The party is here

Each December we play host to two holiday parties - an office party and a family party. The great thing about these parties is there isn't much to plan.

The office party is a large group - managers and guest (about 38 people total). We have dinner (everyone brings something - we provide the house) and then engage in a rousing White Elephant gift exchange. The gifts brought over the years have been memorable. One year it included hub caps from one of the attendee's truck that another attendee took off when he arrived "late" to the party. Then there was the year that things were taken from offices in the company and regifted, which prompted a lot of labeling of items the next year with tags such as "take this and die." The one rule is no animals because of a mouse incident and a beta fish. It is a loud and very fun evening with a few gifts worth taking home and the usual list of suspects that you know will show up at a future party. This is the party that motivates us to finish the decorating as quickly as possible because it is usually held the first weekend of December.

The family party is on Christmas Eve and the participants vary depending on who is in the area and who is visiting family in other states. The menu is the same: homemade pizza, chips and dip, seven layer dip, chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a, chilled shrimp, orange frappe to drink, and a variety of desserts. This party also includes a White Elephant gift exchange that has provided a plethora of stories over the years. There was the year that granny ended up with the Monthly Doos calendar (pictured below). Or the ever stylish maxi-pad slippers. But the best is the gift that keeps on giving - Homer Simpson boxers that are accompanied by a photo of the previous year's recipient. There's always a few musical type toys that the kids love (singing Santa or carols that are mooed instead of sung) and gift cards that make less appealing gifts the target to acquire.

The calendar Granny ended up with

Close up of the Homer Simpson boxers

Once the gift exchange is over, we move to a more refined celebration that includes singing a few favorite carols and recently has the kids acting out the story of Christ's birth from Luke in the Bible.


These parties are some of the things we look forward to in December, but it is also nice to sit and enjoy a quiet evening with just the Christmas lights on and Christmas music playing. Balance is a good thing, especially during the holidays.

One note, after writing this I noticed a theme - White Elephant gift exchanges. Hmmm, might need to incorporate other types of parties. Nah! They're so much fun!!