I have officially rung in the Christmas season after attending my first holiday party of the year.  Hal and the teachers from North Myrtle Beach High School were invited to dine at Rioz Brazillian Steakhouse.  The teachers/staff were able to eat for free, spouses had to be paid for.  To eat at Rioz you better be prepared to spend MAJOR money.  After eating there, it was TOTALLY WORTH ANY PRICE!  They have this amazing salad bar that has all kinds of stuff on it from sushi to salad to casseroles.  Once you’re seated with your salad stuff these waiters start coming out with all kinds of incredible meats: lamb, steak, filet mignon, chicken, etc.  All the meats are slow cooked and oh so moist, and served on these skewers.  But my favorite by far was the grilled pineapple with cinnaman.  YUMM!  Needless to say, I may be small but I sure ate a TON of food.

Now each teacher was responsible for bringing an ornament for a Chinese auction.  In case you need a refresher as to what a Chinese auction is…each person pulls a slip of paper with a number on it.  Once your number is called We pulled number 32 of 109…not very good odds.  And let’s face it most of the ornaments brought were brutally ugly and cheap.  Hal made an awesome choice…I was so proud.  He did so well that I immediately devised a scheme to be able to keep my ornament.  I, oh-so-subtly, hid my ornament under my chair.  I got ragged pretty good by Hal, Tammy, and Kevin, but it was worth it because guess who took the Clemson ornament home?  That’s right, ME!

We had a great time with Tammy and Kevin.  Tammy works with Hal in the math department, but they also live in the Farm as well.  It was really nice to get to know them better and get to laugh and talk with them.  All around we had a fantastic night.  The Lord again reminded me of how blessed I am to interact with so many amazing people.