Secret Santa in The Past

So, this past year I joined Reddit so that I could participate in the exchanges at RedditGifts. December came around, I got matched with my match (A gent who liked nerd candies, Green Bay Packers, and beer). I sent my match his gifts and waited eagerly for my Santa to pull my information and send me a present.

The deadline for shipping out presents passed, without my Santa sending me a notice that they mailed a gift. I still had hope, maybe they forgot to put “sent”, or maybe they were going through financial difficulties and had to wait to send the gift out, or maybe one of a thousand other things happened and I’ll get it soon, I just know it.

Christmas comes and goes, without any word from my Santa, and my mood just tanked. It hit hard. I had spent the month in the closest thing to Holiday Cheer I ever got, secure in the knowledge that somewhere out there, some random person was thinking about me and trying to find the perfect gift. It helped me get through the bad times. All of a sudden that fantasy burst out from under me… I wasn’t going to get a gift. I was going to be one of the thousands who got stiffed, it seemed, and it bummed me out bad.

I went to NewCon over the new year, and that was an experience too… the scavenger hunt quest game was a success, but other than that, it was a flop. Mainly because the vendor hall people didn’t know what they were doing and I got stuck in a hallway. I’ll post the email I sent to the head dude after that… I thought it was a pretty good email.

But I was sitting there at NewCon, in a funk because I was having trouble selling my awesome items in the near darkness of the corner, when I got the message that I had a Reddit Rematch Santa. I was really excited again, for the first time in weeks. Then I got even more excited when my Rematch Santa emailed me and asked what sort of things I liked for my jewelry making, since I mentioned it a lot on Reddit and really love it. A couple of emails back and forth and she announces that she’s sending my gift out on the 20th.

I’ll admit, I spent the last week double checking the tracking info for the package at least twice a day, and it finally came in yesterday! -dances-

And Rematch Santa was amazing. I got a magnetic corkboard that’s about the size of my hand that’s shaped like a hedgehog, a set of really geeky paperclips, some amazing beads (crackle glass, my favorite!), a sandbox beach set for my desk (it’s a little mini-beach, complete with umbrella), some treats for my rats, and the big gift… a laminator with pouches to go with it. I was sooo excited and happy. It still makes me happy to think about it!

In fact, I signed up for 5 more exchanges once I found out that they do exchanges all year round… the ones that aren’t Christmas or Arbor Day are usually themed and seem to come as a group. There’s 7 batches of exchanges this year, along with Arbor Day, Trick or Treat, and Teachers exchanges. I’m excited to play and do them.

And today was match day on the new Exchanges. The exchanges are:

Colors (You buy things of your giftee’s favorite color) - My giftee likes the color Green because it reminds her of growth and hope. Apparently she had a bad past and got through it via hiking. I’m stumped on this one… I’m trying to figure out what all is out there that’s for hiking that’s green. I was thinking maybe a little waterproof notebook and from there, I’m stumped and then some.

Cozy Toes (Slippers and Socks) - My giftee lives in Minnesota and wants either really warm slippers that go up over her ankles, or brightly colored socks. I’m thinking of getting her both. For the slippers, there’s a site I was looking over for my Mom’s birthday present, that specializes in hiking slippers for when you’re spending the night camping. They’re heavy duty and warm as can be. I’m also going to see if there’s some really fun nerdy socks, since the lady seems to be into D&D according to her general profile and posting history.

Buttons and Pins (‘nuff said) - My giftee is definitely a Grease fan, since her username references it, and she likes 50’s stuff, and cats. So I’m going to see about getting some 50’s pinup buttons and some Grease ones. My giftee is in the Netherlands.

Pens and Stationary - My giftee here is also in the Netherlands and she loves journals and sketchbooks. I’m going to have fun looking for really awesome journals for her.. and some really nice pens to go with them, or maybe some drafting pencils, since they’re good for drawing too.

Middle Ages - My giftee’s a gent and he likes Knights and Medieval weaponry. I’m going to make a really awesome knight “doll” (maybe sock monkey or stuffed bear) with handmade chainmaile and I’m going to see if someone can carve out a bow and sword for it.

I’m really excited for this, if you can’t tell. -chuckles-

Last updated December 25, 2016