My secret santa asked for a few extra things to know about me- when I told this santa I'd acquired a taste for delicious chocolate while I lived as a missionary in Germany, he/she set into action.

My wife was so excited when I told her I was supposed to get something priority overnighted that she immediately stole the box from me; I didn't get to open it, but watching her excitement was totally worth it :). We opened it up, and started cackling with glee! This is some SERIOUS chocolate! Thank you so much, santa! I don't even want to think about how much this cost you- so I promise, I won't. Stop thinking about it Fordrus, Stop stop stop! :)

How do I know my Secret Santa knows something about chocolate? They shipped this box to me by priority overnight through Fedex. I know few things, properly, about chocolate, but one thing I've learned from tasting and reading is that the best ingredients get you 75% of the way to chocolate perfection, and the remaining 25% is about how the chocolate is melted and solidified- how the chocolatiers perform their art! :) Secret Santa sent this to me overnight and warned me to try not to let it sit out, precisely because of this, I think. My Secret Santa is one savvy operator. :)

So, just about the best stuff I'd had before was Lindt- which is, I'd say, the 'poor man's luxury chocolate'- as in, it's something you can buy at the market that's really nice, but it's also not always something you'd find at those boutiques where people have to be in, like, a Tuxedo or a little black dress or they're not allowed to go in and shop. If I were going to guess, I would call this the stuff that you're not actually allowed to go into the shop for unless you can show a royal pedigree at the door, and have at least on attending servant to do so (you know, if you showed your documents yourself, they'd know for sure you must not be royal enough to shop there! :) ) (I would like to add that I am a silly person here, because I don't mean anything mean against the chocolatiers of my secret santa- I have gotten no message of snobbishness of any kind- just generosity! :) )

It is caled La Maison Du Chocolat, and was made in Paris! This stuff is French. I say to myself, "I am a GERMAN! I HATE French things by default!" But then I think- then I think- The Swiss are the people with the chocolate (when people talk about German chocolate, they usually really mean Swiss!)- and the Swiss speak German AND French depending on the region of Switzerland, right? So, I should set aside my silly prejudices in the name of chocolate, and in the name of science (because I MUST examine the evidence!) :) :). There are three, (3), III, drei, trois, dos, three boxes of chocolate in there, including one tube of hot chocolate making stuff! (I can't wait to try this, but I'm going to wait until it snows again, because I'm almost sure it will, and I will go and make a snowman with my wife, and then we will come inside, and I will have a pot on the stove, all ready to properly prepare the chocolate (after I read how to do it- I've never (successfully) made chocolate with stuff that wasn't powder- but oh my, I have heard things, and once upon a time, in a memory I have almost blocked out, members of the church I belong to Germany hosted us around Christmastime, and made us hot chocolate- and I knew that it was properly made stuff. I have almost blocked out the memory because the memory of the taste renders normal hot chocolate impossible to drink, and that's too sad! I must access this memory carefully! :) ) I'm going to sit my wife down on the couch under her heated blanket, go into the other room, work quietly for a few minutes, and come out with the most beautifully prepared hot chocolate ever, and we will sit together by the light of the Christmas tree and drink it with carols playing. And we will toast Secret Santa when we do! :)

So, my wife is getting ready for work (Finals are nearly on for me, no class today, so I'm free to spend a few moments looking :) ), so I open the plastic wrappings and take out these awesome little cards. Secret Santa has written me an happy note! I also read the eating instructions on the inside of the little cards tied on with ribbons to each box, I begin to follow said instructions- and the Answer to my Secret Santa's question, upon tasting the truffles, Santa, is that: WHOA WHOA MY TASTEBUDS ARE TURNING INTO ANGELS AND FLYING OFF MY TONGUE! COME BACK, TASTEBUDS, COME BACK! THERE ARE MORE TRUFFLES, AND A BOX OF CHOCOLATES! TASTEBUDS- I NEED YOU!!!!!

My wife thinks so, too, because you see, first, there's the slightly bitter taste of the cocoa powder, and then, as the truffle begins to melt in your mouth, there's this explosion of deliciousness as the innards overtake the powder (this is the part where the tastebuds fly away)!

Secret Santa, this is a beautiful, delicious gift, and though I may be a proud German descendant, my wife has always wanted to visit Paris, and altogether, this is one of the most thoughtful and wonderful gifts I've ever gotten. Thank you so much, and Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Serene Solstice to you, Secret Santa! :)

Now- I took a bunch of pictures, but I can't figure out how/where redditgifts is adding them, and it seems like I'm only able to upload one at a time- the buttons here aren't behaving as I expect! I'm going to post this though (with the final prayer that it's okay that I opened a secret santa gift right away, and that I have not jinxed the secret santa process!)

AHA! I know just what to do! The chair is the background is my wife's favorite leather chair, she asked for it for Christmas two years ago. Ignore my feet, please. :) http://imgur.com/a/OhO4B

That's a link to the whole album, I hope this works! :)