Well, I’m a weirdo! But we already knew that.
As you all know, I’m a little strange. But hey, who isn’t?
We just made our way through the Holiday Gauntlet lined with crazy family members and staunch traditions. To offer a little comic relief to everyone who survived, I am going to share with you all a little bit about some of MY crazy family traditions. Well, just one.
When I turned 30, my sweet parents threw me a huge party. They drove in from out of state, decorated my house and pulled out all the stops. The theme: Rose’s Favorite Things. Sitting on the cake table was a green trifle bowl with a new cluster of wax grapes. To drink we had one of those bottles of sparkling grape juice to go with:
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Yes, that is a cake shaped like a hedgehog!
And finally, when I went to the kitchen, I was terrified when I saw:
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I wasn’t sure what was the gift, the fake head or giving my heart a jumpstart. My mom explained that the head was because I like hair styles and this was a “practice head” that cosmetology students use to practice styling on. Since I’m not in the market for a new career, I just nodded as the prefect idea for this head came to mind.
“Don’t you like it?” my mom asked.
“Of course. I love it! And I know just what I’m going to do with it.”
A few weeks later, I was packing up my dad’s Father’s Day gift and sending my mom something I’d found at a flea market. There was a little extra room in the box….so in went the head!
I can only imagine the surprise on their little faces when they opened that box and pulled back the tissue paper!
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This is the picture they sent me when she arrived.
From then, the game was on! This head has gone back and forth between us.
They gave me a box of old DVDs they didn’t want…and what else did I find in the box?
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When my kids went to ride in the car with them during another visit, I put the head in one of their backpacks and asked them to very quietly (no giggling!) slip it into the floorboard of their rig.
It was all well and good until they went to look for something and found it before they drove off and when I went out to the porch to say goodbye, I saw this:
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This head has gone back in forth hidden in bundles of clothes. Hidden behind objects in the bed of a pickup truck. And what I’d consider the most daring of all, if I do say so myself, involved getting some help from a source outside the family!
After my parents’ last visit, I got up early and drove down to their hotel, then carried that head inside the hotel in my jean jacket as if I were smuggling a watermelon out of a farmer’s market. Anxious of what the clerk’s reaction would be upon seeing me remove a head from under my coat, I carefully approached the counter and asked if I could leave something for one of their guests. She agreed and asked if I wanted it brought up to them? I said, “Nah. Just when they come to check out give it to them.”
She said that’d be fine. Taking a deep breath as I reached into my jacket, I said, “Please don’t panic when you see this.” I set the head on the counter and we both dissolved into a fit of giggles.
I quickly explained the story behind the head and scribbled out a note to my parents.
A little later, I received a text:
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If you look close, you can see where I wrote “enjoy” on their note!
The “gift” as the hotel referred to it had been delivered!
Now that you all know about MY weird traditions, I want to hear about yours! Weird or normal, I want to hear them all! I have a mystery box to send the winner! (I promise, there will NOT be a head in it. 
