A big scary tedious chore

We have an annual winter holiday party at work. It's really fun - there are music, skits, silly awards. And really filling - usually a huge appetizer spread which starts off the feeding frenzy, then the main lunch which includes turkey and fixings, and then an assortment of desserts which we can never finish off. It's a mixture of potluck and limited catering, and an absolute sweetheart of a woman at work usually takes on the thankless job of organizing the food.

Except for this year. My work colleague has had a really tough time of it - work is crazy stressful this year - and she is going on a well-deserved vacation so will miss the party. So guess who is the only person willing to step in for her? There are 2 women and a dozen men with similar positions in our department, so of course when the woman who usually takes care of this is out, none of the men will step up and it's up to the remaining woman as default.

No, that's not a productive thought to follow so instead I will go back to whining about work.

So - we have about 50 people in the department that I need to cajole into bringing some dishes, and I need to find some cheap catering. I also, as in years past, will need to find the biggest turkey possible and then wake up at 3 am to get it in the oven so that it's ready to take to work the day of the party. And all this to feed ~150 people, since we invite guests from other departments to our party. Oh yeah, and the party is in 3 weeks so I need to get hopping!

Tomorrow I will spend an extended lunch visiting and talking to some nearby restaurants about catering. My work colleague used to spend 3 days before the party preparing appetizers - there is no way I'm going to do that. I think I may need to spend the night before making about 3 dozen deviled eggs. And then there's the whole turkey thing. Oh yeah, and last year I made two vats of mashed potatoes as well.

I really love this party. I usually act (badly!) in the skit - last year I even had to write it since our usual "playwright" was too busy. And we sing old folk songs like "Froggy went a courtin" which are a real hoot. But this food planning thing is a massive chore. And I have a bad feeling that it's going to be my chore going forward since my work buddy is making sounds about retiring next year. Oh well. Maybe if I mess up, one of the guys will finally step up!