1215 friday night lights

Friday night was the Member’s Christmas Party at SBCC (gallery). I arrived early after being dropped off by my parents. Pastor Ken and Natsuko were busy with set-up, so Tak was assigned the job of taking care (keeping track) of granddaughter Kerri Ann (first pic). There was a moment when he came into the lobby, huffing and puffing, and asking if I’d seen her. Just as I was about to say “no”, I saw her sprinting behind him so I pointed. He just rolled his eyes, said “thanks” and took off after her.

We all gathered in the Sanctuary for a few words by Ken. The color of ink used on our nametags identified the group that we would dine with. We were excused in those groups to go upstairs to the catered buffet, then to our assigned room.

Didier and Alice came in with their son, Cameron. Didier said that this was the first SBCC Member’s Christmas Party that he was able to attend, since he is usually working. Well, this is one good result of the Hollywood writer’s strike, as it has given him more time to spend with his family during Christmas (Didier is part of the crew on the set of a little-known drama called “Desperate Housewives”).

I was sitting with Sheri & Mo, when Eric joined us. I asked him if Jennifer had to work that night, since he was by himself. He said “no”, but added that tonight was a Christmas dinner where the doctors (Jen is a doc at Kaiser) were taking the medical assistants out and either the spouses were not invited or she didn’t want him to come along. I told him not to worry about it, as it was probably the latter.

The first group to go up was yellow. The blue group went second. Eric’s tag was written in blue, so he just said “Later!” and vanished in the crowd. Sheri’s tag was in orange; Mo’s was in red. Part of Ken’s plan was to break up the couples to encourage us to meet some new faces.

I was in the green group and we were the third group to go. Fortunately, Mike (second pic) was also in my group, so he helped me up the stairs. Unfortunately, he started cracking jokes about halfway up, and I couldn’t help but start to laugh. Have you ever tried to hold onto something (like a handrail) and laugh at the same time? It’s difficult to do, especially if one is concentrating on maintaining one’s balance at the same time. After a few missed steps, I finally made it to the top, where my wheelchair was waiting. Thanks, Mike.

The buffet was great. Nathan helped me put a plate together, and there was a lot to choose from. Chicken katsu, teriyaki chicken, kalbi ribs, barbecued short ribs, poke, rice, potato salad, Chinese chicken salad, five kinds of sushi rolls, including spicy tuna, and chopped fruit. There was also a room designated for dessert, but I’ll cover that later.

I was wheeled into room 3 (aka the KidzKrew worship room), and shared a table with Mike, Todd, and Dana, among others. Mike was busy trying to get extra mileage from his Alaska joke (from last week), as I heard him ask Dana, “What’s the capital of Alaska?”. She replied, “Juneau” and he said, “I don’t know. That’s why I was asking you.” Apparently, she didn’t get it, as she responded, “JUNEAU!” several times (third pic). Todd and I were laughing too much and couldn’t eat our dinners.

Surprisingly, Mike finished his dinner first and wandered off to find the desserts. He came back with what can best be described as a slice of chocolate dobash covered with mint frosting. It was very good. That, plus the dinner, had me stuffed so much I could hardly move.

Ken came by and assigned Todd the task of signing people up under different quiz categories, which would be a part of the game for the gift exchange. Apparently, the colored ink on our nametags also assigned us to a particular team. Todd managed to get his Green Team list filled in.

After awhile, it was time to head downstairs. Going down was easier for me than going up, although Alyn tried to pick me up in a fireman’s carry, but I wouldn’t let him.

The first order of business in the Sanctuary was an update by Pastor Gary, followed by the introduction of new members (fourth pic). There were about 30 of them, including Eric. They were able to comment on what brought them to SBCC and why they chose to become members. Fortunately the reasons were more enlightening than the last bunch (see 8/25 blog). Each new member received a certificate bearing the image of the church on it (fifth pic).

Once, the business was out of the way, we had time for communion, with Pastor Nathan providing background music. Steve T wheeled me up to get the elements when I was ready. Thank you, Steve.

Ken took over, but it was already getting late. As he was trying to get the teams together, one of our members had a medical emergency. The paramedics were called and Ken led us all in prayer. Fortunately, some of our members are medical professionals and were able to get her calm and stable. The prayer team met in the Dugout.

The paramedics arrived, checked her out, and wheeled her out to a waiting ambulance, followed by her husband. He returned shortly and let us know that the paramedics monitored her in the ambulance before releasing her to her husband to take her home to rest.

By this time, it was already 10pm, so Ken just told everyone that the game itself would be postponed and everyone who brought a gift should just go up and pick one out to take home. He closed with a prayer then asked for volunteers to help with the cleanup, including taking some chairs back to the church office. Of course everyone pitched in and everything was done in no time at all.

Steve T gave me a ride home, but not until we were briefly entertained by Pastor James showing off his prowess at ballroom dancing in the lobby (sixth pic). But that’s another story (gallery).