Last night was the rugby banquet and it was a blast, due in no small part to the hard work of this man. The food was good, the company was great, the awards were fun and touching, and the kangaroo court went really, really well. All in all, one of the best events this week.

Down side is that it was also the team elections for next year's officers and board. I wasn't elected for either of the positions I was running for. I'll admit to being a little down about this. I feel like I bust my ass for this team, but it seems that all the stuff I do is behind the scenes. I guess I was just hoping for a little overt validation. Of course, the fact that I was elected vice president and board member for this past year was nothing to sneeze at.

Looking at the bright side of all this, I'm going to have a lot more free time next year. Since I won't be taking care of all the little administrative nightmares and being the go-to man for the jobs that no one else on the team wants to do, I can focus my energy into the two committees that I'm in charge of. Well, one committee. The second one I agreed to help out on until they find someone to take care of it. But since I will have more time, I may go ahead and take it over, too. We'll see.

I will admit that losing wouldn't have stung quite so badly if more than four of the rugby guys had shown up at my birthday party. I guess I'm getting a high-school sized dose of insecurity about my place in the team.

On the lighter side, I'm being taken out for a belated birthday lunch by some of my coworkers today. Getting some noodle soup at Ollie's. Just what I need on a day like this. The tonight is my firm's holiday party and Groundskeeper Willie's birthday party. I'll probably make a brief appearance at the former then head to the latter.