Money Shuffle: Holiday Edition

It’s been a while since we’ve played this game, so let’s dust it off the shelf and get ready for another round of Money Shuffle!

Yes, it’s everyone’s favorite game where I put my iPod on shuffle, write down the first 5 songs that come up and then give you a little money story related to the name of the song (not necessarily the subject matter). In the spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah, the stories in this edition of Money Shuffle will focus on holiday memories.

Let’s do this!

Song #1: You’re My Home by Billy Joel Much to my disappointment, my daughter has discovered Barbie. If you’re not privvy to Barbie, let me explain how expensive this little tramp actually is. The dolls run anywhere from $8-$25 a piece, The extra outfits will cost you between $20-$30. Then she has a car, a camper, pets, and all the accessories that go with that. And then there’s the house. Which is what my daughter wanted for Christmas this year. However, the house that Barbie lives in costs around $150. And it’s gigantic. I live in a relatively small house. There was no way a house that big and costs that much (which I’m assuming in a real people equivalent would be like $1M) was going under our tree. So For $44, I bought her Barbie’s vacation town house instead. Someone in our house needs to go on vacation.

Song #2: Looks That Kill by Motley Crue There is nothing more stressful than buying a holiday gift for someone you’ve just started dating. Way back in 1996, this happened to me. My then-boyfriend (now husband) had only  been dating for about 2 months when Hanukkah and Christmas showed up. Not knowing what to get him, I went with a very basic, standard gift–a sweater. He, knowing how much I like penguins, proceeded to get me the single ugliest thing I have ever seen. It was a penguin clock. And not a nice one, either. This was an evil looking penguin with the clock face on its stomach, set against what pretended to be a snowglobe. I’m pretty sure the look I gave him said it all.

Song #3: Alien Shore by Rush Being Jewish, I never had the pleasure of experiencing Christmas upclose and personal. Hanukkah really isn’t a big deal–say a prayer, light some candles, get a present. Repeat for 8 nights. But Christmas is a whole other event. The first time I went home with my husband for Christmas I felt like an intruder on another planet. My mother-in-law goes absolutely insane with decorating for Christmas. It’s quite unbelievable. I felt like I had walked into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory only with lights and wreaths and bows and nativity scenes and candles and a giant tree instead of candy. Then there was the food. On two different days. And the big production of opening gifts was nothing I had ever seen before. I was wide-eyed with amazement the entire time, much as I imagine I would be if say, I went to Mars.

Song #4: Face Down by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Disclaimer: The subject matter of this song is not funny and should not be taken lightly. I understand that and in no way does the following story intend to detract from the purpose of this song. This is a Thanksgiving story. A few years ago, when we first hosted Thanksgiving at our house, we realized that we did not have a large enough table to hold our families. So we called a rental place and placed an order for a long table and about 15 folding chairs. We set everything up in our living room, which was the only place we had room for it. Fortunately the living room is carpeted (this is an important fact). We go about eating our meal, everyone is laughing and having a good time. The next thing we knew, we heard a crash. Everyone went silent until we saw my mother-in-law, on the floor, laughing her ass off. Apparently, the chair had given out and collapsed underneath her. Once we realized she was OK, we all started laughing, too. This incident is now family legend.

Song #5: All I Need Is a Miracle by Mike and the Mechanics Every December 1, I fly into a panicked frenzy. Between birthdays, Hanukkah, Christmas, office parties, New Year’s, and other general end of the year craziness, I pretty much freak out that there’s no way I’m going to handle everything. I’m terrible at asking for help from anyone so I try to do as much as possible on as little sleep as necessary. This usually ends up poorly, with me being a tired, frazzled, stressed out mess who collapses on New Year’s Day. However, everything gets done on time and within the budgeted. Much like the oil that lasted 8 days in the lamp, I survive each December on some sort of miracle.

Thanks for playing!