A Groundhog Report

Two blog posts for you all today, because today’s regularly scheduled Wire review isn’t up to the task of covering the awesome of Groundhog Day, and I wanted to take a brief moment to report back on yesterday’s festivities.

Yes, I celebrate Groundhog Day (if you didn’t know). I love the holiday, mainly because it’s quirky and fun, and there are no expectations around it other than what I give to it. Denisa noted yesterday that we decorate the house the most for Christmas, second comes Halloween, and third is Groundhog Day. Boo yah! Over the years, people just send me groundhog-themed things, and I’ve accumulated quite the collection. (There’s always room for more groundhogs! Except in the garden.)

How do I celebrate? By throwing a big ol’ party. I’ve been doing this for quite some time by now, so a few traditions have developed, though every year is a bit different. Since this time Groundhog Day was on a weekday, we had to throw a bit of a curtailed party. (School night and all.) That said, we still had 25 people over to the house. No dinner this time, but there was the traditional Groundhog Games of Skill, which broke down into three categories:

• Bake off: People brought groundhog themed treats. I’m always impressed by what comes in for this competition. This year we had dirt pudding (which one), cup o’ groundhog (chocolate cake in ice cream cones), groundhog veggies, groundhog cupcakes (chocolate coated nutterbutters decorated to look like groundhogs nestled in chocolate cup cakes, and more. Curse my diet, but I didn’t actually try even one of them. That was pretty rough, but people loved them all.
• Groundhog charades: If you’re going to come to a groundhog party, you need to be prepared to make a bit of a fool out of yourself. And as the organizer of said party, nothing quite beats watching a bunch of people try to act out “I Got You Babe,” “Don’t Drive Angry,” or “Six More Weeks of Winter.”
• Groundhog pictionary: why act it when you can draw it? Again, I didn’t make it easy on people. Challenges included “Deja Vu.” “Punxsutawney,” “Prima Donna,” and “Wrestlemania.” Surprisingly, I didn’t have to call time on any one of those. Each one was guessed eventually. Go team!

After the games were over and the visiting was done, a few stayed on to watch the annual screening of the movie. Love that film, even the twentieth time. This time was great, because a couple people there hadn’t seen it before. Always fun to introduce a new crew to the wonders of Groundhog Day.

In any case, it was a great day. A great time to throw a party, and a super excuse to get together. Thanks to all who came and participated and put up with my penchant for bizarre fun. Hopefully everyone else’s Groundhog Day was as joyous, and if you missed out on a party this time, remember that you can always start a new tradition next year!