I was getting stuff accomplished at work, which is always nice. Crossing tasks off my list. Saving the world yet again.
After work I went to the gym. I hadn't been there since the weather turned really cold. I just lost the momentum momentarily. It's cold outside. My body doesn't like the idea of changing into shorts.
After showering, we went to trivia night at a nearby bar. It was our first time and I was getting more and more anxious with every person that walked in the door. I was really hungry too and there weren't any tables available.
We managed to grab two seats at a half-filled table and ordered some food. More people trickled in and eventually we were told that there would be five rounds of ten questions each. We were also handed a sheet of paper with the line, "Santa Claus is coming to town," written on it. This was the first line of a limerick we had to write.
I'm proud to present our creation:
Santa Claus is coming to town
Wearing nothing but a frown.
When temperatures fall
His assets get small -
Though they usually hang to the ground.
Then it was time for trivia. The first, third, and fifth rounds were filled with Christmas questions. What is Santa Claus called in France? What is the sex of Santa's reindeer? Who narrated the original Grinch cartoon? Who directed "It's a Wonderful Life"? Instead of a sleigh, what does Santa ride on in Holland? When is the twelfth day of Christmas? How many ghosts are there in "A Christmas Carol"? Which Sunday in Advent is called Gaudette Sunday?
The second round was current events. Kate must have been watching CNN all week because she cleaned up in this round.
In the fourth round, we were given the name of a character in a book and we had to name the book. Heathcliff. Emily Gale. Arthur Dimmesdale. Fagan. Madame Defarge. Finnius Fogg. Robert Kincaid. Norma Desmond. Ford Prefect. Once again, Kate was on fire in this category, with a little help from me on Arthur Dimmesdale.
However, I think my shining moment of the night was answering this one: What is the first sentence of "A Christmas Carol"? At first I thought, who in the world would know this? Then, it came to me in a flash. I don't know where it came from, probably Dickens himself channeling it into my brain as a special message not to be a Scrooge this Christmas.
"Marley was dead."
When we got home, I hung Christmas lights around the apartment and then we sat and admired our tree. It's a little tree. A tree with little red ornaments and strands of white lights. There's a quiet red star at the top. It's just what we needed.
And then...Our team came in 3rd out of 16. Not bad for our first time.