Saturday, December 24, 2016

i want a yacht and really that's not a lot

Today was our annual Wampler Family Christmas (tm), and we celebrated in our usual delightful manner. Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, and Andrew (you may know him as Drewbaby) arrived a little after ten, and Aunt Becky and Uncle Brian (you may know him as the scandalous pirate boyfriend, although they've been married for years) arrived a bit later. Andrew went into town to pick up Gram - she was rather confused throughout, but that's the way she rolls, so #yolo (which is another way to say that her dementia is terrible and heartwrenching and I don't want to acknowledge it, so I will make a joke instead).

We had lunch shortly thereafter - Mom made turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, corn casserole (with gluten free cornbread mix, and it was perfect), relishes, and deviled eggs, and Aunt Kathy brought broccoli salad (which is basically bacon salad) and pumpkin pie, and Aunt B brought rolls (which I couldn't eat, but which smelled delish). The food was all delicious, and I would have happily gone into a food coma after that - but we had a white elephant gift exchange and I needed all my wits about me. I also needed wine, which Kathy encouraged me to open, so I blame her for having a couple of glasses of sauvignon blanc.

Our white elephant was a first attempt, and I would say that it was successful. There were clearly some people who pursued the strategy of getting rid of things they no longer wanted (which is how I ended up with a Ukrainian teapot). For some people, this backfired, since Aunt Kathy tried to get rid of a piggy bank, and Uncle Mark picked it not realizing that it was the gift she'd brought. It also backfired for [censored], who ended up giving his childhood [censored] to my dad, who will likely get far too much enjoyment out of it. But a good time was had by all (even Gram, who was appalled when someone stole someone else's present), so we'll do it again next year. And Becky brought a saran wrap ball of goodies that we had to take turns unwrapping, which added some ridiculousness.

After that, we mostly hung out, and some of us tried a game that Mark brought (Skiwampus, bought solely for the name, but it's pretty good). Everyone left by 5 or 5:30, and I spent the evening trying to regain my energy, eating leftovers, talking to [censored], and finishing the wrapping job.

And now I need to sleep - Christmas morning is coming all too soon. Goodnight!

No comments: