Big Al’s Blog: Happy New Year Everyone
Big Al’s Blog: Happy New Year Everyone

I hope everyone had a great holiday with family and friends. This was actually the first 2 week vacation in years that I did NOT go out of town. Oh, I looked and thought about it several times but I ended up just staying here.

It started out as a “Rest Fest!” but then again resting for me is sleeping in until 6am. I really can’t stay in bed much longer than that. But I tried. And when I did wake up, I would immediately start watching old movies on HBO. The one that seemed to be on my TV more than once was EVEREST. So, after the 2nd or 3rd time watching it, I decided to make a New Year’s Resolution. So, this year, I have decided to climb a mountain. I know what you’re saying… That’s stupid. Well, maybe. And no, I don’t like cold weather. So, it’s going to have to be a warmer mountain. And it won’t be Everest or anything. But I will climb a mountain this year.

Next on the vacation schedule, it was time to celebrate my birthday. Well, I pretty much didn’t celebrate it. My sister offered a dinner with everyone but for some reason, I didn’t feel like celebrating. So, I politely declined and didn’t do any type of birthday celebration. I went to my normal spot and got my normal “to go” dinner and ate at home. It was fine.

big-al-blog-pic-010317Then, the MAT employee Christmas party was on the agenda. This was pretty cool. I asked about 6 or 7 of our regular customers to come in on Tuesday before Christmas and bartend for the Employees. It was a cool Role reversal. The employees drank as the customers served. Then, I gave all of the employees envelopes with cash enclosed. I made my little Christmas speech and then surprised everyone with a Limo-Bus and we loaded up for an impromptu trip to the Casino in Oklahoma. One employee actually won $550 as soon as we got there. I lost $150 in about 15 minutes at the crap table so I headed to the bar. I’m a terrible gambler. But it wasn’t all fun. After a very fun bus ride, 2 of the employees got into a slight altercation at the Casino, (ALCOHOL.) They have been banned from the casino… FOREVER! Yes, The Oklahoma Police were involved! GEEZ! December 23rd was the day that I did all of my Christmas shopping.

But I guess the highlight of vacation was Christmas dinner. I figured it would be dinner at my son’s house but Korey decided to start replacing his floor with hard-wood so his house was a wreck. So, on Dec 24th, I decided to host the group at my house. I ran to a restaurant/market that sells pre-cooked food. I got turkey, ham, dressing, and the rest and put it all in my fridge. Christmas morning, I realized that I didn’t have a single Christmas ornament or decoration. Wow, ok. I had 4 hours. I ran to the drug store and got a few things but then I realized that since I don’t really cook or entertain, I also needed plates, serving platters, etc. So, since my mom was out of town visiting my sister, I would run to her house and steal/borrow all of her kitchen stuff. So, 2 hours later, I had my small apartment decorated and looking like a Winter Wonderland! I even had a Christmas chair. Yes, I decorated one of my chairs with garland and put the gifts all the way around. It actually was NOT a disaster. More tomorrow!