Sherry caught Ro looking mournfully at his class picture. He denies missing his friends, but we can tell he does. Many of them are away at Nana's for the holidays. Lots of year-round Mount residents get the heck out of dodge for Christmas and New Year's to avoid the Mardi Gras atmosphere. That leaves us to entertain Ro; he was bouncing off the walls this morning as we tried to get our trip to the South Island in February sorted. Finally, Sherry gave in and took him down to the pool while Mark continued to work on the various reservations.
This evening, we hired a babysitter, Jessica (the daughter of a Mt Primary teacher), so that we could go to the Christmas party held by Mark's boss, Derek. He lives on the outskirts of town, near Omokoroa Beach on the way to Katikati. We could tell we were in for a fun night as we heard the music pulsing from the patio, which was decked out with a disco ball in addition to all the Christmas decorations. We didn't know most of the guests, but Mark introduced Sherry to the few ED people there, who had formed their own little clique. We got to talking with Tina, Marama, and Oliver - some of Mark's co-workers, discussing the things we had to see and do before we leave NZ. We met a nice couple from Hampshire (England) and an older couple from Vancouver who gifted us both with a piece of jade - turns out they owned a jade mine.
Derek claims he hosts the annual party as an excuse to wear his dinner jacket
Mark with Tina & Lynn, two of the other ED consultants
The buffet style-dinner was very good, if a bit of an eclectic mix. In addition to Kiwi favorites like meat pies and pavlova with fresh strawberries, there was a huge bone-in ham with coleslaw and pasta salad like you'd get in America. Derek's kids were given the privilege of staying up late as long as they were working, so they bussed tables and played DJ. Sherry and a few of the other ladies burned up the dance floor to the Bee Gees. We relaxed for a while in the hammock, sipping wine in the cool summer breeze, savoring the time alone. We filed out with most of the other guests a little after 11pm. Jessica got a nice tip when we found Ro asleep with his teeth brushed, face washed, and the presents under the Christmas tree still wrapped.
This kid was making some moves on Sherry
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