This weekend definitely flew by as the hustle and bustle of holidays is increasing. This time of year at our radio stations we have so much happening every single day. Every morning we do our 102.3 WSUS Kids Christmas Concert Series which is plenty of fun and also some hard work as well. We don't have as many people to help us like 5 years ago, but we still work very hard to give kids, their families and friends a wonderful experience that they'll never forget. This time of year is when we start awarding Pay It Forward family winners as well. Pay It Forward is where we once again team up with Franklin Sussex Auto Mall, and award a family going through tough times with a $500 Gift Card to help brighten their holidays. This is another event that is really wonderful, and results from some hard work behind the scenes to make everything look and sound great on our radio station, all while hopefully giving these families a wonderful experience. This year we are in the middle of our 3rd annual 12 Strays Of Christmas Pet Food & Supply Drive. Everything we collect stays local benefitting our friends at Father John's Animal House, OSCAR One Step Closer Animal Rescue, and The Sussex County Division Of Social Services Food Pantry. Every year we see stories of families who pick feeding their pets as opposed to even turning their heat on inside homes. We want to help stop that! We're hopefully helping many local pets and families with this pet food and supply drive. We are so grateful for all of our sponsor partners with this, Scotty's Automotive in Montague, Sussex Rural Electric, Charity Oil, and R Poust. We can't pull this promotion off without their help and support. You can watch our Facebook Live video Saturday as we're all live on site at Father John's Animal House!
Friday night, I was basically running on fumes. I went and hung out with Jasen and Brendan, my first time seeing them since before Thanksgiving. It was great to have a chill Friday night in with them, just what the doctor ordered. Later Friday night I made it home just in time to catch the last half of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer on NBC. This has always been one of my favorite Christmas movies. Made in 1964, this movie is just as timeless these days. I love how this movie is a great reminder for all of us about how our differences can help make us special and unique. Poor Rudolph was bullied because of his bright red nose, but it ended up saving Christmas by leading and guiding Santa's sleigh. I absolutely love that movie. This movie also gave great highlights for Misfit Toys, when many folks out there might feel like misfits.
Saturday afternoon I went to Hackettstown seeing Girlfriend Brooks. She knew I was tired and a little all over the place. Brooks ordered me to just simply lay down on her couch, which I did. I agreed to lay down for a quick nap. I slept like a rock for 5 straight hours! WOW. Brooks ordered pizza and had it delivered, I slept totally through it oblivious to the outside world. I was totally wiped out. Brooks was worried about me being able to sleep at night since my nap turned into 5 straight hours. Despite the 5 hour nap, I still slept through the night even deeper than usual. I was definitely wiped out, and needed to listen to my body telling me to rest.
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Sunday morning I was hitting the road making my way back up to Vernon. Sunday afternoon was our annual Christmas Party. Today a statistic came out that 27% of us would rather have a root canal than attend their company Christmas party. I don't want to sound like a total Grinch / Scrouge, but that is 100% me! I love my coworkers, I love seeing them for Happy Hours after work. I have just always felt that Christmas work parties are basically forced fun / social situations. The hotel we had our party at was beautiful, the Inn At Bellefield At Historic Hyde Park. They even played a classic FDR speech in the restrooms, which was definitely a different and unique ambiance for sure.
I was home by 8pm, that was a victory for me. I enjoyed watching what I could for Sunday Night Football. Time to start planning next weekend, where we'll be doing our 12 Strays Of Christmas Facebook Live video Saturday morning!