Gifts From the White Elephant Gift Exchange

My support group for people who are separated or divorced have been meeting exclusively via Zoom since the Coronavirus pandemic arrived in 2020. I go to the occasional online meeting but I don’t go as often as I used to in the early days after my husband literally ran away from home without ever telling me that he was the least bit unhappy. (I later learned that he basically pretended that he “loved” me in an effort to get me to marry him so he could prove his parents wrong about being a lifelong bachelor. He only stayed married to me because he wanted our marriage to last exactly one year longer than his parents’ marriage had lasted.) I’m further along in recovering from my divorce so I’m less screwed up emotionally than someone who’s newly separated. These days I only go to a meeting if there’s an interesting topic.

Prior to the pandemic the support group would have an annual party between Christmas and New Year’s that featured a White Elephant Gift Exchange where people were encouraged to either bring an unwanted present that they received or buy a brand-new present that cost less than $30 to bring for the exchange. I last attended back in 2018. There was a party in 2019 that I didn’t go to because I was financially struggling at the time. (The project I was working on behalf of the 2020 census had ended a couple of months earlier and the next phase of the census project that I was subsequently assigned to hadn’t started yet.) It turned out to be the last such party before the pandemic arrived just a few months later.

Even though the weekly meetings are continuing online only for the next few months, the organization decided to try holding its first in-person party since 2019. Unlike other years, which were usually held between Christmas and New Year’s, this year’s party was held on January 2, the day after New Year’s Day. This year the government and many businesses decided to observe New Year’s on January 2 because January 1 fell on a Sunday this year so there would be plenty of people who would be off from work.

So I decided to go to the party, which was held at a church in Columbia, Maryland. A few days earlier I had purchased this raccoon nutcracker that was on sale at Michael’s Arts & Crafts for 80% off. (Yes I purchased it after Christmas Day. I only paid $7 for this nutcracker.) It was pretty cute. Here’s a shot from the front.

And here’s a shot of the raccoon nutcracker from the back.

I never thought of raccoons as being synonymous with Christmas like penguins and polar bears. But there was this cute little North Pole sign.

The details were pretty cute, such as the raccoon holding this tiny pair of ice skates in its hand.

The knit cap on top of the raccoon’s head was pretty cute as well.

So I got my gift all selected. I was feeling lazy about going up in the attic to get a roll of wrapping paper that’s sitting in a storage box so I decided to go to the Harris Teeter that’s located closest to the party venue to purchase food to share (the party was potluck) and buy a gift bag for the nutcracker. There were a lot of people at Harris Teeter that day (due mainly to so many people having the day off) and I waited in this long checkout line. While the line moved I saw a rack that had these llama Christmas ornaments on display. I thought they were so cute that I decided to buy one at the very last minute for my White Elephant gift back.

Here’s the front of the llama. After I took this photo, I tore the tag in half to remove the $4.99 price listing.

Here’s the back of the ornament. The one thing I remember most about this ornament is that it was so incredibly soft. It it weren’t for the fact that I now have a small tabletop artificial tree that’s full of ornaments, I would’ve bought one for myself. But my tree is so small that space is at a premium so the days where I could buy Christmas tree ornaments are over for me. (Don’t feel sorry for me. I live alone these days and I don’t have much family left so it doesn’t make sense for me to have a large Christmas tree. If I ever did what my late mother-in-law did and get remarried to a man with children and grandchildren, I may switch back to a larger tree for the kids’ benefit. But right now I’m perfectly happy with few Christmas decorations that I can set up and take down by myself in two hours or less.)

So I dropped off my gift back with the raccoon nutcracker and llama ornament at the White Elephant table when I arrived at the party. The party basically drew around 10 people, which was pretty small. (I remember the pre-pandemic days when these parties used to draw up to 30 people and there were much laughter as people opened their presents and people would steal gifts.) I didn’t really recognize anyone from the days when I used to attend the meetings in person each week. The people who were there were pretty friendly as we all socialized with each other. We all admitted how strange it was to be talking to people in person again after spending a long time avoiding each other (unless we wore masks and kept our social distance at least six feet apart). I have a feeling that it’s going to take a while before most people can be sociable on the level that they were prior to the pandemic.

When my number was drawn I selected this white gift bag with green wrapping paper poking out.

I got this really pretty cloth that had the colorful illustration of a crab and two pieces of Lindor chocolate candy balls.

Here’s a closeup of the crab illustration.

And here’s a closeup of the two Lindor chocolate balls.

Even though the party went off without a hitch, the regular meetings of my support group are still going to continue via Zoom only for the time being. But it was still nice to see people in person for a change. And, on that note, this blog post officially closes out the 2022-2023 Winter Holiday Season posts. I didn’t do as many winter holiday activities as other years (the rain and the Artic chill had definitely put a damper on my enthusiasm to go to many places to enjoy the holiday season) but I feel okay with that.