Crystal Balls and White Elephants

This was the third year C has been in this bishopric, and we always look forward to the annual Christmas party. Somehow it never fails to delight. The white elephant gift exchange is one of the most anticipated events of the year because inevitably everyone winds up laughing until their sides ache. C is truly the grand jester of the party, and it is so much fun to see the brotherhood among these men.

We started out with a lovely meal of teriyaki chicken skewers (satay), baked potato skins, rolls (compliments of yours truly), several salads including fruit, green, and cookie salad(?), and a veggie tray. The cookie salad was much better than you would think, and in fact, one of those items you never should have tried in the first place. We had a couple of bets going tonight. C and I have our own little secret conversations and crystal ball moments where, based on past behavior, you can determine what present behavior will be. I'm sure we are not alone in this juicy and intimate luxury.

For example, we could predict that our neighbors across the street would bring splendidly mischievous white elephant gifts. The trick is to notice when they arrive so that you can see what they put under the tree, and then avoid picking those gifts at all cost. Actually, that is what really makes the gift exchange fun, when someone opens THAT present. Well, this year C said, "You HAVE to get a SNUGGIE as one of our white elephant gifts!" We think they are spectacularly ridiculous, right up there with the Sham-WOW!, so Snuggie we did - black and white striped, and wonderfully hideous - and we knew EXACTLY who would go home with it! When it was finally locked in with our victim after three trades, we both jumped in the air, taking in the victory of this crystal-ball slam dunk. You would think that our favorite sports team had just scored the winning victory!

The second white elephant gift was hand-selected by C. You know that movie that is all about infatuated, freakishly obsessive teenie bopper love? Yes, that one. Well, C found a collector set of three boxes of SweetTarts with the three main stars' photos on each box. The flavor? Forbidden Love. The phrases included, "Bite Me," "Live Forever" and some other crazy vampire lingo. I told C that he really out-did himself on this one, and had mastered perfection in white elephant gift giving.

We are strategic. While many interesting and worthless items floated about, we snatched two that caught our random interest: Richard Clayderman, The ABBA Collection, and Eve (from WALLE the movie) in the form of a spinning fan. Our two hour deadline stretched into three hours, but it was worth the experience, and waiting for Meg's gingerbread. I could eat that all day. I am too tired to add photos right now, so text is all you get. Maybe I will add the photos tomorrow.

Oh, I won't describe the third bet we had going for the night, but yes, we nailed that one also, but with a little more subtlety. Now don't think malicious or mean. This isn't us at all. It is all very harmless, with no ill-intent whatsoever. Just crystal-balling at its finest. Oh, and speaking of crystal balls, I made one today in PhotoShop. I will add it to this post tomorrow!