Last night there was choir practice. They're borrowing a baby grand for the cantata and last night was the first time we've sung with it. It's…different – for one thing, the way it's pointed I'm sure the congregation will be able to hear the piano, but we choir people – the ones who *need* to hear it so we can get our notes – are basically out of luck. But there are a number of us who are reminding ourselves that it is only temporary and that perhaps we will figure out how to work with it by next Sunday, when we actually have to sing this thing, and with all the other instrumentalists who will be there with us, perhaps one of them will be a good enough piano substitute that us basses and tenors will be able to muddle around and find at least one or two of our notes here and there.

Today was perhaps one of the longest mornings at work – something all of my coworkers agreed with. However, it was long not because we were all incredibly busy, but because at 1:30 we were all going out for our holiday lunch at a very, very nice place, and we were all anxiously watching the clock pretty much the entire time we were there. We're all used to eating lunch at noon, so by the time 11:30 rolled around someone started making microwave popcorn and the rest of us swarmed to the kitchen to join him, so we managed to not gnaw the legs off our desks and made it to the appointed time still in one piece.

Lunch was wonderful. Oh, the food was incredibly delicious – like it always is at this place – and the service was spectacular, and the desserts were to die for. But what made it so very wonderful was that the six of us sat around the table and talked and laughed and it was as if we were all the best of friends meeting just to hang out, and not just coworkers. It's something that I have really liked at our office – the fact that everyone seems to get along so well. I don't see that at the other offices in our company – perhaps because they are just so much larger that it is harder to form those bonds between more than a few people at a time. But I am grateful to have it where I work.

It was a very, very long lunch. We started with salads and moved on to the main entrees, and then could not pass up on the dessert. By the time we left it, we had been there a little over two hours, and we stepped out into a gorgeous, if slightly chilly afternoon. If I'd had my car I might have just opted to stay in Old Sacramento a little longer, just to wander around and enjoy the sun. But instead I piled into my boss's car with the rest of the crowd and we twiddled our thumbs in the parking garage as every other person in all of Old Sacramento decided to leave right at that very moment as well. By the time we made it back to the office it was just about 4pm, which was a little humorous because the deal had been that after our office holiday event they were going to just close up the office and we would all get to go home early, but really, 4pm is when most people start trickling away anyway.

I came home without having to deal with Friday afternoon traffic – which was a nice change from most weeks. Richard walked in a few minutes after I did. We settled on the couch – me with my knitting and he with his writing, and ate dinner and watched Maid in Manhattan, which was just as cheesy and predictable as I had expected. Outside, the fog is rolling back in and with it, the cold, and there are flannel sheets on the bed upstairs, just waiting to keep us nice and cozy and warm tonight. There are cats all around us, taking every available space on the couch between us. It is a very nice way to end a lovely day.

This has been a Holidailies entry.