White Elephant in the Room

Shit...what day is it? That was a really long nap. Sometimes I like to sleep underneath my desk at work when no one is looking. It's not very comfortable down there. I now understand why fancy people have seemingly useless couches in their offices.
I know that the solstice does not happen until Dec. 21, but it has been a long, cold winter so far. More figuratively than literally. It was 80 degrees in LA yesterday.  Via Facebook (my primary news source), I have seen evidence of snow and other wintery type weather that has overtaken many regions of the country. Not here, though. We're toasty. On the outside, not in our hearts. Our hearts are mostly several cold sizes too small. It's been hard for me to get worked up about the holidays this year. Perhaps on Friday, when I am released from my work cage and permitted to run free in the yard for a couple of weeks, I will get on the Christmas wagon. We'll see what the year-end bonus looks like and then decide how generous the gift-giving will be.
Speaking of gifts, last night I attended several Christmas parties, one of which involved a White Elephant gift exchange. The suggested retail price of the gift was $20 or below. Being that this year was the first that I was invited to this annual party, I erred on the side of caution and brought a neatly wrapped, top shelf bottle of vodka for the exchange. I definitely didn't want to seem like a cheap asshole. I had the misfortune of drawing a very low number, thus virtually guaranteeing I would be left with a piece of crap gift. Not all party-goers are as thoughtful as I. What was I lucky enough to unwrap? A pair if pink METAL handcuffs (no fur here) and a Santa hat that has the inscription "Christmas Princess" on it. Whoever purchased that gift (or found it on the floor of their closet and decided to bring it to this party), you are the asshole. Needless to say, no one wanted to steal it. BUT, there was a Christmas miracle: my delicious gift of Grey Goose had been tucked so far under the tree that no one saw it during the game. And, apparently, a couple people had left during the course of the evening without taking a gift. So, I stealthily ungifted the bag and stuffed the bottle in my purse. I'm pretty sure no one noticed. I will be having celebratory vodka gimlets for dinner tonight.
Happy holidays!

PS - I should note that the party was delightful and I very much enjoyed spending time with some lovely people.