Every year, with a budget of $30 or less, the adults on the Carrier side of the family get together a few days before Christmas, eat a nice filling christmas meal, and play a gift swapping game called "Dirty Santa":
Everyone who brought a present gets a number. This year there were 14 of us who were participating so we drew numbers 1 through 14 at random. I got number 11 and Justin got number 3. The person who got number 1 picks a present from the pile and unwraps it. Then the next person can either steal that present from them, forcing them to open a new present. Each present can be stolen twice. The third person to steal the present is safe from others who would steal from them and gets to take it home. This cycle goes on until we have reached number 14. Then, since number 1 did not get a chance to steal a present, he or she can trade his or her present with someone else, effectively stealing it. It can get pretty brutal depending on what items are at stake. This year it was not terribly ruthless but last year someone brought a cooler full of beer and things got pretty out of control.
Everyone who brought a present gets a number. This year there were 14 of us who were participating so we drew numbers 1 through 14 at random. I got number 11 and Justin got number 3. The person who got number 1 picks a present from the pile and unwraps it. Then the next person can either steal that present from them, forcing them to open a new present. Each present can be stolen twice. The third person to steal the present is safe from others who would steal from them and gets to take it home. This cycle goes on until we have reached number 14. Then, since number 1 did not get a chance to steal a present, he or she can trade his or her present with someone else, effectively stealing it. It can get pretty brutal depending on what items are at stake. This year it was not terribly ruthless but last year someone brought a cooler full of beer and things got pretty out of control.
Lesa opens one of the presents that I picked out-- a tabletop foosball table.
Paired with the Foosball table was a horn that could be plugged up to a smart phone or iPod and used as a speaker.
Matt had picked out a very large box. Inside of it was several increasingly smaller boxes that ended up revealing an infinitesimal gift card.
Matt opens the gift card.
The box just kept getting smaller and smaller.
Travis decided to open the gift that he brought: Moonshine, which is apparently legal now.
What could be in that box, Travis? Could it be... MOONSHINE?!
Selflessly, Ronnie reveled in having the gift he brought in his own hands: two TV tables.
What could be in this package? Could it be something that NOBODY ELSE could POSSIBLY want? Haha Well played, Ronnie Greene... well played.
Justin sits by the pile of presents that keeps getting smaller and smaller.
Justin reaches for a present.
Brandi grabs her choice of present.
Grandma Jean Carrier opens her presents. The lighting in the house is overwhelming.
Jean gets some practical sweaters. The rest of the family hangs out.
The table behind Grandma Jean has just been cleared of a fantastic feast of southern comfort food.
Justin and Brandi.
The evening ends on a high note as everyone has the gifts that they wanted; Grandma Jean and Grandpa Dana (divorced but amicable) are warm, full, and feeling loved; the younger people are headed to an after party at a friend's house.
After this gathering, Kim and Ronnie headed over to their longtime friend Steve's house. Justin and I stayed a little longer and then headed over to Steve's as well. Unfortunately, my phone was out of juice by the time we left so I was unable to take pictures. Justin and I drove in the direction that he thought Steve's house was in. We turned around several times before trying to phone Ronnie and Kim, both of whom had their phones either off or out of range. Justin and I came back to the house but he wasn't ready to give up: he phoned Stopper, the only person he knew who might know where Steve's house was. Stopper did, in fact, know and offered to lead us there. We followed him and, after about four or five miles of twists and turns beyond where we had turned around, we reached Steve's house on the lake. Stopper drove home and Justin and I thanked him later.
To call Steve eccentric would be an understatement. His home was on the river and fashioned, as are most homes in the area, as a log cabin. It what was inside that made his home interesting: he had a library filled with rare and antique books (I was beyond excited over that); items of interest from places all over the world from shrunken heads to taxidermy; antiques from all corners of the United States including early 20th century post cards and late nineteenth century cameos; wood paneling on every wall; an impressive back yard with a river running through it; a beautiful dock that also had a deck with a fire place on it. His home managed to be both rustic and classy at the same time. I didn't know a single soul at that party aside from Justin and his parents but I soon learned of and met a few long-lost cousins as well as got comfy in the loft of the cabin while Justin told stories to other people I didn't know but who treated me like I had always been there. It was an nice feeling. If I had not been so tired (I am far from a night person) I would have protested when Justin decided that it was time to go home. When he discovered my love of books, Steve gave me a couple of them to take home with me. They were nothing of superb value other than sentimentality and I gladly and humbly accepted the gifts after a few polite attempts to give them back.
We had a very eventful evening and it will be a time that I will not soon forget.
After this gathering, Kim and Ronnie headed over to their longtime friend Steve's house. Justin and I stayed a little longer and then headed over to Steve's as well. Unfortunately, my phone was out of juice by the time we left so I was unable to take pictures. Justin and I drove in the direction that he thought Steve's house was in. We turned around several times before trying to phone Ronnie and Kim, both of whom had their phones either off or out of range. Justin and I came back to the house but he wasn't ready to give up: he phoned Stopper, the only person he knew who might know where Steve's house was. Stopper did, in fact, know and offered to lead us there. We followed him and, after about four or five miles of twists and turns beyond where we had turned around, we reached Steve's house on the lake. Stopper drove home and Justin and I thanked him later.
To call Steve eccentric would be an understatement. His home was on the river and fashioned, as are most homes in the area, as a log cabin. It what was inside that made his home interesting: he had a library filled with rare and antique books (I was beyond excited over that); items of interest from places all over the world from shrunken heads to taxidermy; antiques from all corners of the United States including early 20th century post cards and late nineteenth century cameos; wood paneling on every wall; an impressive back yard with a river running through it; a beautiful dock that also had a deck with a fire place on it. His home managed to be both rustic and classy at the same time. I didn't know a single soul at that party aside from Justin and his parents but I soon learned of and met a few long-lost cousins as well as got comfy in the loft of the cabin while Justin told stories to other people I didn't know but who treated me like I had always been there. It was an nice feeling. If I had not been so tired (I am far from a night person) I would have protested when Justin decided that it was time to go home. When he discovered my love of books, Steve gave me a couple of them to take home with me. They were nothing of superb value other than sentimentality and I gladly and humbly accepted the gifts after a few polite attempts to give them back.
We had a very eventful evening and it will be a time that I will not soon forget.
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