But first, let me tell you about my wardrobe conundrum. At the last work event I went to I wore a simple black dress. When I showed up to the party, people were dressed fairly formal and I felt out of place. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice - anyway I only have 3 options when it comes to dresses. White strapless dress I wear to weddings, black lace dress I wore to the last work event, and my green silk prom dress. Now as silly as this might sound - the prom dress was actually a contender for this Christmas party! I've heard that people go all out for these events, but I didn't want to risk it. A week before the party I was on MSN reading articles and I saw an article titled "top ten holiday dresses" Of course I clicked the link and was reminded of how I still hadn't gotten a holiday dress! I found a dress I especially liked on Overstock.com and ordered it exactly one week before the party. While I knew ordering a dress online to ship overseas one week in advance probably wasn't advisable I thought it could get here. Anyway, Christmas presents sent by family back in the States only took a week - why would a dress be any different?
Let me tell you, it's different. Everyday this week, I checked the mail. Everyday, I received a package. Everyday - there was no dress. Only Christmas presents (darn! haha) At noon the day of the party, I went to the post office to pick up my dress, and still it hadn't come in! I asked the post office lady to check the system for me - the dress was very important. She said it wasn't in but that they had just gotten a shipment of packages and I should check later. So I went and got my nails painted (not manicure, just polish. That's how you save money haha) and after my appointment was over I checked again. Still no dress. =( I ran into one of the ladies that Mike works with and she said that the BX had gotten a shipment of holiday dresses in just a few days ago. I went over to the BX and after finding the women's section is for mostly for old Japanese ladies, I wandered over to the Juniors. JACKPOT! I found 2 dresses and 1 black skirt that I could wear to the party. I bought all three (not wanting to leave to any of behind) and happily went home. =) After covering my bedroom with nearly every clothing option I had, Mike and I decided I would wear the new grey and black dress. After a few modifications for modesty I was ready for the night! It was a bit of a stressful day with a very happy ending - BECAUSE we're winners.
Once we arrived at the party we had to put our names in three containers. Each was for the money tree, games, and the grand prizes. Throughout the night, people drew names out of each of the containers for the money tree and games. Both Mike and my name were called for a gift wrapping contest. Of course, it wasn't judged by the quality of job done - it was judged on how far you got in the wrapping process within the time limit on 1 minute. Mike and his partner's box was completely covered in 1 minute, so he won. I like to think that my teams box was a close second (the tape just WOULDN'T work for us...) Anyway, he (we) won the new iPod Shuffle. No word yet on whether we're keeping it. When I was visiting the States in September, I washed my iPod Nano in a load of jeans. It still plays, but only on a dock - and you have to change songs and genres using a remote. The buttons on the iPod are useless. SO - if we had a shuffle, then I wouldn't have to borrow Mike's iPod to go to the gym (HA! like that ever happens...)
After all the games were done and most of the gifts were gone, they started to draw names for the door prizes. One name after another, I thought we would win. But needless to say, it didn't happen. Finally, we were down to the last prize, the GRAND prize.... A name was called and it was not Alexander. =( However, the person who was called was a high ranking gentleman. He opened the present and it was a 19 inch television with built in DVD player. The crowed started to chant "lowest airman, lowest airmen, ALEXANDER!" So - the guy who was called came to our table and set the tv in Mikes lap. Mike said "what just happened?!" haha. So, now we have a new 19 inch tv. Same question comes to mind - do we return it to the BX and get the cash value? Or set it up somewhere in the house? In my mind it's really not necessary to have 2 tvs in our tiny apartment - we have a 32 inch tv in our living room. Granted, it's old, but there's nothing wrong with the picture and it works fine for our purposes! I suppose we could set it up in Mike's room, or even our bedroom, then move the xBox to that room... I think I like that idea, actually! Of course it's up to Mike and this is just me rambling so all you readers out there have an "in" into our silly life here in Japan.
Last, but certainly not least, each shop had to do an impromtu skit during the night (like Who's Line Is It Anyway). Mike's shop was chosen to act out an intervention involving Santa's cookie addiction. Needless to say, the skit got A LOT of laughs. =) It's really a double win because Mike helped pick out ideas for the skits and this was one of his better ideas. Yay Mike! So, once all the skits were finished the crowd voted by cheer on which shop did the best. Mike's shop, of course, won. WINNERS! For a prize, he got one day off! That's REALLY exciting news because from what I've learned most military members on the base get to have 1 week off for the holidays. They can't go anywhere overnight, but they can spend the time with their families or kids who are out of school. Mike's shop isn't granted this luxury. We don't know yet if there are restrictions on when he can take the day off, but I'm hoping he's able to use it for our first wedding anniversary, Monday December 28th. =) It would be so nice! But, like I said - we'll see.
So - we're totally winners. Actually, maybe Mike's the winner and I'm just a benefactor of the winning. HE won the comp day by putting on a terrific act, HE won the tv by being the lowest ranking airman, and HE won the iPod by wrapping the present the fastest. hm. I won - the pleasure of a finding a dress on sale for a Christmas party. HA!
Mike's a winner!
We're keeping the tv - it's now Mike's video game screen. =) AND it works as a computer monitor too! Go Mike!
ReplyDeleteWait. You got a TV because a bunch of people began shouting for Mike to get it...or they began shouting and they picked a new name from the hat?
ReplyDeleteThey began shouting for Mike to get it. Most of them were actually shouting "Lowest Airman" - which is Mike as an Airman First Class. There are two ranks below his, Airmen, and Airmen Basic. When you are at boot-camp you are Airmen Basic. Because Mike has a 2 year degree, he skipped Airmen and went straight to Airman First Class, or A1C, when he finished boot-camp.
ReplyDeleteToo much info? Just realized this is a long comment and most of it doesn't even answer your question!