I spent most of the day working on my research paper, and thus I felt I had made enough headway to sneak away tonight for a Christmas party. There ended up being a lot of people from work there, along with friends of the hosts, and overall it was a rather lovely evening. I found it interesting that it started out with everyone congregating in the kitchen, which is very typical, but then everyone actually moved throughout the house until we all landed in the basement. Of course the fact that the hostess had placed food stations in different areas of the house probably helped. There was a lot of very good food and a lot of good drinks as well. I enjoy chatting with people outside of work; so often we see each other in the roles we play in our jobs, so it’s fun to get different perspectives and see people in a broader scope. It’s also great to meet spouses or significant others as well. The night ended with an impromptu concert. The host plays guitar in a band and had instruments set up in the basement. Several of the guests happened to be musicians as well, so we had a complete four piece band: drums, bass, guitar and keyboards. And for never playing together prior to tonight, they sounded really good! I’m glad they decided to play; it was a lot of fun to see. And I’m grateful I was able to take the break and go to the party and hang out with some friends tonight. Tomorrow I will be back to work.