The holiday season can bring joy, gratitude, and hope as we embrace tradition and time spent with family. It is a time of giving and being thankful for what we’ve been given- and thankful for the relationships we hold close to our hearts.
However, this time of year can also be the most stressful- year’s end brings urgency, deadlines, and sometimes uncertainty of what the new year will hold. No one is immune to a little bit of holiday stress!
What can we do to make the most of this time? Well- here at Cooper Oates, we’re all for sharing the things that are giving us joy this holiday season! Read on to see what our team members (and their furry friends) are up to this December.
“What is Your Favorite Way to Spend Time During the Holidays?”
No matter what you celebrate during this time, everyone has something they look forward to during the holiday season- whether it be a family tradition, or just getting festive with décor around the house:
Claudia, AP/Payroll:
“Waking up Christmas morning at home, then getting ready in Christmas pajamas to have brunch at my parents’ house and opening up presents with family and friends”
Gary, Resident HVAC Instructor/Warehouse Manager:
“Time with Family and Friends”
Carl, Plumbing Project Manager:
“My favorite tradition is only a couple of years old, but it is our family saran wrap ball. We do an adult game and a kids game, and it gets pretty fierce with the competition.”
If you've never heard of the saran wrap Christmas ball game, let me explain: Best played in a group setting, small gift items are wrapped in saran wrap, adding more and more items and saran wrap until you have a large ball shape (with goodies inside).
Once you have your saran wrap gift ball ready, the game begins: one person starts unwrapping the ball, uncovering gifts one by one- while the person to their right rolls the dice. As soon as the dice roller rolls doubles, the person to the right must stop unwrapping the saran gift ball!
You continue this in a circle, and everyone gets to collect as many gifts as they can in the time they have. If you are looking for a fun game to play with the family during Christmas- look no further!
Christian, Assistant Operations Analyst:
“I love gift-giving! Also traveling. I usually road trip down to SoCal for the Holidays.”
Mellissa, Senior Project Engineer/Safety Coordinator:
“We look forward to ice skating and going to the snow.”
Ryan A, Plumbing Construction:
“Eating and watching football!”
Abbe, Controller:
“By a fireplace with family playing monopoly, eating tamales, desserts, snacks, & margaritas.”
“What is the Funniest Gift You Have Received or Given During the Holidays?”
White elephant or not, sometimes the best gift is one that makes you laugh. It turns out our team has some funny Holiday gift memories that bring a smile to their face.
Randy, Senior Estimator:
“My sister gave me the "ET" monkey with the symbols about 35 years ago. It still brings smiles to us each year.”
Janelle, Service Coordinator:
“Socks with my friend's face on them.”
Steven, Fabrication Shop Foreman:
"I completely welded my brother's present in a metal box (it took him a while to open it)."
Chad, Warehouse Attendant/Driver:
“A Christmas pickle ornament!”
Nyle, CFO:
“The funniest gift my wife & I ever gave was to our son Kent. For some reason, we had been giving him a type of flashlight for Christmas for several years in a row and he finally asked us why we gave such a gift. He said he had enough flashlights to last for several years, so as a joke, we made him an ugly Christmas sweater with at least a dozen flashlights attached. We thought it was hilarious, but he didn't see the humor until we brought his real present.”
Jake L, Fabrication:
“A gift I wrapped with 3 rolls of duct tape and 2 rolls of packing tape.”
Trent, Service Plumbing Apprentice:
"As a kid I was called "Apple", and every year I’d get at least one box of apples."
Now, For What You Have All Been Waiting For… The (Festive) Pets of Cooper Oates!
There’s no better way to lessen the year’s end stress than by looking at animals dressed up for Christmas. Our team members gladly shared what their pets are up to, as well:
