair down and hobnob with our colleagues from the various departments. Ewa, our manager, looked fabulous in her chic black dress (not to mention her shaking a leg to the Peruvian band!), and Claire, our instructional coordinator, did a fantastic job MC-ing the event. We were happy to reconnect with Christina who used to work with us and recently moved to another location. There was so much of oohing and aahing and hugging and grinning all around! The only one missing from our gang was Sandy "the Shoulders" Gidda, she of the figure championship fame who could put Michelle Obama's arms and shoulders to shame!The vodka and the Merlot and the beer were flowing fast, and the food was great to boot. When the chandeliers were dimmed and the strobe lights came on, with the DJ spinning his magic on the records, the flushed partygoers gravitated to the dance floor and began to "shake [their] groove thing, baby!"

Let me just say that we three ladies got home close to midnight, like Cinderella, after having to drag Gayane off the dance floor: "Gayane, Artak is parked outside, waiting for us...Come on, let's go!", I urged. She, who comes bundled up like an Eskimo in 5 degree weather, claimed she wasn't feeling cold at all on the street in the minus 2 degree temperature last night. Roz and Gayane felt we probably ought to have stayed on a little longer, but anyways, there we were, three happy women who had just had the time of our lives. We were back to our non-stop chatter in the car...I wonder what Artak thought of us! Interesting, what two glasses of Merlot can do to otherwise staid individuals!

The truth is, I woke up with the mother of all headaches this morning! The husband served me a cup of hot coffee with a much-needed Advil! I have a hammer-on-anvil concert going on in my head right now, but you know what, I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat and feeling more like a giddy-headed goat, if you get my drift! There's still the staff lunch on the 15th to which I'm now looking forward to. And maybe I'll go to Ewa's potluck party at her place on the 18th...the joie de vivre, excitement, and gay abandon of the holiday season are too potent to be ignored after all!