The Miss Universe Party 2008 – The Results!

Before I report the results, I must first explain a thing or two: My family is the type of family where we absorb people.  Once you come to a party like this – you are forever in the family.  We call these people “honorary Doerflingers” because they have stuck by our family through all of the ups and downs, twists and turns, fights, tears, and chaos.  We will never describe them as “extended family” because they feel closer than that.  We figure that if you can put up with us, then you choose to put up with us year after year, then you have earned the title of “Doerflinger”.  (When I give everyone the title of “aunt” or “cousin”, you are probably going to think I have a billion cousins and aunts!).

So, the day started off a bit stressful, since my parents were late getting ready for the party.  We had all agreed to leaving at noon, with everyone ready at 11:30 so that if something went wrong, we had time to deal with it.  I had been ready for two hours and I was starving.  We had agreed to stop at In N Out before the party (stopping to eat somewhere before going over to the party since the food is not so tasty is a tradition that is nearly as old as this party).  We didn’t eat until around 1:30 and we didn’t leave until 2, which was the time we were supposed to be there.

So we finally get to the party and the conversation was wonderful.  It was so good to see these people again, especially since there are some of them that I only see once or twice a year.  I was sad that certain people weren’t at the party.  I really enjoyed catching up with people and hearing all about what they are doing (many of them are retired and only live in California for six months out of the year).  Plus, my boyfriend was a huge hit at the party – everyone loved him.

The theme for this year was “Car Parts”.  I was Ms. Flat Tire.  My mom was Ms. Rear Bumper and my dad was Ms. Dip Stick.

This year, my Uncle Larry tried a new thing: a trivia game with 20 questions.  While I didn’t really know much since a lot of the questions were from movies from the 50s-70s, I got one question right: “What does the little drummer boy give to baby Jesus”?  ”A SONG!” I screamed and sure enough I got it right.

We then did the gag gift game which was pretty funny.  I got a men’s grooming kit, which went straight to my dad.  My mom got this American Indian doll-like thing that is supposed to sit on your dashboard in your car.  My boyfriend got some of the ugliest frames I have ever seen.  My dad, however, was the one that got one of the most hilarious gifts: A matching bra and underwear set!!!  (Some of the gifts get to be a bit raunchy since everyone in the family is an adult, and so that is the only raunchy gift I will discuss).  One of the hit gifts were the “Depression Era Dinner” which included spam, pork and beans, a “poor man’s table cloth” which was really a newspaper, and sardines.  Another great hot gift was the singing hippo dressed in a tutu that sang “I’m coming out!” (which is hilarious for our family since we have a lot of people in our family who are gay).  

After dinner, we began the Ms. Universe Pageant.  As tradition, the youngest draws out the first name (which was me).  Thankfully, I didn’t pull my boyfriend’s name out.  In fact, he made it all the way to just before the semi finalists (the last 10).  No one in my family was hoping for me to win(I’ve already won 3 times and there are people there who have never won once!), except for my dad and boyfriend because I told them that I would give them a cut of the money winnings.  One by one, my parents got voted out and I was left.  I kept hoping that I would win, and sure enough – I made it to the top 5.  I was up there with people who had never won before and I was hoping that I would make it (and I could sure use that money right now!).  But I was picked…so I became 4th runner up.  I got close!!

So that is what happened at Miss Universe 2008!!