Well, I had a nice weekend and I'm pretty sure I'm ready to get back to work tomorrow morning. Both my wife and myself came down a little bit sick this weekend, but it was one of those things where you don't feel all that well but you can still function. We had a big fancy black-tie affair at the Shriner's Christmas Ball last evening. We didn't know exactly what to expect, but we were looking forward to the experience. In the past we have spent a lot of money attending Christmas events and have been generally disappointed with the quality of the dinner and entertainment for our money.
Well, all I can say, is that the Shiner's sure know how to do it right! The cost was only $65 a person, which seemed fairly reasonable considering all that the evening entailed. We knew right away that it was going to be a special event when we pulled into the parking lot and we were greeted by a stunning horse drawn carriage to bring us from the parking area to the front door. Now, how is that for valet service!?
Inside, the members of the DeMolay youth group took our coats and upon entering we saw that the ballroom was simply stunning. There were several full service bars, a large ice sculpture, fantastic decorations on the stage, a chocolate fountain, and a 'big band' playing classic jazz and dance tunes. Dinner was exceptional with substantial portions of both Main lobster tail and filet mignon. Conversation was sparkling and dancing afterwards was great. They even had a magician perform as part of the entertainment. We arrived early, but did not stay late. I really felt for once that we got well more than our money's worth from a Christmas evening out.
We have decided not to do our annual gift exchange this year. I just wanted to take a break. Maybe next year, or maybe not again for quite a while. We now have so many other activities we can attend that it's nice to let somebody else throw the party at least this year.
That said, it appears my daughter has caught our party bug. She threw a fantastic surprise birthday party for one of her friends this evening. In two weeks she is having her own Christmas party with a gift exchange, since we are not going to be doing the grown-up version. I helped her shop for gifts yesterday.
Next Saturday I am taking my nephew Charlie to "The Sword of Bunker Hill" in Louisiana, Missouri. I'm sure he will have a great time, I know I'm looking forward to it. "The Sword of Bunker Hill" is a patriotic themed Masonic degree that is performed as a fund raiser. The lecture is quite inspirational and the initiation ritual, well let's just say, it's a little bit different and I'll leave it at that.
I got an Xbox-360 through work and went ahead and gave it to my son Alex early as his Christmas present. The house has been crowded with boys the past few days enjoying the new console on our 73" high definition television set. It's a pretty impressive piece of hardware and I look forward to developing software for it someday.
That's about it for this evening. I'll post again when the mood strikes me.
Terry and I before the big evening out.
Our good friend Lenny trying on my Shriner hat for size.
The stage decorations.
Our table at the party.
Our valet service.
Well, all I can say, is that the Shiner's sure know how to do it right! The cost was only $65 a person, which seemed fairly reasonable considering all that the evening entailed. We knew right away that it was going to be a special event when we pulled into the parking lot and we were greeted by a stunning horse drawn carriage to bring us from the parking area to the front door. Now, how is that for valet service!?
Inside, the members of the DeMolay youth group took our coats and upon entering we saw that the ballroom was simply stunning. There were several full service bars, a large ice sculpture, fantastic decorations on the stage, a chocolate fountain, and a 'big band' playing classic jazz and dance tunes. Dinner was exceptional with substantial portions of both Main lobster tail and filet mignon. Conversation was sparkling and dancing afterwards was great. They even had a magician perform as part of the entertainment. We arrived early, but did not stay late. I really felt for once that we got well more than our money's worth from a Christmas evening out.
We have decided not to do our annual gift exchange this year. I just wanted to take a break. Maybe next year, or maybe not again for quite a while. We now have so many other activities we can attend that it's nice to let somebody else throw the party at least this year.
That said, it appears my daughter has caught our party bug. She threw a fantastic surprise birthday party for one of her friends this evening. In two weeks she is having her own Christmas party with a gift exchange, since we are not going to be doing the grown-up version. I helped her shop for gifts yesterday.
Next Saturday I am taking my nephew Charlie to "The Sword of Bunker Hill" in Louisiana, Missouri. I'm sure he will have a great time, I know I'm looking forward to it. "The Sword of Bunker Hill" is a patriotic themed Masonic degree that is performed as a fund raiser. The lecture is quite inspirational and the initiation ritual, well let's just say, it's a little bit different and I'll leave it at that.
I got an Xbox-360 through work and went ahead and gave it to my son Alex early as his Christmas present. The house has been crowded with boys the past few days enjoying the new console on our 73" high definition television set. It's a pretty impressive piece of hardware and I look forward to developing software for it someday.
That's about it for this evening. I'll post again when the mood strikes me.
Terry and I before the big evening out.
Our good friend Lenny trying on my Shriner hat for size.
The stage decorations.
Our table at the party.
Our valet service.
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