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My Merriment Meter | Joy Journal V.5
See You Next Tuesday is a weekly journal of joyous moments collected from Tuesday to Tuesday.
It’s barely the middle of the month, and my merriment meter is already depleted. I’m actually an avid fan of the holiday season or any time of the year that prioritizes cookies, gifts, and a two-week grace period at work. But like every year before, I got intoxicated by the holiday spirit and overprogrammed my calendar.
So far, there’s been:
- One Ugly Sweater Party
- One Christmas Cocktail Tasting
- The Annual Family Gingerbread Extravaganza
- Two Tree Lightings
- One White Elephant Gift Exchange
To be honest, I’ve loved every second of the Yuletide madness, but when Yamiley texted saying she wanted to change her Jingle Bell Bash to a game night, I’ll admit I was relieved. If nothing else, go-to my tinsel sweater could take the night off.
This get-together was smaller than the others, just a group of four former coworkers who had replaced our alliance against ‘the man’ with a true friendship. That, however, did not mean we saw each other regularly. Beyond Kirsten’s wedding in October, we had only reconnected four times in the last five years.
The invitation was simple: bring one bottle of wine, a party snack, and your favorite group game.
I packed a deck of cards, knowing it wasn’t really regarded as a group game, and raided the shelves at Trader Joe’s for enough frozen snacks to constitute a photo-worthy Mezza plate. Chilled Chardonnay in hand, I promptly arrived at Yamiley’s apartment at 6:45 pm. We slowly reacclimated to one another, doting over my appetizer tray, until I confessed to the last-minute grocery run. The others showed up shortly after, and for the next 5 hrs, yes, 5 hours, we gossiped about old colleagues, had pleasant political discourse, and found comfort in this microcosm of friendship. Funnily enough, wine poured, laughter roared, and no games were played. Not one card was shuffled.
For the first time in a while, midnight came too soon, and like a mother howling from the street light, she called us home. We drew out our farewells with long hugs and chatter about the plans we’d never keep, and all returned home with restored joy and elation for the road to New Year’s Eve.
See You Next Tuesday is a weekly journal of joyous moments collected from Tuesday to Tuesday. Subscribe to my newsletter to stay up to date on new entries and share your moments of joy today!
