Christmas wreath...

Left work a bit early today to get organised for tonight's "Christmas Girl's Night". This tradition started while all our children were in playgroup, and every year we have a Christmas get-together on the last Friday before Christmas. The evening starts off with a glass of mulled wine, and everyone brings something to contribute to the food and/or wine. It is always a great evening, and continues to work I think because the format, the venue and the guest list have not changed over the years. Each year people just pick up from where they left off the previous year. Some old friends have moved away, but they would still be welcome if they were able to make the journey...
The finale of the evening is the secret Santa exchange. Everyone brings a wrapped gift which goes into the bundle. Names are pulled out of a dish and the first person whose name is pulled out chooses and opens a gift. This continues, but each subsequent person has the choice of either opening the gift they have chosen, or choosing a gift that has already been opened and giving that person the unopened gift. That person then has the choice of opening or swapping again. You can't swap something that has already been swapped in that particular round so you can't always get back that special present you really wanted! By the later rounds this can lead to much admired items changing hands many times and causes much hilarity!
This year's event was a huge success...!