Christmas Post (continued)

Now, where was I?  Oh, yes, the hibachi white elephant gift.  So, Jake's girlfriend, Jess, came up with the best way to get someone to pick the hibachi grill.  I bought a bottle of wine, a nice red and typed up this little ditty:

Ah, the delectable, robust taste of red wine in the winter gives one that cozy feeling.  If only I had a steak to eat with it.  But what would we cook it on?

(drum roll, please)

(lift)

Then underneath that:

CONGRATULATIONS!

You are now the owner of the wondrous hibachi grill!

(at least you have wine to dull the pain)

I had the whole place dying laughing, it was great!  And the funniest part is my cousin Devon is the one who picked the gift even though we had been talking about what I was going to do for the 2 days prior to Christmas Eve.  Boys, they don't pay attention much.  So, now Devon has the hibachi grill and will have to come up with something funny and new for next year.

After the Pratt Christmas, we drove down to Dodgeville, had our traditional Tom and Jerry's and went to bed.  We got up the next morning to have Christmas morning with my parents and Jake.  We got really nice things and it was great except for when Mom got sick.

Yes, she got some bug which I have now heard was running rampant on Christmas day.  So, poor Mom had to miss the McKinlay Christmas which she has not missed since she lived in Aspen in 1976 or something like that.  We had yummy food and wine at Scott and Renee's, as always and then did a White Elephant exchange for the first time on the McKinlay side.  It was a bit chaotic and loud but it was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it and laugh a lot.  It started getting pretty slick out so everyone headed out shortly after the gift opening.

The greatest part of all ofthis, besides friends, family and presents, of course, is that we then had the whole weekend ahead of us.  Yes!  I sat on my but and did nothing on Saturday (besides feed Mariah's kitties) until about 3pm when I met Carla and Liz for the movie-musical "Nine" (critique about that to come next).  Then off to Kari's for Brent's birthday dinner, which was fabulous, as Kari's food always is.  Of course, drinks were involved but I ended up home a bit after 11pm and hopped in bed with my man.  He is really cozy.

Sunday involved more laziness and the new Super Mario Brothers for the Wii (just learned of a new game for Wii last night called Just Dance...it involves lots of awesome songs and dance moves that you have to mimic...totally need to get it...so fun!).  Then off to work again this week.  Blah!  Although I really can't complain cause it has been really quiet around here.  Now, I am just waiting for this day to be done so I can go home, watch movies with my (soon-to-be) hubby and get myself ready for another New Year's Eve celebration.  I might have to go use my Old Navy gift card and get a new going out shirt or dress or something.  We'll see.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Here's a nod for 2009 and a look ahead to 2010!