Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Confession Wednesday: Regifting!
You're running late to that Christmas party and completely forgot to pick up your Secret Santa gift for the coworker you barely know but whose name you drew.
Or you get something you're not that excited about but you just know your sister is going to LOVE.
Regifting isn't a bad thing. Even Miss Manners said so.
Now, I'll admit that when I decided to make this a confession theme, I was certain that the perfect story would come to mind. There's one in there somewhere. I know it. But, for some reason, I can't seem to remember. I don't even remember if I was the culprit or the receiver. So...oh well. Maybe I'll tell that story next year.
Instead, I'll just tell you about something that happened last year.
It's a tradition, actually, that goes back long before my time. In Job's Daughters, we have our individual chapters, which we call Bethels, and then we have associations, which are collections of bethels in a particular region.
(For you Mormon folk, it would be the equivalent of Wards and Stakes.)
The Association meetings are just for the adults, but it's where we plan big group activities and fun stuff for the girls.
Except, in December, it's really all about fun.
That's when we have the Brown Reindeer Gift Exchange.
Yes, it's like a White Elephant Gift Exchange.
But, awhile back, someone wanted to make the title a bit more Christmas-y. And, since a particularly hideous brown reindeer kept finding it's way back to the exchange every year, the tradition became known as Brown Reindeer.
(I could be making some of that up. I'm not sure. That's just what I've pieced together from my three years of participation.)
There are some truly awful gifts that keep showing up. For some reason, their new owners just seem so willing to part with them, although they usually end up a little more decorated than the year before.
One of these is a large plastic cow. We call her Bessie.
I got
Bessie started off as this brown plastic cow. Now she has eye shadow, a tattoo or two, a pierced ear, a cowbell, a backpack and a braided tail.
I was beyond thrilled to take her back the next year.
And then last year, Brown Reindeer fell on my mom's birthday, so she decided not to go.
"If I get that cow, I'm giving it to you!" I declared.
"Oh no you're not!" my mom replied.
To make things fair, all participants draw numbers and go in order.
To make things interesting, you get the opportunity to "steal" a gift from another person. Each gift can be stolen a maximum of three times before it's off the table. That way, the game doesn't go on all night long.
And to keep things fair, whoever goes first also gets to go last, since they were the only person to choose a gift completely blind.
Last year, the person that went first got the cow. I was overjoyed because I'm not this person's biggest fan, and I thought it was hilarious that he was stuck with that thing.
Until the end when someone reminded him that he got to switch with someone. He traded me the cow for my coffee cup and used up Starbucks gift card.
(I'm assuming it was used up. It had scratches on it. And the visual of him trying to use that thing was even funnier than the thought of him lugging the stupid cow out to his car.)
I took the cow home. I found a big box for it. I wrapped it up and put it under my mom's Christmas tree.
She was clueless as we opened gifts. Even when she saw the gigantic box, it didn't occur to her until she pulled back a cardboard flap and saw the familiar red plastic bag that has concealed Bessie for years.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture. Why? I really don't know.
So, instead, I drew a picture of her.
I used Paint and it's terrible. Don't judge my lack of artistic skills.
Just know that this rendering is not far from what the real thing looks like.
Do you have a regifting confession? Grab the button above, link up down below and tell us all about it!Next week's Confession Wednesday theme: "The Christmas that I...."
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"You know what they say. If you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me."
~Clairee Belcher, Steel Magnolias