Every year for as long as I can remember, the girls gather for a meal at a nice restaurant and exchange gifts amidst chatter and laughter. This year, since Adel has just moved into her new place, she very generously offered to host.
A week before the gathering, we communicated furiously on Whatsapp on who’s to bring/collect/buy what and our food options – to do a potluck or to cook? We eventually decided that since none of us were very good cooks (okay, at least I wasn’t), we would order one of those Christmas sets from Cold Storage and take it from there.
Thankfully, we had Diana (the mother of the bunch) and Diane (who has quite a bit of kitchen experience on her own) because what we got was a whole turkey wrapped in foil and plastic. Errr, hi turkey? I had absolutely no idea how to start. Diane, without hesitation, requested for a knife and worked her way through the turkey like a pro, with Diana as the able helper.
And what did I do? I tried to make myself useful by doing a bit of washing and passing of utensils to the house chefs. Maddie and myself also transferred packed lasagne and Shepard’s pie onto a microwavable tray and popped it into the microwave. There, easy.
I think seeing the pros cutting up the turkey gave L a bit of confidence because he decided he wanted to help with the slicing of the ham. I was very hesitant and Diana stepped in to save the day again.
There was enough food to allow us a few rounds of stuffing before we retired to the couch to join Josline (who was singing and dancing to church songs).
Then it was time for our gift exchange. This year’s was a tad more special because there were enough husbands/boyfriends around to do their very own gift exchange (L got a wine globlet and Royce chocolates from Josh) and all of us got gifts for everyone else despite the fact that we were supposed to be Secret Santa to only one person. We tore open wrappers, ate chocolates, giggled a lot, and were brimming with armfuls of gifts by the end of the session, pleased as kids on Christmas morning.
And how can I forget Josh’s surprise for Adel and his touching speech which made a few of us bawl like babies. I was crying big, fat tears and desperately trying to dig out tissue lest my mascara ran, but it ran anyway. They’ve come a long way – with two adorable kids now – and I couldn’t be happier or feel more blessed that one of my bestest friend is married to such a sweet and humorous man :’)
Our hosts even took the effort to organise some childhood games. L and I managed to play a few rounds of the very stressful Police & Thief before taking off for Kevin and Jenn’s party.
What a great way to kickstart the Christmas weekend!
