Wallet/Wassail/Lethbridge

Well much has happened since Saturday night. To start with I found my wallet on Sunday. This was sort of bitter sweet. Sweet because I had all my ID back, and bitter because I cancelled all my credit cards. So basically I am in the old red for awhile. Another good outcome of misplacing the wallet, was that I had my license replaced, which was something that I should have done a long time ago, and something that was causing me a little anxiety as of late.

Sunday was our Christmas wassail at lodge. This was a huge success. Turnout was around 65, a few more than I expected. There was plenty of food for everyone, and we collected quite a bit for the food bank. Suzanne played the piano for the first part of the social and she was a huge hit, and a number of the members asked me if I could get her back for the wine and cheese event in march. The wassail pretty much took up my whole day, and I did not get home till after 10pm. This was my first real glimpse at the commitment I will be making if I take on the chair of Junior Warden next year. Lets just say it is going to be a lot of work.

On Monday I attended my second last class toward my CSO, it was on Prime Contractor legislation, and was pretty basic, and we were out a bit early.

I was in Lethbridge yesterday and today. Lethbridge's program and staff are progressing better than I could have imagined. Everyone is trying hard to complete their paperwork, and all are giving me the right input in order to design systems specifically for their needs. This is such a rewarding project. Kelly is also bringing ideas to the table that I hadn't even considered, and I hope that I will be able to table them and have them adopted by the other offices as well. But enough shop talk.

Last night while in Lethbridge I sat in the Pizza joint next to the hotel and watched the Oilers game. Now the Oilers lost 7-6, but this was a great game of hockey. It would appear that the AVs just have our number this year. But I do hope I get to see more hockey games with that much heart. It was a fluid game, that at times, almost seemed choreographed to maximize the highs and the lows.

Today, I finished my Christmas shopping. Well I shouldn't say that, I finished buying my family presents. It looks like I am going to have to put off the friends until New Years, as the cancelled credit card is really taking a bite on my fundage. I am sure NYE is a better time to do presents for friends anyway, as I doubt I will see anyone on Xmas day.

Elsewhere in Newmanville, I am doing my best to ward off the melancholy of the festive season. As always this is easy to do by keeping myself busy and focused on work. Jenna called today, she seems to be dealing with the same things. Luckily though, it sounded like she was halfway through a bottle of wine. I cant wait till Friday, when I can enjoy a nice bottle of wine as well. This is my fourth Christmas alone, and in ways it is getting easier, and in ways it is getting harder. The easy part is that I have work to focus on, and work seems to be providing me with more and more to focus on. On the hard side, my decision to stay away from the sex until I find or commit to a relationship, means that I am without one of my normal defense mechanisms to deal with the Christmas season.

With all that said and this blog getting long, I will bid you adieu. I am sure I will be writing quite a bit come Saturday, Sunday and Monday. There is always so much to think about as Christmas gets closer. Plenty of soul searching, plenty of drinking, and thus plenty of writing too. Ciao