W.O.W.

That stands for Women of _______ (my neighborhood). As you may remember reading, we do things together all year long; with more or less participation depending on the the time of the event. Tuesday evening was the night for our annual Christmas pot-luck dinner - and we always have a good time. We had 31 woman this year, including the new owner of one house, brought by the seller to meet her new neighbors.

The food was glorious, as usual. Tenderloin that melted in your mouth, Honey-Baked Ham, and many salads, side dishes and desserts to test your will-power. My favorite was brought by our former long-time mail-carrier, Donna. She has been at our last 2-3 dinners, since she retired from the USPS. She gave us such good service for years that we all had made friends with her, so now she is an honorary WOW. Donna made a kind of egg salad. She told us that it had ten eggs, crushed saltine crackers, pimiento cheese, onion, red pepper and mayo in it - and if any of you know the recipe for this - I'd really love to have it. I could have eaten a bowlful by myself!

There are only a few homes in our neighborhood that can accommodate 30+ people for a sit-down meal, and two of the women are gracious enough to share their lovely homes with us on an alternating basis. Mr. kenju fusses every year because the men aren't included, and I always say...."How many people do you think have a home big enough to hold 60+ people for a seated meal?" Oddly, he never has an answer, but he says..."If the men had a dinner and the women weren't included, they'd be fussing up a storm." I keep telling him he should plan such a get-together and just see how many of the WOW women get mad about it. My prediction is.......... wait for it........ NONE!

The highlight of the dinner is when we do our annual ornament exchange. Each person brings a wrapped gift; an ornament for the tree or some other holiday item. Numbers are drawn out of a bowl to indicate the order in which we will choose our gifts. It is preferable to have higher numbers, since the gifts chosen by the lower numbered people can be "stolen". My number was 19.

As you may know, I collect frogs, and froggy Christmas ornaments are among my favorites. Unfortunately, there is another woman who also collects frogs, so the "stealing" can get quite heated. Last night, we barely managed to keep it in check, while daring others to steal our frogs! Early on in the choosing, our hostess picked a gift that was a darling frog ornament. I set my sights for it, of course, and when my number came up, I "stole" the frog. I hadn't had it long when the other frog collector stole it from me. Then I was allowed to choose another gift - and I could take one from the pile - or steal one. I took one from the pile, and would you believe it?? I got another frog!! I'd say that was some GOOD KARMA!! Now I feel badly about complaining in a post recently that I can't catch a break and win anything. This frog was very similar to the one I'd had in the beginning, so both of us frog collectors went home happy.

My camera stayed home on the kitchen counter, so I have no photos for you. You can smack me if you want.