Tis the Season
Pretty action-packed month of Leisure in December, starting with a late Thanksgiving, then Costa Rica, some parties in between, and now St Pete's with some boys/men. Need to convert those profits to tax deductible events or forever lost into the coffers of USA so they can bomb children and extinguish whole societies.
The garage conversion to rec and entertainment space triumphed by hosting my annual Christmas dinner, a high class event, catered and designed and planned to great detail. it's a moveable feast with some mainstay guests and some rotation based on schedules and availability and who's in and out of my life. We moved on from a local caterer who got a little worse each year to the opposite end of the service spectrum and it was a lot of fun, with good energy from guests and caterers. Catering a small sit down dinner party is a finely tuned event - since they are cooking in a foreign kitchen, tight on space, navigating guests, little to no practice in the space, etc... so the necessary choreography is impromptu instead of rehearsed.
I've cut down on the drinking to nearly zero since the late spring of 2023 which meant that, counterintuitively, my liquor cabinet has grown, not shrank, since people bring me nice booze whenever I have a party. So this year, we were able to use up some of the nice bourbons and ryes from last years party. I also packed a suitcase and checked it in when I went to St Pete's which I hardly ever do, so I was able to throw a few bottles in there for a mini-bar down here. That created problems cause once you throw 6 bottles of glass and booze into a suitcase, now you have a suitcase weight issue, and then you go around trying to find the luggage weighing gadget you got from tiktok a few years and can't find it (even though you just saw it the other day when you didn't need it). The food was just crazy good. You know you are dealing with professionals when the vegan dishes are as tasty and the dairy and meat ones.
Since I only had one large round ice cube mold that made 6 at a time, I spent the previous few days, in 3 hour intervals (that's how long it took to make a batch), making large round ice cubes for the drinks. I enjoy a good bar set up.
Interestingly, as a professional and well-oiled project manager, I had to identify and jump in and help the caterer with a bit of his planning, and without it, I'm pretty sure we would have had some problems. Just checking to make sure the grill actually worked and was clean, cleaning out the fridge, ordering all the plates, silverware, etc... Left him in his lane that he knew best - which seemed to be cooking and executing. I spent the whole day at home just to help them trouble-shoot.
The 22 x 22 garage space that is now converted into living space is just about perfect for all the activities unfolding within its walls thus far. Couple of Lucas parties (Halloween and Homecoming), this party, lots of sleep overs, etc.. Wouldn't want it any smaller and don't need it any bigger.
If you are counting, that's 20 people sitting comfortably in the space.
The room's evolution, in pics -
I also had a work party at my favorite Mexican restaurant in Wurtsboro, and they went all out with the decorations. Funny how business slows down and I change the cast of characters in the office, we've lost some of that emotional mojo that ran high in the company and used to pack a party like this. Times are changing.
Back home, temps are all over place, hitting -7 last week and now 50 this week. Those types of swings are a pain in the ass from a construction management vantage - easier to have steady temps one way or another. Freeze and thaw is difficult as it heralds in mud and unpredictable access.
It took a village to get ready for the party, and brought the construction team down to help clean up and hang lights, which is asking for them to go far and over the call of duty in terms of light hanging - but it actually went pretty well and the house looked great. I ringed the house with led lights that can stay up and can also do all sorts of tricks in terms of lighting so investing in the time to hang those should pay off over a bunch of holidays and parties in general. The colors change, tempo, cross fade, etc...
Down here in St Petes. the survival kit includes the below. That should get us through the end of the year. I haven't seen much of the 3 teens - they are out exploring the beaches, the malls, the streets, the roof top pool, gyms, and jacuzzis. They seem to have a routine of workout, spa, and pool at 10pm and later.
I'm fighting dual urges - 1, to get back to work, 2, to never work or tell someone what to do again. Lulu seems to have it figured out.
2025 will be interesting, since I'll be attempting to see if I can create a steady and stable business without knocking it out of the park like we been doing for the last 25 years. Figure out the expenses (budgeting - harder then it seems), pay attention to income and various streams of income, and see if a happy spot can't be found for a reasonable work life balance both in action and mind-set. Hanging down here in the foreign land of Florida, definitely gives the me the urge to figure it out.
Pretty fast party guests - in no particular order of importance, we had writers, playwrights, artists, bankers, animal sanctuary people, entrepreneurs, photographers, moms, dads, media executives, retirees, nonagenarians, and others. Don't know why we are now bold, and don't care enough to figure it out.
That big hunky guy in the back is Eric, he owns G5 Insurance, if you need a 2nd opinion about your coverages in this tough insurance marketplace.