'Tis the season to be tacky..or how Wendy got her Christmas spirit back

Friday night was my annual office party. One of the highlights of the night was the White Elephant Gift Exchange. Do you do this at any of your parties? The point of this is to bring a tacky or silly gift. Some people bring serious gifts. But what's the fun of that? The gifts are anonymous and the point is to have fun! There was a ton of laughter from this group of physicians and office staff. 

The first gift I unwrapped was a pint glass set embossed with pictures from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie. It is one of my favorite movies of all time, but did I really want to drink out of glasses from the movie? No matter because someone stole that gift, and I was headed back to the tree to choose another. That was a bottle of wine, a wine opener, and a book of erotic fiction. There was a card in the box that read "for an intimate evening alone". Hmmm...but apparently someone else wanted that evening to themselves because I didn't have that gift for too long. So again, it was back to the tree. This gift I kept. I don't know why no one else wanted this lovely Santa toilet cover. 

When I brought it home, I put it in the bathroom. My boys weren't home, but I couldn't wait for them to see it. The next day, I asked them if they liked it. Not so much...but my youngest said he did take a picture and sent it to all his friends! I'd call that a win!

Normally, I wouldn't decorate like this, but the way I've been feeling lately about the holidays, I figured it would bring some laughs when my family comes over this week! I've been lacking in the Christmas spirit department, so what the heck, right? 

As my Christmas prep continues to move forward, my mood is beginning to lighten. What else is putting a smile on my face?

We had a holiday hallway decorating competition at work. My clinic is quite large, and the 3 teams were charged with bringing their best holiday spirit to their hallways. My medical assistant, who is super creative, talked us into a Frozen theme. I don't think the picture does it justice, but it looks pretty good! Our hallway is the first one you see when you enter the clinic from the waiting room, and it makes me smile every time I hear a little kid call it the "frozen hallway". During the decorating, there was a lot of friendly trash talking going on between the hallways and that made all of us laugh! Of course in the end, "everyone was a winner", which reinforces my theory about participation trophies and making everyone feel good about themselves, at least in this setting. But we did have a good time with this.

One thing I've always liked about this time of year is the outdoor Christmas decorations. When LED lights started becoming more popular, I wasn't sure if I liked them. They just don't seem to have the same warmth as the old fashioned bulb lights. But this year, the colors are more brilliant and I've noticed a lot of people wrapping their trees so that they look like a burst of light at the top. Some of my neighbors go over the top with the home ornamentation, much like Clark W. Griswold's infamous outdoor illumination. We even call one of my friend's husband Clark, because he goes all out with the lights on his house. Tacky, yet pretty amazing, I sure wouldn't want to pay his electric bill!

"Is your house on fire Clark?"

There's tacky and then there's vulgar: 

Sorry, I'm just not a fan of the lawn inflatables. I feel like they're just kind of lazy decorations. What's the fun of just plugging them in and watching them inflate? For me, it's just not the same as looking at the Christmas lights. I don't get it. Apparently, it is an obsession for some people. 

About 25 years ago, women started wearing Christmas sweaters. It was a fashion trend. Now the trend is repurposing these sweaters and wearing them to ugly Christmas sweater parties. I've been to a few in the past, and it's been fun just shopping for them at Goodwill--the selection is really good. The last one I bought, the cashier complimented me on it. Was she serious? I believe so...sigh.

Of course, everyone has to take it to a new level, by making their own sweaters. Weren't the originals ugly enough? There is a National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day which this year fell on December 12. Missed it! And there are plenty of Ugly Christmas Sweater Runs, one of which was held locally at Soldier Field on November 29. I missed that one too. There are other Christmas themed runs, and everyone really gets all decked out for those! I mean, look at us last weekend in the Underground Polar Express Run:

Penny, me, Michelle

Another option? Chicago hosts its' own Santa Speedo Run, which this year was December 6. Everyone runs in a speedo. Sorry I missed that one...

Speaking of speedos, I saw this in my Facebook feed today: 

Now, I don't know the origin of this picture, nor do I want to ever meet the guy running in the reindeer banana hammock. And once you've seen this, you can't unsee it, right? Rudolph the red nose reindeer and his shiny nose! Jingle balls bells! Sleigh balls bells ring! It's a winter wonderland! Son of a nutcracker! 

Made me laugh! This Christmas prep, shopping, cooking...it's too much. But having fun and laughing with friends...running with friends (fully clothed, that is), that's what it should be about!