The holiday season is fraught with opportunities to screw up big time. An offhand joke about Grandma's third husband might just get you written out of her will. Putting off shopping until the last minute and gifting your wife with a paperback book from Walgreen's might result in tears, but not the happy kind. And poisoning your entire family because you think the pop-up timer in your turkey is just a suggestion will create the wrong kind of holiday memories.

But few situations are as peppered with potential land mines as the holiday office party. You know this, but it bears repeating -- do not get drunk at any function that includes your boss and co-workers. It is really that simple. If it helps, try thinking of the annual get-together as a test, not a party. To pass, you must stay sober while pretending to have a good time.

That doesn't mean you can't sip a cocktail as you fake-smile your way through the crowd. You just have to sip it slowly and methodically, with lots of water breaks in between. Keeping your wits about you not only allows you to avoid committing a potentially job-killing faux pas, but lets you clearly observe other's potentially job-killing faux pas. And come Monday morning, you may be the only one who actually recalls all the embarrassing things that went down at the office soiree. And that right there is what we call job security.