Thank you, I hope so too. Silly cat - it was freezing outside last night!

I hope he comes home soon, sumi! (And/or is hiding in a closet somewhere...) That's scary.

Hoping he finds his way back to you on the double, sumi!

ita - but you'd still go? to sit alone and eat?

For the second year, DH's company xmas party is during the work day at the other Bay Area location - half hour to an hour away from his office. I thought they were at least going to alternate between the locations, but apparently not.

I would also resent the gift exchange thingy. I hate forced participation in stuff like that. I'd prefer the afternoon off to having a lunch, but barring that, just a lunch is fine in my book. Hello, anti-social!

you'd still go? to sit alone and eat?

So I'd be seen to go. Someone might sit with me, or ask me to sit with them, but that wouldn't be the basic plan. The basic plan was to be seen there by management.

oh, and this is not lunch, this is after work and offsite and it is not mandatory.

Barring just not doing anything, lunch would be my first choice also, preferrably a long lunch and brought onsite. Apparently doing anything where we get time off work is frowned upon. I try very hard to bite my tongue when these things are explained to me, since I know in the past flush years that they held the common "large firm party offsite where department managers got trashed and often needed legal help before the night was over". Hard to see how that is better than people getting an extra hour off work.

P-C, in January with new employees? Um, after they lay people off? Whaaaa?

OMG, it's a good thing they are still paying me for my old job, because I know they would still be asking these jackass questions that I can't believe no one else can figure out.