I received my package in the mail today. It was amazing and it got my holiday season off to a great start. It, however, started off as a rocky experience as the package was damaged in the mail, but luckily the USPS put a nice note on it and that note and ziploc bag taped to the box protected the contents inside

I opened the box and there was an envelope with the stern instructions of "Open me First" written on it

Oh a lovely holiday card with a an even more lovely message inside. It reads:

"Derek/Shabadoo9Nine

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, good winter solstice to you! I hope you have a wonderful time with your family this year.

Your gifts:

1a + 1B are for when creativity strikes 2a + 2B are for your furry friends 3 is for your precious few hours of leisure time 4 is a little something for your wall (I drew it for you - I hope you like it!)

-aethiopica/Rachael"

I opened the envelope first, and I am in love with numbers and lists, so I opened the rest of the gifts in the order in the note.

1a -- An amazing sketch set. I normally do all of my "drawing" on the computer where hot keys allow me to zoom, rotate, cut, erase, and command-z until my heart's content. Now I can erase furiously and practice until I get ok at it :) If only I had something to use all of these pencils and charcoal sticks on :(

1B -- A sketch book! What an amazing coincidence

2a -- My cranky, old beagle/basset "puppy" got herself a rawhide bone. She used to love these things and then got bored with them (I guess, I can't read a dog's mind) and she stopped eating them. Holy cow, not this one. She devoured that bad boy. I had to take it away for a few minutes so she could go outside and do her business. She was very worried that the cat or my daughter would steal her bone.

2B -- Kitty treats. My daughter really wanted the cat to eat these immediately. Unfortunately, the cat didn't want anything to do with them while people were watching. He'll probably devour them while we sleep.

3 -- A new book, The Lies of Locke Lamora. It is huge and I've never heard of it. I read the synopsis on the back... fantasy... con artists... orphans... crime... milieu... I'm excited. I flip it back over and see the quote on the front and get extra amped. My guy George (I get to call him George because we're tight), who wrote a handful of books about some lovable scamps in Westeros, gives the books some high praise. He is my captain hat wearing, white bearded Jesus, and if he likes a book then so will I. I can't wait to read it!

4 -- And if all of that wasn't enough, I got the absolute best part of the entire gift. I love it so much. The redditgifts survey asked for my hobbies and I responded: "drawing, video games, reading, playing Batman Meets Frozen Princesses with my daughter" I enjoy all of these things and some of them I am better at than others, but enjoy them none the less. My Santa drew me a picture of Batman and Elsa holding hands and walking away. It is so great. I've never had a Secret Santa make something particular to me and it was incredibly touching to see. My wife went "Awww" and my daughter went "Batman!... Elsa!" I'm definitely going to get a frame and hang this in her room.

This was, without a doubt, the best gift exchange I've ever received gifts for. Thank you so much Santa for being thoughtful and starting off my holiday in an amazing way