Last December, Rodney and I hosted the annual Christmas party for the Occasions staff. Sometimes our holiday party is centered around dinner at a nice restaurant, or it may involve bowling or another activity. Last year, everyone agreed on dinner and a game night at the office.

To kick off the party, we decided to create a version of the Saran Wrap Ball Game. We purchased random items like candy, holiday kitchen towels, bath bombs, etc., and I started wrapping them with Saran Wrap one layer at a time. Soon, my Saran Wrap Ball morphed from a round object to the shape of a tree. Even better, I thought, a Christmas tree made of layers of plastic wrap and gifts would be even more festive.

For those who are unfamiliar with the game, participants take turns rolling the dice, with the highest roller going first. After putting on the required oven mitts, each player takes turns unwrapping the Saran Wrap one layer at a time. The person continues to collect the gifts that fall out of the layers until whomever has the dice rolls a six. At that point, the current player’s turn ends, and the next player begins his turn.

I don’t know if any of the staff had played the game before, but initially, they attempted to dive into the Saran Wrap Treasure Tree by brute force. Instead of removing one layer of the plastic wrap at a time, they were attempting to manhandle it like The Hulk, trying their best to rip it into shreds with their mitten-covered hands. After the rules were clarified, they returned to peeling off the layers. You can’t trust this bunch when gifts or glory are involved.

The funniest part of the Treasure Tree story was not revealed until weeks or possibly months after our Christmas party.

To spice things up a bit, I purchased a few tacky and somewhat embarrassing items at the store. Although all of the gifts and trinkets were purchased from the holiday aisles at a big box discount store, some were a little naughtier than others.

On one of her turns, Rachel, our newest employee at the time, unwrapped a few surprises. One of those was a package of hyaluronic acid boob masks printed in the shape of two red Christmas ornaments. “Shake Your Baubles,” the package stated. We all had a great laugh when her treasures included the hydrating set of boob masks.

Several weeks went by between the party and the day that Rachel’s dad came over to help them move. As the story goes, the boob masks fell out of the couch as her dad was attempting to help his daughter and son-in-law move. To Rachel’s surprise, he picked up the unopened package of holiday boob masks, and asked, “What’s this?”

Caught off guard, Rachel turned several shades of red with embarrassment but had no immediate explanation. Other than perhaps a church pastor, I can think of no one better to rediscover Rachel’s lost holiday treasure than her dad. I only wish we had been present when he picked the package up and questioned her. It was truly a gift that, unfortunately for Rachel, kept on giving.

Here’s hoping your holidays are filled with peace, love, laughter and a Treasure Tree full of surprises.