[caption id="attachment_11845" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11845" rel="attachment wp-att-11845"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11845" title="Phoenix Improv AZ Gifts for Strangers " alt="329113_10152366596920644_1935195090_o" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/329113_10152366596920644_1935195090_o-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a> Our skeleton flash mob crew. Because Phoenicians are afraid of that rare wet stuff that falls out of the sky.[/caption]

Does anyone else experience the post-Christmas blues?  After a month of buildup, the holiday cheer is over in a day.

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<strong>Humbug.</strong>

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I decided to continue with the festivities for yet another few days with today's Christmasy post.  Yay!

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Playdate #50 was My First Flash Mob Ever.  I can't believe it's taken me this long to join one considering my penchant for all things goofy AND a suggestion from a blog reader circa 2010.  <strong>I can be weird sometimes.  </strong>

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Anywho, the waiting paid off because My First Flash Mob Ever was a flash mob with heart.

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Our assignment:  To meet at a light rail station in downtown Phoenix and distribute 10 gifts to complete strangers.

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<strong>Ho, ho, ho!  </strong>

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I know what you're thinking.

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"But . . . . but . . . . isn't that sort of <em>expensive</em>, Michelle?"

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Not if you hit the Target $1 section!  I had never waltzed down those $1 aisles before, and it was a jolly good time.  Look at the loot I found for 10 buckaroos plus tax!

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[caption id="attachment_11849" align="alignnone" width="614"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11849" rel="attachment wp-att-11849"><img class=" wp-image-11849 " alt="Hail to the Target Dollar Aisle! " src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC140029-1024x768.jpg" width="614" height="461" /></a> Hail to the Target Dollar Aisle![/caption]

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Pictured from bottom left and going clockwise and then spiraling:  Wine bottle tags, whoopee cushion (because what boy or boy at heart doesn't want a whoopee cushion?), snowman glow wand, eye mask, gingerbread house gel clings, sparkly sugar plum body lotion, electronics duster, Kahlua coffee, old-fashioned ribbon candies, and beer coasters.

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Next came the fun of wrapping all of these goodies.  Which actually isn't all that fun for me.  I'm one of those people whose wrapping job looks like the work of 4 year-old.  For this reason, I wisely resort to bag stuffing.  I put on some Christmas music and stuffed away!

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[caption id="attachment_11850" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11850" rel="attachment wp-att-11850"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11850" alt="I am not a wrapper.  I am a bagger." src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC150035-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a> I am not a wrapper. I am a bagger.[/caption]

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The real hoot for me involved labeling the tags.

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[caption id="attachment_11851" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11851" rel="attachment wp-att-11851"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11851" alt="For the Eye Mask" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC150040-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a> For the Eye Mask[/caption]

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I wound up giving away the eye mask to a mother of two.  Bless her heart.

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[caption id="attachment_11852" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/?attachment_id=11852" rel="attachment wp-att-11852"><img class="size-medium wp-image-11852" alt="For the Snowman Glow Wand" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/PC150042-300x225.jpg" width="300" height="225" /></a> For the Snowman Glow Wand[/caption]

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I made a conscious effort to be politically correct on the tags in respect to our Hanukkah and Kwanzaa peeps.

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After all this Flash Mob preparation, the morning of the big day arrived with . . . .

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Wet stuff.  Out of the sky.

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This happens so infrequently that Phoenicians freak out and hide inside their dry abodes.

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<strong>Humbug.  </strong>

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<strong>But I didn't let Mother Nature rain on the previous evening's Wish Lantern Parade</strong>, and I certainly wasn't going to let it keep me from a rain or shine Flash Mob either!

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Luckily, Dawn was my playdate friend du jour, and since Dawn hails from North Dakota where there is real winter WEATHER, she was game for the rain as well.

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<strong>Ho, ho, ho!  </strong>

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As both Fate and Mother Nature would have it that afternoon, the skies cleared and the angels sang upon our skeleton crew flash mob spreading holiday cheer to complete strangers.

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O.k.  So I'm joking about the angels singing part.

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But the skies really did clear and the sun came out for our entire 30 minutes of flash mobbing.  Only to rain again once we are all snug inside Starbucks sipping cocoas and lattes.  (Note that for whatever bizarre reason, all indie coffeehouses in the area were closed on a Saturday afternoon.  <strong>Cartel dudes, what up with that?</strong>)

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<em>(sung to the tune of "Jingle Bells")</em>  Oh, what fun it was to play in a flashing mob that day!  Hey!

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Well, not literally a <em>flashing</em> mob.  You know what I mean.  A girl's gotta to what a girl's gotta do to make the jingle work.

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The<em> flashing</em> mob takes place on January 16th.  You can read all about it <strong>here</strong>.  Who's in?  :-D

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Have you ever participated in a flash mob?  Please share your experience in the comments section below.

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Or . . . .

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Have you ever yearned to join a flash mob?  Google "flash mob" and "<em>your city's name</em>" and see what comes up!

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To read more about Improv AZ, take a lookie loo over <strong>here.</strong>

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To read more about the origins

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