Twas The Night Before Christmas Eve.

So a week or so before Christmas I had this idea. I would have a Cookie Exchange.

Only one problem.

I have no idea how to do a Cookie Exchange.

But not knowing how to do something and still sailing full speed ahead has never, ever stopped me before. So I sent out my invitations and waited for the responses.

And boy did I get them. (Note to self: Find friends with less opinions. )

Apparently SIX DOZEN cookies is a lot of cookies to make. Hey! Don't shoot the messenger, I found the directions online and was simply trying to follow protocol. However, my evite invitation became loaded down with comments like:

"Are you kidding me? Six dozen? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?"

"Mel, if I have to make six down cookies I am not coming. Love you!"

"You need to change the number of cookies we bring. Idiot."

Things like that.

So finally I changed the number. Four dozen. There. Happy?

Oh, and then someone asked me to change the night. It went something like this:

"Mel, why do you always invite me on nights when you know I'm working? Change the night. It's not fair. Change the night. Idiot."

So then I changed the night.

Once they got to my house I tried to make everything extra special by making them what the directions called "Pink Panties." You take 1 can of concentrated frozen lemonade, mix with ice in a blender and top with whipped cream. They loved it! Or I'm assuming they did, because they said things like this:

"Oh, my Lord. This is so tart. What is in this?"

"Stir in the whipped cream and it cuts down on the tartness."

"This drink is making my gums hurt."

"Are you sure you fixed this right? Maybe you should have put something else in it, like coffee. Or Valium."

"I would have rather made six dozen cookies than drink another sip of this."

So the refreshment portion of the evening went well.

Then we moved on to games. I made them do a quick little game where they draw a Christmas word out of bowl and have to spell it with their butt. I would tell you some of the things they said about my little game, but this is a G-rated blog. Let's just say it loses something in the translation if I were to try to describe my cousin Michelle writing the word Frankincense with her derriere. Or my mom trying to spell out Nativity. Lord, help us. As the AG said, "It must have looked like everyone was writing in caps." (Truer words have never been spoken.)

We then moved to the cookie portion of our evening. This was supposed to be the part of the evening where everyone brings a cookie / bar / ball recipe that is special to them, along with the recipe. I was doing good just to get this group to make cookie instead of buying them, so we didn't bring cookies that were special to us - we brought cookies that tasted good and were made with 8lbs of butter.

But at the end of the evening they all told me what a wonderful time they had. I knew they meant it. It really was a special night with good friends and family. A lot of laughs and some sweet memories. In fact, I think the spirit of the evening and the holidays were summed up by my Granny who said on her way out, "You're lucky I love you, Melissa, or I wouldn't have come. I don't like things like this and I wanted to just sit home in my chair."

Merry Christmas to you too, Granny.

~~~~~~~~~

Little do they know I plan on doing this again next year. Whether they like it or not. So if you have been to a Cookie Exchange (a successful one, that is) then please give me some tips. Lots and lots of tips. They will thank you for it, as will I.