Most of us have at least a few friends who would appreciate a cheeky Christmas gathering. For Jason and me, that group has been established for decades. Every year we hold a wacky holiday event with the same crowd. Here’s how it went last December.

We had a gang of 16 attend as two couples were absent due to vacations and sickness. The meal consisted of brisket and chicken cordon bleu, which was ordered from an official caterer. We weren’t interested in repeating the previous year’s issues that made our meal an hour late. (See that post for the details on how someone’s dishonesty caused our delay. Shame on you Jason C.!) Getting all the foods in our bellies wasn’t entirely impediment-free though. The caterer forgot our cheesecakes, and we had to have a friend pick up substitution cookies on her way. However, since cookies also contain a high quantity of sugar, that was only a minor inconvenience.

We usually play Just Dance at this shindig but not this time. Jason insisted it was a no-go because I couldn’t participate. My foot was just barely free from a two-month, boot-enforced hiatus resulting from a fractured talus, and dancing was still on my list of forbidden activities. As fate would have it, there wouldn’t have been any time for grooving anyway. We finished the white elephant exchange at 10:20 and had to hurry and clean up so we could be out of the facility by its 11:00 closing. Note to self, exchanging white elephants takes between 1.25 and 1.5 hours… those pale beasts sure are needy.

That’s my shortest post in a long time. Though it does not necessarily follow that it’s also the sweetest. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fall!