I do like the holidays, even if it sometimes means stress. I like the lights and the decorations, I like getting together with my family and the smell of food. Now that I'm older, I love that the friends that have dispersed across the country drift back through town.
And I like parties.
One popular activity is a white elephant gift exchange, which combines the joy of gift-giving with ruthless, cutthroat strategy and stealing.
Of course, I'm only joking. Sort of.
This year, the HoCoBoCo (Books and Cooks) club did a comfort food potluck (which was amazing, but not part of this post) and an exchange. My contribution was a picnic cheese board which slid open to reveal cheese-carving-implements. And I attached the gift receipt, so at worst, the recipient got a trip to the exchange line at BB&B.
I picked number 13. Each person who went before me selected a new gift, took great care in opening it, and was excited about their gift. And they were all very gracious. Paraphrasing slightly, it went something like this...