Well, last night we had our First Annual Snowqueen Christmas Extravaganza. I even made some Commemorative Christmas CDs for everyone (I’m only showing the front cover so the RIAA doesn’t come after me – ya nevah know). Basically, it was our regular Sunday crew gathering to exchange gifts, eat chicken nuggets and watch the Anna Nicole Smith Show. It’s a good thing we had time to let the nuggets settle before watching the ANSS. Man, that episode went from funny to sad and ugly in record time.
But who wants to hear about that? What we all show up for are the presents, right?
Basically, we did the ol’ “Pick a name out of the hat and buy them something for less than ‘X’ dollars” routine, as well as a Yankee Swap. For those of you who don’t know what a Yankee Swap is (or perhaps call it something else, as we did in Texas, though I can’t recall what it was), it works like this:
Everyone brings a present (in our case, we kept the price low to go for camp value – $5, I believe) and puts it on the table. There were ten of us, so everyone picks a number, 1-10, from a bowl. The holder of the #1 slip goes first and picks and opens a present. The holder of the #2 slip gets to either pick and open a present or pick a present (without unwrapping it) and give it to #1, taking away what they unwrapped. The next person in line can take the present of any person before them in the same manner. Thusly, slip #10 is the ideal one, since you have your pick of the litter.
As for me, I drew #4 and got to keep my pick – Celebrity Video Presents: Collecting Beanies for Fun and Profit. See that look in my eyes? That’s beanie fever, baby! From the back cover: “If you haven’t already heard, the Beanie Babies® Phenomenon has taken the world by storm, and the frenzy has shown no sign of subsiding.” Apparently everyone’s getting on the Beanie Baby Bandwagon. Who knew?
After the Swap, we got to open our presents. My Best Friend in Law Kevin drew my name and made me this ultra-sweet Simpsons Gothic painting. Man, some people know how to pick a present. Do you think it was my beloved Homer slippers (an early Christmas gift from my also beloved Barb) that gave him the idea? Perhaps it was my overflowing collection of Simpsons figures? The world may never know. I’m also wearing another prized early Christmas present – my Samurai Jack t-shirt. Too cool for words…