My last work day before Christmas

I get a four-day weekend starting tomorrow. Aren’t I lucky? (Well, yes I am. And for a lot of reasons. But having a four-day weekend is nice!)

Today at the office everyone was in a holiday mood. We had scheduled our annual “Chinese Christmas Party” for today with a $10 limit on gifts. You all know how those work, right?

We had 19 participants. Each person brought a wrapped gift. We all drew numbers, and number 1 selected first. She opened her selection and held it up for all to see.

Then number 2 had a choice: either select and open a wrapped gift, or take the gift number 1 had opened. If number 2 takes number 1’s gift, then number 1 selects another wrapped gift, and it’s then number 3’s turn.

Things get exciting after about half the gifts are opened. The rules state that if your gift is taken, you can take any OTHER gift, or select another wrapped gift, but you can’t take back the gift that was just taken from you.

So the strategy becomes (if you want that gift BACK that was just taken from you) that you take a gift that is already popular and desired by several people. Chances are, someone will take it from you soon, and you can THEN take back the gift that had been taken from you earlier.

Two other rules are important to make this work: First, if one person manages to possess the same gift three different times during the game, that gift becomes theirs permanently and can’t be taken from them again. Second, after the last (highest numbered) person has selected, and there are no wrapped gifts left, number 1 still has one chance left to take his/her choice of any gift NOT permanently belonging to a player. (The theory is that number one might never have had his/her first gift taken, and thus never had a chance to choose between a known, unwrapped gift and the unknown wrapped gift he/she first selected.)

We do this early in the morning, and bring in breakfast taquitos and donuts. I found a $2.00 red Santa hat that was 25% off on clearance, and bought it to wear today. It was a hit. I told everyone, “Ho, ho, ho. Layoffs next week!” (I’m the HR Manager, remember?)

Don’t worry. I told them all I was just kidding. They know I’d never joke about something like that if there was any chance of it happening.

I don’t know WHY my car tires were slashed, though.

I’ll post over the weekend if the opportunity presents itself, but don’t be too surprised if not much happens here on “Romantic Ramblings” before next week.

Have a merry, blessed Christmas celebration!