This week it is all about the holiday gatherings and white elephant gift exchanges for me. One of the things we did when we went to CostCo on Saturday was to look for suitable items for the various gift swaps. Two of them are the sort where the gift is supposed to be nice, and there was a price limit, so I managed to find something suitably perfect for both. The third was more the typical type of white elephant gift swap, where everyone brings something small and/or goofy, so I didn’t need to get anything extra because I was already all set.

The gathering tonight was for the women’s choral ensemble in which I sing. It was a bit of a pot-luck so, since they’d been such a hit the first time I made them, I decided to make another batch of the lemon curd and shortbread bars. They were just as big a hit this evening, if the numbers of threats to harm me for bringing them (said either with mouth full of lemon bar, or with fingers already reaching for another one) are any indication.

It was a small group there this evening, since some of the singers have already left on vacation, or had other holiday plans. But we all crowded into the kitchen and nibbled food and chattered and laughed and did not one single bit of singing. Someone had given the director a caroling kit, which consisted of a variety of goofy winter holiday hats and jingle bell wristlets, so it was perhaps inevitable that eventually every single one of us ended up festively attired by the end of the party. We did the gift swap of goofy little presents, including a rather wacky board with a spinner and a list of options of What Would Bacon Do, and a hand-shaped jello mold (which I eventually ended up with). I brought a bag with a duo of some of my homemade jam and jelly, which was stolen at least once during the game.

It was a fun little party. By the time it gets to concert time, we’re usually all stressed and starting to snap at each other, and once the concert is finally over, we’re all too tired to really want to think about spending the slightest bit more time in each other’s company, so it was nice to have a chance to hang out with the other singers just for the fun of it.

Tis the season for Holidailies!