Good evening everyone, and Merry Christmas,

After my wife participated in last year's reddit Secret Santa, I knew I had to be a part of it this year. MUST partake in SS2010 I said! I patiently waited for days, weeks and months to go pass, to sign up! I knew I had to be involved in the stalking, sleuthing, conceiving, deduction and execution of all that has come to be in the reddit Secret Santa.

The day finally came! I was signed up and then,... I had to wait again. Patiently we all waited to be matched up with our mystery recipients. For me, I hoped to be matched up with someone from outside Canada. I knew, as great as us Canadians are, gracious and always saying thank-you, I wanted to take the plunge and ship overseas. There was a good chance I'd get a Yankee, and while I would have been fine with it, I crossed my fingers it would be someone from across the pond. Well, the numbers were crunched, the matches made somewhere in reddit-ville, and a short time later, we got our names.

As obscure as our usernames are, it amazed me how much you could find out out our matches with a little digging. Without even using the real name supplied for shipping purposes we knew so much. With the real name, you could even dig a little more.

My match was a student, going to school 1000's of miles from home. I found out about his interests, his vocation, hobbies, and with a little digging, even what he looked like! Needless to say I was pumped. I had my ammo and I was going to use this information to find the perfect gift. I spent hours scouring online and in actual brick and mortar stores looking for the precise combination of items that would let my match know I knew him without even knowing him. That was the game. That was the challenge, and that to me was what redditgifts Secret Santa was all about. I wanted to find that perfect doodad that would make some dude smile on Christmas morning. Okay, not Christmas morning but as soon as he got my package from halfway around the globe.

My recipient got my package, and posted photos of the un-boxing. Opening each item and posting it here to us all to see. His comments made me smile, knowing that I hit the mark and had done my job. I had succeeded! My heart grew two sizes that day.

Time went by and my match hadn't shipped his gift to me. That was cool. People are busy at this time of year. No problem. I can wait. I'm a grown man. Day after day, I checked. Hour after hour I checked. My match still hadn't clicked the shipped button. Again, not a problem, maybe he sent it but forgot to click the shipped button. I'm a grown man. I can wait. The deadline came and went, and still nothing. Was I forgotten? Did I slip through the cracks? Hundreds of us in the same boat posted comments on reddit wondering what was happening. Some of us were more patient than others. No, people are busy I kept saying. I'm a grown man. I can wait.

Well, I checked one more time and to my excitement, my match clicked the shipped button! The anticipation was killing me. It was en route. Before long I'd have my package.

"I wonder what took him so long", I thought.

Maybe he was hand making something. The gift gallery was full of hand made stuff. Maybe it was something so obscure that it took a while to find. My mind raced with the possibilities. It wasn't about how expensive it was, the monetary value had nothing to do with it. Some things cost nothing but are priceless. Someone had done digging on me and had to figure out who I was. What were they going to find? What kind of person were they going to think I was. The anticipation was killing me.

Christmas eve. The last post day before the holiday, and my package arrived. I was so excited. A small, padded envelope with my reddit username c/o in the address. This was it. I ran inside and grabbed the biggest knife I could find to rip open the package. What could it be? It was light, that I knew. I sliced open the package and reached in. My heart was in my throat. The anticipation was killing me.

Cool, a plastic toy motorcycle. Neat.

I loved participating in the reddit secretsanta 2010. I can't wait for 2011. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

Pete aka Phreakanature