Somewhere, somewhen, I did something right.

Yesterday was Call Day, which is smoother now, and on my review the judge noted "great improvement" since I took charge of it in January.  So I got through that and still managed to audit and docket filings for 15 or so cases, yay me!

Last night was the office Christmas party and gift exchange.  We met at a local bar music room for a yummy buffet and the budget covered everyone's first drink.  I had a wonderful, very very spicy Bloody Mary which came with an olive, a slice of lemon, a dill pickle spear and a piece of bacon.  It was a meal in a glass, basically.

When everyone had eaten, the judge stood by the stage and thanked us all for coming and then started the gift exchange.  This is our third year of doing a White Elephant/Steal the Present and it's a lot of fun.  My gift to the exchange was the cowboy boot-shaped shot glasses I got at the 2013 party, and a growler of my brother's Buttface Amber Ale.  My office-mate originally got it, but had it stolen from her by one of our investigators.  I originally opened a gift bag with a "bathroom book" 52 Things to Do While You Poo plus a travel-sized assortment of Poo-Pourri products.

Gifts ran the gamut from beer (mine and a mini-keg of Heineken) to light-up yard decorations (a dachshund in a Santa suit) to assorted Christmas decor both tacky and classy, and cookware and such.  Our chief magistrate was delighted with a set of decorate-your-own gingerbread men and our judicial attorney threatened repercussions if anyone stole her Christmas lights.  Luckily for me, I was not stuck with my poo-related present and was able to steal the gift that made my night and my year, hand-painted by one of our marriage license clerks.

I try to avoid names, but this particular co-worker is young, incredibly nice, an artist, a skilled baker and apparently, she also paints pottery!

Behold, a mug I will love for a long time: