You see, each year we have a committee of people from various departments who organize the holiday party. Now mind you, the holiday party is always a potluck in the middle of the day (next Thursday, in fact), so it�s not really a big deal. Historically, the new kids get dumped with decorating duty, as I did last year. This year, it�s the new assistant in our office.
So the veep (remember him from yesterday?) tells her there really isn�t much of a budget and that she should send out an e-mail requesting donations, since most of the stuff in storage is crap. She does.
A woman in another department invited our girl to her cubicle to let her select some things from the bag she brought in (bypassing the anonymous donation box, ensuring that more people would notice her generosity�it reminds me of offering time at church). Among the stuff were two nativity sets.
When she reached the nativity sets, she said to Meg, �I brought these, but I don�t know if they�re appropriate. Last year at the holiday party, we had two Jews.� Meg was dumbfounded. She continued, �I guess Santa is okay, but Jesus offends people.�
Meg had no idea what to say, and really, that�s best. Oh, but I wanted to go do evil things to her nativity sets. Or her. Stupid, stupid bigots about the place. I�m pretty certain she meant it precisely as it sounded.
Nonetheless, I must confess that the nativity set is one of my favorite holiday decorations. The parents have a lovely set they bought when they lived in Germany. I like to call it the Action Cr�che. Several of the fellows are distinctly in motion, particularly one of the shepherds. I hope she has it out this year. She goes with the traditional half-circle arrangement, but I�ll fix it. I think the attraction is far more about aesthetics and artistry than religion, so don�t rush to any hasty judgments. It�s all about assigning my version of order, which some see as random mess, to a non-traditional setting.
Yep.
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Tonight it�s happy hour to hear Reb�s tales of Madison. It will be lovely and all, but more than a little bit of me will wish I were at FitzGerald�s for Chris and Heather�s Country Calendar Show. Chris being Chris Ligon, Heather being Heather McAdams, a fab cartoonist and wife of Chris. Chris is, of course, the older brother of Scotty Ligon, formerly of The Heatersons, now of Scotty and the Ligonaires.
Look at that lineup, folks. Robbie and Donna, Neko, the Wacos, Scotty, Kelly�all of them people I�d dearly love to see. However, I would not dearly love to see the ex, and Reb needs a rest from the road. If my ex is there, somebody please give him a swift kick in the pants and demand that he return that lovely chair I gave him for Christmas, which I should�ve taken with me when we packed my things New Year�s Day. I am owed at least that much. Maybe I could get Miz Tara to do it for me, so she�d have a mission other than being the creepiest superfan ever. If you�ve been to a Robbie show anywhere in IL, you�d know her. Heck, she might just follow him everywhere.
Shut up now, flashingreds. You are rambling, and your vast readership has no desire to hear more whining. Nor do they care to hear about shows they can�t attend or don�t want to. Shut up. Have some chai and get to work.