Retirement Partay

At the age of 42. How lucky to retire after 20 years and be 42. Chancho and I attended his partner's husband's retirement party last night. It was a formal affair, which was nice. As Chancho put it "It'll be a nice change of pace for us." Which was very true. We're usually lounging around in our tshirts and shorts watching TV all night. The last time we got fancied up was for my sister's wedding over a year ago. In fact I wore the same dress for her rehearsal dinner to the party last night.
We started out late because Chancho left his wallet in his shorts, didn't transfer the pocket full o' stuff to his suit pants. Then we hit traffic. It was stop and go for about a half hour. We didn't think we'd make it on time with it being an hour away, but with Chancho's quick maneuvers and thinking we found another route and made it there in 45 minutes. It was at Pier 9, which is a beautiful place. There were fountains right in the front and a Cinderella carriage all lit up out front. Perfect for a wedding. In fact there was a bride entering the place as we were walking up. The hostess asked if we were there for the wedding. We joked and said we'll let you know once we see how our party is.
We were the first few people to arrive. There was one other couple there before us. The woman who gave me Foxy was there as well. I showed her a few pictures of Foxy and she got emotional. As more people came the more names and faces came flooding towards me. I did know a good portion of the people from the BBQ. That was very helpful. Then there were the other 35 people I didn't know. And neither did Chancho. We kept the bar busy. There was a happy hour before the reception so we were comfortable there. The place had a separate room for pictures where everything was green. The ceiling, the floor was an awful flowery pattern and the walls were green too. But to make it all worth while there were live plants with a waterfall and a bridge going over it to a gazebo. Everyone kept saying how beautiful it would be for a wedding. Chancho and I looked at one another and said "actually it's quite ugly". At least we were on the same page.
I kept asking Chancho why he wasn't introducing me to more people and he explained to me that there's an unwritten rule about speaking to people that are not in your rank. So another words if he saw a guy who was say a Lt. he wouldn't be able to go up to him and say "hey how are ya?" because he's above him. Unless he works with him everyday and knows him on a first name basis there shouldn't be any contact. So technically he "knew" everyone, but couldn't say hi to them.
The reception started. It was an awkward start as the DJ did an awful job of introducing the retiring officer. He literally just spoke the guys name off of a card and said "Here is P.O. J. He is retiring." He didn't shout it or get the guests involved. It was lame. He didn't even play music. So the guy just walks into the room. Awkwardly as everyone is starring at him. Chancho looks at me and goes "NO. Absolutely not!" Chancho doesn't want a retirement party. This just confirmed it for him.
There were a few speeches made, that weren't well planned or thought out, which made it even more awkward. We were sitting at an all couples table. Chancho knew 3 out of the 4 couples. The one couple he didn't know we made a bet as to who the cop was in the relationship and we both said the woman. Turns out we were right. The man had the "deer in the head lights" look to him. She was grilling me the entire night and had this "Bitch don't mess with me" look. They played Spanish music all night long, which would have been fine, except 70% of the guests were White. No one really danced, but Chancho and I danced to one of his favorite songs. Don't ask me the name of it, but I had fun attempting to swing my hips.
Dinner was announced, buffet style, which was okay. The food wasn't that great. I was expecting something better for the place that we were in, but it did the trick. Soon after dinner we started planning our escape. We settled on the story of me having to get up early for work and we had to drive an hour back. Both statements were false, but it worked out well.

Quote of the Day: "'You can't get stuck on what should have happened. That doesn't help you.'" - Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom
Listening to: "Mine" by Taylor Swift