My santa for the Plus exchange was amazing and generous. First, I received an email that went to my spam folder from something that sounded like .... well ... spam. I thought, "What is h1p1n3?" Then I opened the email. OHHHH. My Santa!!!

I accepted the ebook gift of "Killer in the Pool," by Tim Zimmermann. It's a piece of investigative journalism that predates the new documentary "Blackfish," although the subject matter is similar.

I also received a really nice message from my Santa, asking me to say which charity I would like to have $20 donated to in my name. I thought about it for awhile, and wrote back that I would love to have a donation sent to PPoA. My gifter was amazing and I received a card in the mail from the organization.

On my actual birthday, a package from Amazon arrived. Inside, was a strange, silver paper, which I thought was a survival blanket or something (which would make sense given the title of the exchange). I opened it up to discover a bar of bacon chocolate resting on a (not very cold) ice pack. I'm glad I was home to receive the package, it was well over 100 degrees F (37 C for our international folks) that day! It is now in the refrigerator, awaiting consumption. Mmm. Bacon. Chocolate. MMMMM.

This wasn't the last of my Santa's generosity. The next day, yet ANOTHER package arrived from Amazon. Inside, was a 1000 piece puzzle with an image of knitting, which was on my personal wish list, not my reddit one. My santa was super clever and sneaky. I also received a pom pom maker, which I can't wait to use to make my baby hat gifts even more adorable. I also got Cards Against Humanity. I'll admit, I follow @wilw on Twitter, and he's always talking about this game, so I'm really excited to own it and to get the opportunity to play it with friends. I'm sure much hilarity and hijinks will ensue.

Santa, you went above and beyond for this Plus exchange. Thank you so much. This was completely over the top Santa!!! You really made this exchange (and accidentally and by extension, my birthday) awesome!

UPDATE: My Santa messaged me and said that I would be receiving yet another round of packages from Amazon. I hit the jackpot with this Santa. Thank you so, so much /u/h1p1n3, you're making me blush over here. Also, thank you for donating to my charity. You're the best.

UPDATE #2: My freakishly awesome Santa sent me a wine sippy cup (to keep my wine safe from the puppy's wagging tail) and a collapsable yarn drum.

Sorry it took me so long to update the other part of my gift. I had a rough couple of weeks, so I had not really felt like coming back here and updating. This is completely on me, and in no way reflects badly on my gifter.

Santa, you were so kind, generous, and wonderful that you made me feel very, very happy. I really needed to feel happy after a rough couple of weeks. The yarn bin has yarn ready to go in it, and I'm working on a new project as we speak. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Gifters like you are why redditgifts is such a beautiful thing.