Thursday, December 15, 2011

Let’s Get the Party Started

There are many things I love about the holidays; the smells, the traditions, the warm, fuzzy feelings you get when you’re with family and friends and the holiday parties! When I was a kid, before my mom passed away, we used to have big family get-togethers on Christmas Eve. There would be at least thirty-plus people there…all family. It was one of the few nights mom would let us stay up as late as we wanted because the party would last until the wee hours of the morning. There was even one year, during a time when my brothers and sisters and I had a job delivering newspapers, that we stayed up so late we saw the early morning edition come in. I really miss those parties and being with my family, especially the ones who’ve passed on to be with my parents.

Now that I’m older and married and away from my family, I don’t do parties like that anymore, but I still get to attend some during the holidays (although not into the wee hours of the morning). I have a few parties I’ll be going to this year. In fact, a few weeks ago I went to a party with my husband for the Arizona Wireless Organization (or something like that)….sounds like it would be a snooze fest huh? A bunch of techno geeks talking about wireless communication and such. Ha ha It wasn’t so bad though, and it was cool seeing how many of these people ‘knew’ of my husband…he’s made quite a name for himself in the WC world. Although, when the conversations between my husband and his counterparts started to make my eyes glaze over, I just amused myself by looking around at the hundred-plus people and turning them into celebrity doppelgangers. I don’t have photos of the actual people that were there but I can tell you I saw the following lookalikes:
Richard Dreyfuss,
his wife
Jill Hennessey (aka Jordan from Crossing Jordan),
Scott Hamilton
and (be still my heart)
a young George Clooney!

There were more, but these three really stood out…mainly because one of them was my husband’s boss and his wife. Ha ha

So, what do you do to amuse yourself at parties when you don’t know anyone?
Oh, and, Just a reminder, my contest to win a gift basket that will include either a Kindle or $25 Visa card, will end December 15. For your chance to enter, just email me (TerriMo2@yahoo.com) the answer to this question:
In the story Forget Me Not, Casey is on the phone with her sister-in-law. With Scott on the extension, Casey says something in Spanish to Jennifer. What does she say?
Make sure you translate it correctly for me.

3 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

Easy question, Terri - I people watch and semi-eavesdrop on conversations of people near by. Never know when you'll get a great idea for a story!

Now I'll add looking for celebrity look-a-likes!

Sarah Raplee said...

I don't attend many parties, but when I do, I try to mingle a bit.

If I get bored while listening to a discussion of the difficulties of getting the KC-135 retrofitted with a thingamajiggy, I go into auto-smile-and-nod mode and figure out why my hero comes through a trip in the time machine with his memory intact when every other person loses theirs.

Keeps me entertained. :)

Diana McCollum said...

At parties where I don't know a lot of people, I try and make the effort to meet some new people. Once I get the person talking, I sort of interview them. Their likes, dislikes, hobbies, families etc. (Great background info for characters). People love talking about their selves. Eavesdropping on discussions can stimulate my imagination for my own characters conversations. I carry a little note pad in my purse and if I hear something "Good" I write it down for future reference.

Happy Holidays!!