Santas Everywhere!

Saturday was a fun night. The 6th Annual Santa Pub Crawl lived up to it's reputation of a fun-filled, drunken bash. Every year, some of the santas try to be a little extra creative with their costumes. We have had Mexican Santa, Race Car Santa, Chef Santa, etc. This year, I think everyone got a big laugh out of Drag Queen Santa, "Andrea". He/she is a tall, brawny looking person that had a short skirt, low cut jacket that showed off his large, black lacy bra, black pumps (size 12 EEE), fishnet stockings and bright, red lipstick. Andrea was definitely the main attraction for entertainment that night. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded - you have to see to really enjoy.

The evening started off with a party at the main Santa's house. The santas gather here to catch the bus and to begin the alcohol consumption. We all pile on the bus and head down to the first stop - County Clare. This is a restaurant/bar. Many people are there eating a quiet meal until they are surrounded by Santas. We continued the beverage consumption, handed out candy canes and gathered by the Christmas tree to serenade the patrons with Jingle Bells. Most people are amused by 50 santas singing Christmas carols but you could see a few that were really annoyed. TOO BAD!
On to the next stop - Fritz's. Usually this bar is hopping with people and sometimes a band. This year, it was dead. The santas had the run of the place. Auzzie, Firecracker and I played some pool while most of the male santas went next door to the lesbian bar, Walker's Pint. This is an annual tradition for the men and some of the lady santas. The men are facinated by a bar full of women that have no interest in them. Why? Because boys are weird.

Next stop - Milwaukee Ale House. This is the first time the SPC has stopped at this bar. The only problem was the crowd. There was a band playing and the bar was packed. Some of the santas were not happy about the band's choice of music - country. But by now, most of the santas were too tipsy to really care (me included).

Last stop of the night - Wolski's. A little dive bar off the beaten path but it's always the last bar for the SPC. There is plenty of activities for drunken santas to reek havic on and free popcorn to help soak up the overabundance of alcohol in our systems. I did the smart thing this year and switched to water so I was doing pretty well by the time we loaded on to the bus for the trip home. Others weren't so lucky. We had to pull the bus over to let one inebriated santa off so they could spill their guts on the sidewalk. Two other santas utilized the now empty candy cane bags to catch the remnants of their night of excess.

A few lessons were learned by some new santas. Slow down towards the end of the night and DON'T ride in the back of the bus. The extra bouncing around is brutal on a queasy stomach. Overall, I think everyone had fun. I barely talked to Mrs. Seattle. There was only one incident where she had to point out that she had seen me smoking (I tend to take a few puffs when I'm drunk and a cigarette is offered). I did hear from Firecracker that she read the riot act to Mrs. Seattle regarding the issues we've had but I have yet to hear the details. What I did hear about will have to wait for another blog.

I am now in a very festive mood and am looking forward to visiting my family for the holidays. I hope every has a very merry Christmas and happy new year!!!

HO! HO! HO!

This weekend is bound to get me in the Xmas spirit. Saturday is the 6th Annual Santa Pub Crawl here in Milwaukee. Six years ago, a group of friends and co-workers decided to get together and do a pub crawl dressed up in Santa suits. And so a tradition was born.

Even though I missed the first SPC, I haven't missed one since then. In a round about way, it's how I met my husband, B. We were both there at the second SPC (along with 20 other Santas) but didn't meet or talk to each other. I actually hooked up with a different guy that night. B and I officially met a few weeks later at a birthday party for 2 women. One of the women is a friend of B's and is also the person who organizes the Santa Pub Crawl every year. The other woman was a friend and co-worker of mine. The rest is history.

Needless to say, the SPC holds a special place in my heart. A bunch of fun-loving people get dressed up as Santa or some other sort of Christmas character, get on a big yellow school bus, fill ourselves with alcohol and spread Christmas spirit and candy canes all over Milwaukee. This year is the first time I've convinced my friend, Firecracker to join in the festivities. I'm also introducing newcomer, Auzzie to this Milwaukee tradition. I'm really looking forward to it!

The only down side is that I just found out Mrs. Seattle is also coming. Just when I thought I would never see them again. But, according to her, I'm much more fun when I'm drunk and why can't I be like that all the time? Nice thing for a 'friend' to say, isn't it?

I'm not going to worry about it. The word is there are at least 50 Santas going. Plenty of other people I know and have had tons of fun with in the past will be there. I'm not going to let anything bring me down.

Changing Jobs

Why is it never easy to change jobs? For once, I'd like a great job to turn up at the right time and place that I really want to do. In reality, this never happens for me. There are always issues with the new job or I have to pick between a few options, none of them being great or the timing doesn't work out.

Again, I am in that situation. I'm ready to move into a new role and have found a few opportunities that look good on the surface. After digging deeper, each of the jobs has it's pros and cons. I've been asking different people their opinion to help me make a decision but I'm torn. Sometimes I wish I could just take a quick peek into the future to help answer that 'what if' question.
Well, since I don't have a crystal ball, that isn't an option. I ended up picking the job where I would learn the most. My new manager is a bit of an unknown to me. I've worked with him in the past and in general, I liked him. But as most of you have probably learned, it is very different to work with someone then work FOR them.

Keep your fingers crossed that I made the right choice. Who knows what the future holds...

On to Saturday night...

A couple that B and I used to be friends with (previously mentioned in this blog) are moving to Seattle. Their final farewell party was on Saturday night. We had many reservations about going to this party. One of them being, I never actually receive an invite as I mentioned a few weeks ago. In the end, we decided to go. It's the last time we will ever see them so what do we really have to lose.

B came up with the idea to only go for a while then go out to dinner. It's been a while since we went out together downtown and B thought it could be our reason to leave in case we didn't want to stay too long. It was a pretty lame excuse to leave a party but oh well. I also carefully dressed for this event. I wanted to show off my new slim body so I wore some new jeans that fit snugly and a new form-fitting top that has a very low back.

As we entered, we spotted Mr. Seattle first. B headed to the bar to grab us some drinks and I stood near the circle of people surrounding the guest of honor. He eventually noticed I was there and paused to say hi. We started chatting about Seattle and his new job. Sounds like he is very happy to get away from his former employer (my current one). They have found a condo to rent but haven't been able to sell their MKE condo. That sucks. It's been up for sale since the summer and no offers as of yet. There are so many new condos going up, it's hard to sell a used one even after they have lowered the asking price 3 times.

Mr. Seattle soon moves on to chat with other party attendees and another friend comes up to us with stickers for us to wear. This marks us as being in the bar for the Farewell Party. She stays to chat for a bit and a new person wonders in. This is a friend we haven't talked to in a bit. He stops to chat. Meanwhile, we haven't made our way over to Mrs. Seattle yet. Neither has she made an effort to come greet us. Why am I not surprised?

Mrs. Seattle eventually stops by to say hi. She chats for a bit and quickly moves on to greet some other people that had recently arrived. Maybe it was just me but I didn't feel very welcome. It's pretty much what I expected considering she did the same thing at my wedding. We continued to talk to some party attendees and after about an hour decided to head out. We stop by Mr. Seattle to say goodbye and good luck. He told us that we must come out and visit them in Seattle. Yeah, right. I think if his wife had been standing beside him at that moment, she would have been kicking him in the shins.

We then stop by Mrs. Seattle to say a quick farewell and also a quick hello to some other people we hadn't talked to yet. I now feel like a chapter of my life is closed. I no longer have to wonder if I will run into them at work functions or obsess over hidden meanings behind actions and comments. One thing I am curious about is whether Mrs. Seattle's cohort will act any differently towards me now that they have left town. I doubt it but we shall see.

I've been busy!

For once, I've actually had work to do. It's sort of nice except my current boss is driving me (and my team) nuts. We are working on this project that doesn't have clear scope and our manager likes to go off on tangents. This is very frustrating when we do a whole bunch of work for one of those tangents and it either was a waste of time or we have to redo it. The only light at the end of the tunnel is that I'm working on changing jobs. I will soon escape the madness. I feel sort of sorry for my PIC (Partner In Crime). She is new to the company and got dropped into a hornet's nest. I'm sure she asks herself on a daily basis why she left her old company. I keep telling her that not all projects are like this and not all managers are as frustrating.

Anyway... A recap of the last week or so. I didn't go to the YPM event (yes I'm a loser). We collectively decided that we didn't want to drive in the bad traffic caused by the snow that was falling and we needed our rest for the company Xmas party which was the following night. I was willing to tough it out if Auzzie or B still wanted to go but all of us lost our enthusiasm after getting stuck in traffic trying to get home.

Friday night was the Xmas party. B is part of the setup committee so he headed down about 3ish to help with prep. I hitched a ride with Auzzie, her boyfried and another couple from work. I was running a little behind schedule due to wardrobe issues. I borrowed a beaded top from my fitness trainer that looked really good with my skirt I had purchased for the Wedding Reception party. Even though I had tried it on previously, I hadn't noticed how see through it was. For an office party, it's not really something you want. After digging up 5 different bras and realizing that I lost enough inches off my bust line to make most of my old bras look rediculous, I finally found a solution.

I finally get down to the party, locate my hubby and start scouting for a table. Luckily, I happen to run into a friend on the way in and we decide to sit together along with one other couple. Cool! I get to sit by someone I like and don't get to chat with often. We have 2 spots left at the table and soon run into another couple that we would like to add to the table but as we approach to put the name cards in place... we discover that another couple has already staked a claim. BUMMER! I know that guy a bit from work but I've never met his wife.

I had heard stories about people from our company who are rude to significant others and was determined not to be that person. However, I really wanted to listen in and chat with my friend on the other side of me. TORN! I don't think I was rude but I didn't spend a lot of time talking to the person on my left.

Overall the night was fun. I chatted with a bunch of people I don't normally get to see or talk to. I got B out on the dance floor for 2 slow songs (not an easy task). Boogied a bit with Auzzie. I met PIC's husband and had a great time talking to both of them. It's too bad they live out in no-man's land. They enjoy many of the same things B and I do and they are really fun to hang out with. Maybe the distance won't be an issue.

When the party ended, a bunch of us headed upstairs to Blu, the bar/lounge on the top floor. This is an annual event for those who stick it out past midnight. It usually involves cigars and martinis. My feet were killing me after all that dancing and I plopped down in a chair next to the significant other of a friend of B's. I've never really talked to her before but had a great conversation about the issues of fitting into a dress when you don't really have a lot to work with. I had complimented her on her beautiful dress - that's how we got onto that subject.

We eventually headed home around 2. I'll have to fill you in on the farewell party we went to on Saturday night in a future blog...