The worst best gift
So, obviously, one of my favorite "gifts" this Christmas was the Ms. PacMan game, but another excellent gift was the result of the Tangent Family Grab Bag (the $25 version; the dollar-store grab bag is a whole nother story that I may leave to the Smelmooo to tell. But my peacock ornament was not as big a hit as I thought it would be -- go here if you have no idea what I'm talking about with this gift exchange business, and/or the peacock).
It's hard to predict what the most highly coveted items will be in these kind of gift exchanges-- the dollar store ones seemed to be the butane lighter, which we ultimately got, and a pair of scissors. At our office party this year, the hot items were a collection of flying pigs and an indescribable...thing -- desk accessory? shadowbox? -- that features a rotating fiber optic flower in a clear box, atop a black pedestal that boasts a waterfall scene on the front. The waterfall picture lights up and the water cascades when you plug it in, but there's no noise. It was the weirdest thing ever, but everyone wanted it (I ended up with a deep fryer that we haven't used yet. Maybe on New Year's! Fried Oreos all around!).
Anyway, at my family's gift exchange, where there's lots of stealing and scheming going on -- particularly this year, I think, because we didn't exchange any gifts among the adults -- the hottest item was a Ralph Lauren robe. Less desirable than expected: the bottle of Bailey's, and the Tetris game similar to my beloved Ms. PacMan.
I think I originally picked the robe as a potential first one to open (I was the first to pick, which is the worst position, especially if you pick an undesirable gift that no one wants to steal). But the Smelmooo suggested I pick a safer option, which I appreciated. Even though the gifts are ostensibly given anonymously, it's obvious from the writing on the tags and the wrapping paper who's contributed what, and over the years there have developed some definite patterns of good and bad gift-giving. The sister who bought the robe has a somewhat inconsistent history, so as first pick, I had to go with the safe bet of my brother and sister-in-law's gift, which was a fondue set. We already have a fondue set -- two, in fact, plus a S'mores maker -- so it turned out to be a good gift, but just not for us.
My sister-in-law -- who had number 16, the last and best number -- stole back the fondue set she'd bought, realizing that we already have one, wanting it for herself, and having successfully wrangled the robe for my brother. So that left me to either steal an open gift or end the game by taking the remaining wrapped gift, which was from the same touch-and-go sister that supplied the robe this year. She whispered that I'd like the wrapped gift, so I opted to end the game, and was delighted to unwrap...a karaoke set!
So exciting! So much better than the robe, or any of the other gifts. Hours of fun on New Year's Eve! Something to cross off my list (although the spirit of it was that I'd do it in public)! It'll be like when Jen and I sang I Will Survive at Great Adventure in 1994 (the tape has outlasted our friendship by many years, but it still makes me laugh every time I hear it, and makes me miss her just a tiny bit)! I'll be a rock star in my own home!
And then, we got it home, and I discovered that it requires eight batteries (not included) and special CDs with graphics (not included), which several people have helpfully told me are sold at both Target and Odd Job, but the purpose of the Tangent Family Grab Bag is not that your $25 gift requires you to spend a hundred bucks on batteries and CDs if you actually want to use it.
But I love it so, in theory, even though I worry that it'll just suck overall. But there's no great love without great risk, right? Or something like that? So I'm going to take the plunge with a couple of the compilation CDs that have all the standard karaoke classics like "Summer Nights" and "I've Got You, Babe" and "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" and hoping for the best. And if it's terrible, it's getting wrapped up and regifted at my holiday exchange at work next year.
It's hard to predict what the most highly coveted items will be in these kind of gift exchanges-- the dollar store ones seemed to be the butane lighter, which we ultimately got, and a pair of scissors. At our office party this year, the hot items were a collection of flying pigs and an indescribable...thing -- desk accessory? shadowbox? -- that features a rotating fiber optic flower in a clear box, atop a black pedestal that boasts a waterfall scene on the front. The waterfall picture lights up and the water cascades when you plug it in, but there's no noise. It was the weirdest thing ever, but everyone wanted it (I ended up with a deep fryer that we haven't used yet. Maybe on New Year's! Fried Oreos all around!).
Anyway, at my family's gift exchange, where there's lots of stealing and scheming going on -- particularly this year, I think, because we didn't exchange any gifts among the adults -- the hottest item was a Ralph Lauren robe. Less desirable than expected: the bottle of Bailey's, and the Tetris game similar to my beloved Ms. PacMan.
I think I originally picked the robe as a potential first one to open (I was the first to pick, which is the worst position, especially if you pick an undesirable gift that no one wants to steal). But the Smelmooo suggested I pick a safer option, which I appreciated. Even though the gifts are ostensibly given anonymously, it's obvious from the writing on the tags and the wrapping paper who's contributed what, and over the years there have developed some definite patterns of good and bad gift-giving. The sister who bought the robe has a somewhat inconsistent history, so as first pick, I had to go with the safe bet of my brother and sister-in-law's gift, which was a fondue set. We already have a fondue set -- two, in fact, plus a S'mores maker -- so it turned out to be a good gift, but just not for us.
My sister-in-law -- who had number 16, the last and best number -- stole back the fondue set she'd bought, realizing that we already have one, wanting it for herself, and having successfully wrangled the robe for my brother. So that left me to either steal an open gift or end the game by taking the remaining wrapped gift, which was from the same touch-and-go sister that supplied the robe this year. She whispered that I'd like the wrapped gift, so I opted to end the game, and was delighted to unwrap...a karaoke set!
So exciting! So much better than the robe, or any of the other gifts. Hours of fun on New Year's Eve! Something to cross off my list (although the spirit of it was that I'd do it in public)! It'll be like when Jen and I sang I Will Survive at Great Adventure in 1994 (the tape has outlasted our friendship by many years, but it still makes me laugh every time I hear it, and makes me miss her just a tiny bit)! I'll be a rock star in my own home!
And then, we got it home, and I discovered that it requires eight batteries (not included) and special CDs with graphics (not included), which several people have helpfully told me are sold at both Target and Odd Job, but the purpose of the Tangent Family Grab Bag is not that your $25 gift requires you to spend a hundred bucks on batteries and CDs if you actually want to use it.
But I love it so, in theory, even though I worry that it'll just suck overall. But there's no great love without great risk, right? Or something like that? So I'm going to take the plunge with a couple of the compilation CDs that have all the standard karaoke classics like "Summer Nights" and "I've Got You, Babe" and "You've Lost that Lovin' Feeling" and hoping for the best. And if it's terrible, it's getting wrapped up and regifted at my holiday exchange at work next year.
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