I Suck At Scavenger Hunts

For the past few years, there has only been one event per year that I organize and plan. That event is the photo scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, I suck at scavenger hunts. My BFF (Kerry) thinks I should organize and plan more things. Sadly, I disagree with her because there's a reason why I don't organize more things... the stress.

The photo scavenger hunt originated as a way to celebrate my birthday. My birthday happens to fall in the month of December, which happens to be a busy month due to the holidays and birthdays (of some of my friends). So as a way to celebrate my birthday, I decided to organize a photo scavenger hunt in a different month. My original thinking was that the event was a way for me to give back to my friends what I value as important: a day where friends can just be silly and hang out with each other for the day. That's all I really wanted.

From there, the scavenger hunt just became an annual tradition. So today marked the third annual photo scavenger hunt. And to be honest, I was a little disappointed at the beginning of the day when I received news that many of my friends could not participate.

For anyone who has participated in past scavenger hunts, they would know that I plan well in advance. I generally don't give a weeks notice or anything like that for things. This year's scavenger hunt was planned well over three months in advance. Everything was planned in advance, including the date itself. I even sent out periodic emails as reminders about the event.

So needless to say, it was very disheartening to receive last minute news that some of my friends could not participate... given the advanced notice and the numerous email reminders. It's the unnecessary frustration from things like that which causes me to dislike organizing and planning events. There's a reason why I send out periodic reminders. Things like that only make me question why I even organize the event in the first place. Unfortunately, I think our society is so used to text messages and whatnot that maybe people don't exactly read the full email. Oh well. There's nothing I can do about that.

And the funny thing is, I tweaked the scavenger hunt this year to lessen the amount of stress involved in planning the event by having my friends create their own teams. Prior to this year, I actually had to track people down to make sure there were enough people to participate. You would think that it would be less stressful to not have to find people to participate, instead having your friends do it for you. Sadly, the stress remained... the stress just shifted elsewhere.

Regardless, once the event started everything was good. I think everyone involved had a great time, which is really all I wanted. Despite some of the cancellations, the people who did participate appeared to have enjoyed themselves.

Unlike last year where there four teams, this year there were only two teams. My favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and my favorite brother-in-law (PJ) were on the winning team the previous two years. So in essence, they were the defending champions. On their team this year were my friends (Jen, Gretchen, and Bill). Competing against them were my friends (Andrea, Marc, Kelley, Steve) and Kerry.

I actually think Marc deserves a big kudos for his participation today. Aside from having no shame and appearing in many of the pictures, he was actually quite ill for most of the day. Marc is definitely a trooper and didn't let his team down.

And apparently it was a good thing that Marc did not let his team down because his team ended up winning this year's scavenger hunt. The final score ended up to be something ridiculous like 347-272. Their team simply completed more items off of the scavenger list (124 to 78). And for anyone who has done the scavenger hunt before, it's always quantity that wins. For Andrea, I am sure the win was rewarding because it meant that she regained the title of champion.

All in all, it definitely seemed like everyone who participated had a great time. Even my friends (Cass and Ellen) who I asked to help judge the pictures appeared to have a fun time. It was definitely rewarding to see your goal accomplished... having your friends spend a day together just being silly and having fun.

As well, it was definitely quite a surprise to receive a special bonus for our unborn baby (currently named Cabby until tomorrow). The plan for this year was to have a friendly wager whereby every team throws in $5 per person, such that the winning team would receive the pot. With only two teams participating this year, the pot was not that large. So, Andrea's team decided to simply donate the winnings to Cabby. It was a thoughtful moment for me, which made me happy to have the friends that I do.

Regardless, I think the scavenger hunt was a success. I hope everyone had fun. I also hope everyone enjoyed the gluten-free meal that I made for the party after the hunt. I know my friend (Carlos) did because he specifically inquired about it. (For anyone curious, I created a dish known as Ethiopian cabbage.)

Anyway, thank you again to all of my friends. All of them made today's event a blast. There were definitely pictures that I will not want to look at ever again. Thank you again!