Par-tay!

Last night was the annual Christmas party for RightNow Technologies. It is the one formal event we attend each year. Everyone gets all spiffied up (and that is quite an accomplishment here in Montana) and heads to the Gallatin Gateway Inn for the evening. Most years we leave fairly early - after dinner, about when the band starts playing, and before everyone starts to get drunk. This year we left around 9:30 (we arrived at 6:30) and only left because we needed to go pick up Ellie from the sitter. We had fun this year! I'm not sure why it seemed so much more enjoyable this year - maybe because we actually got there early enough to sit at a table with people we (sort of) knew. Maybe because we actually knew more people this year and I knew enough people that I could go mingle on my own when the geek talk overwhelmed me. =) Maybe because Leif decided that this year he would be comfortable, no matter what he was wearing (the rare tie-sporting event). Whatever the cause, it was fun. The band was pretty good - way too loud, but pretty good. The food was EXCELLENT. Some years the food is just so-so. This year, though? Mmmm.... Salmon and filet mignon, delicious potatoes, green beans almondine, and a spinach salad with locally made feta. And you've gotta love the wait staff walking around with platters of bite-size desserts.

So... that was last night. We picked up Ellie about 9:45 and she was in a great mood. She stayed in a great mood until she went to bed (er... about 11:30) and she was in a great mood all morning. It's wonderful! Such a silly giggly girl.

Today.... well, today is our 6th anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married for 6 years already. We're celebrating by going to see a play in Livingston this afternoon. Julie (one of Leif's coworkers) is going to watch Ellie for us. Ellie just loves Julie, so they should have a good time.

Tomorrow we fly to Texas to see my folks for the holidays. I'm hoping the roads are clear since we're flying out of Billings for this trip. That means a 2 hour drive to the airport. Our snow was all gone, so it wouldn't have been a problem. But we got like 3 inches of snow in about an hour yesterday, so now there's no telling. Crazy weather! It went from being almost 50* yesterday morning to absolutely white-out blizzarding about an hour and a half later. Crazy.

Oooo! And speaking of crazy weather.... it's been really windy here lately. So windy, in fact, that they clocked record wind speeds up near Glacier National Park. 165 mph winds. Yeah.... that's category 5 hurricane wind speeds. On the news this morning they were reporting it and they also mentioned that the wind blew over a couple elderly people elsewhere in the state. I thought that was a funny thing to mention on the news and got a giggle out of it.

Well, I really ought to get packing and stuff before we head to town today. It's been a while since I'd posted, so I just wanted to catch everyone up on the latest happenings! Have a great weekend!