I added a new page at the top of the screen – Annual Cool Date Listings.  There is a downloadable pdf listing of the “Cool Number Dates” for every year back to 2009.  This Sunday’s post will also highlight the 2014 list, since there aren’t any cool dates next week; 1 and 14 don’t play well together until 1/13/14.

So what does this have to do with Christmas?  Well, each year for gift exchanging in Diane’s family (her maiden name is Clark), the group decides on a “theme”, draws names, and gives presents that fit the theme. It saves the hassle of coming up with a list for yourself in October, and we all know a year in advance what name we have and what sort of things we are looking for. 

This worked out well in 2012 when Jesse and Linnea went to the Olympics, since they had engineered an Olympic theme for Christmas that year.  And you discover some interesting facts along the way.  When the theme was Bon Appétit, we found out that M&Ms won’t print foreign phrases on their candies – at least you can’t order them online with only a week’s notice.

As the process has evolved, a big part of the fun during gift opening is hearing the inventive, creative and sometimes lame ways that people tie a gift to the theme.  For a couple of years, one family made mixed CDs songs that featured the theme – Time; Light; and Red,White or Blue were easy, but Rock, Paper, Scissors ruined the CD opportunities.

And back to the Cool Data Listings.  The first number list corresponds to the Clark Family Christmas theme for 2008 – Numbers for the coming year.  A gift then, and an interesting task each year since.

Here are the Clark Family Christmas Themes used since 2002:

Time

Light

Red, White, or Blue, OR made in the USA

Paper, Rock, Scissors

Bon Appétit

Entertainment

Numbers

Green

5 Senses

Vowels

Olympics

States

Shapes – for next December