Hmm, busy, busy, busy. So busy that my weekend posts have to wait all the way to Tuesday it would seem!
So I’m in a good mood at the moment. Last week of Commerce I.T., only in the physical office on Monday and then Friday, I’ve organized my pension fund option, bought my laptop from the office for R250, am most likely going to be getting a very cool present from the office and lastly my salary and bonus have just been paid into my account – and it looks VERY good for a change! :)
And of course we had an excellent weekend and I had a brilliant Katabox class at gym last night, so no wonder my spirits are so high.
Friday kicked things off with our annual year-end function, with this year seeing the Commerce I.T. squadron arise from the murky depth that is our office and head off into the light, Cubana in main road Claremont to be more specific. Now the last time we were there, our alcohol bill had far exceeded the food bill and in keeping with tradition, we were instructed to do so again.
Of course, parking as per usual was an absolute bitch, but eventually everyone made it to the venue where we enjoyed a fair bit of sitting around one of their ‘lounge’ areas, talking nonsense, drinking and waiting for the other guests of the day to arrive, Bobby and Jackie from Pinnacle, our main hardware supplier. Unfortunately the Dean wasn’t able to make it for a change, but what can one say – Melvin is a busy man. That said, I didn’t realize how much I miss the presence of the former Dean at all these gatherings. Doug Pitt was always a riot to have around (with his faithful banjo in tow) and I kind of wonder what the man is up to these days – probably enjoying retirement, writing a whole lot of books, playing a ton of music and telling a LOT of jokes if I know him! :)
Anyway, eventually we moved onto our main table where we ordered three huge platters and then got to work, polishing off the speeches, thank you’s, drinks and food, with everyone finishing up feeling more than just a little satisfied. The day’s events wrapped up with the boss taking Gino on in a mini-drinking contest and it was quite the laugh to see how Gino’s eyes scrunched up smaller and smaller with each successive drink!
So thanks Commerce I.T. for yet another successful year under the belt. It was good fun as always – even if I made the lot of you jealous by working from home for the majority of it! :P
The next celebration on the cards was that for Claire’s birthday which had happened earlier during the week, and the plan was to meet up with Claire, Riley, Jacques and Carla at Banana Jam for happy hour, followed by supper Jamaican style if they can. Well, as per usual we pitched up a little later than what was scheduled for, but Claire made sure to snag us some cocktails to await our arrival and we arrived in all our glory soon enough. Now I haven’t seen Jacques or Carla in absolute ages, so it was nice to run into the two of them again and the six of us enjoyed quite a pleasant meal together. And talking about food, all six of us opted for the Banana Jam Jamaican Roast option and we were treated to an absolutely delicious ensemble of breads and meats, well worth the ridiculously good price tag on offer.
So good planning on timing our get together with Banana Jam’s own birthday celebrations Mrs. Carpenter! :)
From there the party moved on to Oblivion where the plan was to meet up with Riley’s friends, have a couple of drinks and then shift to Tiger Tiger for some dance dance madness. A quick interlude at Claire’s flat for the Carpenters to change and for us to kidnap Cal and Tiga (and hear a couple of numbers from the Lionel Richie concert being staged a couple of blocks away), and we were at a very busy Oblivion and ordering drinks post haste.
However it was at this stage that the fatigue started hitting us old people and ashamedly I have to say that at 22:30 Chantelle and I had to do the unthinkable and bow out early, professing our apologies to Claire and the rest of the gang and slinking home with our tails between our legs and our eyes half shut. That said, the very restful sleep at the Montgomery Clan stronghold in Bellville was much appreciated because I think the both of us DESPARATELY needed the down time for a change.
So sorry about abandoning you guys like that Claire, but the bits that we were there for was thoroughly enjoyable, so thanks for inviting the two of us! :)
Sunday we eased back the throttle a bit and went off to show our faces at our old CCB church in Parklands, following that up with a relaxed coffee at Caf