UnChristmas

Rather interesting day today.  I had my first White Elephant party.  I have never had to take a number for a gift then risk having it taken back from me or stolen as someone would put it.  Its in the rules.  I was able to keep my gift without a problem.  My husband had his gift stolen and thus was able to get another gift, a wrapped one, from under the tree.  Later they went reverse through the numbers and again we risked losing our gift in a one sided trade.  Its one sided because if you were holding onto a gift you wanted to keep and someone wanted it who's number it was to be their turn to trade you'd lose your gift.  My husband started out with a huge cocoa mug and a cake of some sort.  Someone else wanted it so his next gift was a glass butter dish.  When it came time for him to trade off he was able to get some marinades.  He loves to grill beef so he was very pleased to have his turn comes up.  No one else was able to get the marinades from him because of the rule that if a gift has been stolen three times it has to stay put where it is.  I was gifted a set of Mary Kay Satin Hands lotions.  Never used the stuff before and I'm thinking not just my hands but my feet as well would benefit from the lotions.  I have such dry skin.

After the White Elephant we had the Elf Ornaments.  My husband's eldest cousin, first cousin at that, purchases I swear about one hundred ornaments, wraps them and puts our names on them.  My husband got a dragon ornament this year.  He was very pleased with it.  I think my ornament is a plaster one with an angel on it.  I'll have to look more closely at it later.  Right now traffic is still pretty high in the house and I'd rather not risk taking it out of its box again until it gets put on our own tree.

Funny note with the Elf Ornaments is that my husband was conversing with one of his younger cousins today, she is all of eleven and very bright, about maps, globes and spelling words along with their definitions.  Well she had this cute hat on her head all day and tore off one braided strap by accident.  I took the hat from her and sewed the strap back into place then gave it back to her.  My husband grabs it when she is out of the room and hides it inside one hollow santa.  She finds it.  They playfully argue.  He then gets the bright idea to hide her hat yet again since she went to another room leaving it behind.  Being all of eleven she gets distracted easily enough to not notice that it was again gone.  She actually watched my husband finish wrapping up her hat in a peanut can and put it in the Elf Ornament basket.

So when it came time to distribute the Elf Ornaments to their tagged owners she exclaimed that she was not to get two ornaments this year.   I told her that she might want to open this particular ornament this year.  She was a little ticked at my spouse that she again got pranked.  But it was all in fun and she laughed about it swearing she'd get him somehow.  Maybe I should have her gift wrap some of my husband's chain maille and have it given back to him next time?

Well this is what constitutes my husband's West Coast Family UnChristmas.  We ate lots of food just like on Thanksgiving.  We played, we talked, we laughed.  No food fight this time.  I have to say I am a little disappointed with that little fact but there is always hope for the actual Christmas celebration still to come.  Who knows what the 24th will hold.  Maybe I should be prepared and wear a raincoat in the house?

I hope that all my readers are doing well this holiday season.  Hang in there its almost over.  Enjoy your families.