End of season party

Last night was the end-of-season party, and it was definitely an eventful night. I was on show duty, and about 10 minutes before the two (yes, we had both venues going with around 1,400 people in the building) shows were supposed to start, a massively loud alarm goes off. I've got my radio, so I can hear what's going on, but nobody's making an announcement... the issue was solved before the "evacuate the building" auto-response went off, though. So both shows started way late because of "technical difficulties."

Then, when box office met in the telesales room for our little pre-party two hours later (box office is closed at this point, so we're all off-duty), an alarm goes off again. We're all dressed up for a good party, we just opened two bottles of champagne and poured it into the nine glasses, and there goes the alarm :-P we sprint into the foyer and I snag the radio as I run through my office. So there are nine of us, in our makeup, heels, (smart shirts for the guys) and we're ready for action. It was like the box office version of the "super rescue hero team" or something. Some of us hold the front doors open while others direct patrons to the waiting area outside (yeah, we had to evacuate one of the theatres this time- thank god it was the small one).

The party itself was fabulous. After alarm crises were over, we reconvened in the telesales room with our champagne, prizes, and a little bit of german schnapps brought back from Berlin (the last bit was only for Supervisor, Deputy and me). By the time we were done, the official staff party was warming up, and that involved another couple glasses of wine and a bit of dancing. Deputy and I snuck out just before midnight to pick up Harry Potter (more on harry in a minute), then went back for ending of the staff party. Once things were shutting down at work, most of us headed to the Official Pub of the place where I work. Then some of my sales advisors thought it would be fun to play "let's get the boss more drunk than she already is." (I do want to say that I was never at the point where I'd do or say something regrettable). Involved a vodka and RedBull, a shot of sambucca, and lots of sips of various beers and ales including Guinness, then massive quantities of water. I was pretty shattered by the time I left for home at 3am (I promised myself I wouldn't look at my watch if I was having fun, so I didn't know what time it was until I was home and setting my alarm so I could get up at 7am).

It was hilarious this morning at work. I was doing alright, actually, which surprised me a bit. But I woke up one of the sales advisors when I called to ask where he was- I had a strong suspicion he was passed out from the night, and he was. He comes running in 10 minutes later, just completely wrecked. He looked like hell, and his polo shirt was so wrinkled, and he kept apologising and saying it was so unprofessional of him, and I thought he would cry. Very funny. And the whole day was full of talking to people who were in various states of recovery. It was a massive party, and I had a ton of fun and was very happy with myself.

Ok, this post is way too long, and I've been putting off reading Harry Potter for too long now, so I have to stop. I must bite the bullet and come to grips that this is the last Harry Potter novel and that no matter how long I put it off, the series will end. Besides, I should read it before I accidentally hear a verified plot spoiler.