Before I go into this gift, some background story: This year has been, without a doubt, the busiest and most stressful year I've had in a long time, if ever.

A pending divorce.

Moving the kids and myself 3 hours away.

Finding a new job.

Helping my kids adjust to a new school.

But I LOVE Christmas, and I was cautiously optimistic that Christmas would help me mark a turning point. The end of one lousy chapter, and the beginning of a far better one.

This would be my third year taking part in Reddit Secret Santa. And it has become one of my favorite parts of Christmas. This year proved no exception. So I will start by thanking my Secret Santa for being part of my best Christmas in years.

I came home from work Monday night to find that my box arrived a day early; USPS tracking had originally forecast a Tuesday delivery. A pleasant surprise, yet it only fueled my impatience to open it. But Asgard knows that I daren't open the package while my kids are still awake. So I wait. Unfortunately, my kids know something is a little off. Like a wolf that can smell its prey's fear. So they insist on fighting their bedtime for an extra two hours.

"I'm still hungry."

"I've gotta pee."

"I wanna read another story."

"I'm hot."

"I'm cold."

"I've gotta pee again."

Eventually, they run out of excuses and their energy reserves run dry. Once all three succumb to sleep, I open my box to see what my Secret Santa picked out for me.

Laser guns?!?!?!?!?! Bwahaha. I foresee many gunfights in my near future. Three kids + me = just enough guns for us to blast each other to smithereens!!!!! (edit: upon further testing, they aren't REAL laser guns. They just light up and make noise. Still awesome.)

Ninja bandages! I will have to hide these, or else my older son will find an excuse to use every single one of them by the end of the first day. "My dinosaur/tiger/ninja/firetruck needs a bandaid." Oh, I can hear it now.

Candy!!! I'll be honest. When I first saw the candy packages, I didn't care too much. I'm not crazy about most candy, and there's only a few kinds that I like. But then I pick these packages up out of the box to see that SS happened to pick out two of the kinds of candy that I LOVE. Something else to hide from my kids! (In case any future SS is reading this, I also like M&Ms and Nerds. Just sayin'.)

"The Healing of America" by T. R. Reid. Even more shocking than the fortuitous choice in candy, this book was on my mind just the other day! I actually remembered listening to this man's segments on NPR a few months ago as he was reviewing the healthcare systems in various countries. Just the other day, a stray thought reminded me of him, and I wished that I could remember either the author's or the book's name. Now that I have the book, I can't wait to read it. Holy cow this paragraph makes me sound really nerdy now that I've read it back to myself?!

A calendar based on COSMOS? I immediately open it and gawk at the really cool photos on each month. The original Carl Sagan series is one of the greatest science series ever, and Neil deGrasse Tyson's is right there with him in my book. And now I have the calendar hanging in my room? One of those gifts that make me ask myself, "Self, why did I never buy this before? It's great!"

Lastly, I come to a hand-written message from my Secret Santa.

For many reasons, this has been a tough year. But I chose to enter this holiday season with the expectation that it will be one of my best Christmases in years. Thank you, Secret Santa, for being part of it. You're awesome.