The Syndicate

Spacedaisy wrote:Alright, all the names and addresses are out! I am so excited!

Someone asked if we are imposing a rule that gifts can't be opened until Christmas. What do you all think? Should we all wait until Christmas Day to open them, or open as they come in? My only concern is some of them might be baked goodies or such, and in that case it would be better to receive them as fresh as possible. Thoughts?

I'd vote that we open them as they come in precisely for the concern you addressed (perishable items), but it doesn't matter to me. Whatever you all think is best.

I'm sending fresh deviled eggs with an iguana.

We're posting pictures again, right?

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Spacedaisy wrote:Alright, all the names and addresses are out! I am so excited!

Someone asked if we are imposing a rule that gifts can't be opened until Christmas. What do you all think? Should we all wait until Christmas Day to open them, or open as they come in? My only concern is some of them might be baked goodies or such, and in that case it would be better to receive them as fresh as possible. Thoughts?

I'd vote that we open them as they come in precisely for the concern you addressed (perishable items), but it doesn't matter to me. Whatever you all think is best.

PLEASE open items as soon as you get them. There will most likely be perishable items inside. Just most likely

Whoever was given my name, feel free to take your time sending your gift (if it's perishable). I'm leaving town in 3 days, and I'll be gone until January 5th (over three weeks).

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Whoever was given my name, feel free to take your time sending your gift (if it's perishable). I'm leaving town in 3 days, and I'll be gone until January 5th (over three weeks).

*Stops eating a high fiber diet*

I got my package yesterday!!! I was so excited to see that it was from Eloh!! I also forgot to post in here last night from sheer tiredness. I had to get some things ready for school today, a teacher's job is never done. I was so happy to finally be able to sample some baked goodies from Eloh, and I was not disappointed at all. I ate 2 of the truffles right away Thank you Eloh for a lovely surprise!!! May you and yours have a wonderful Christmas!!

I love seeing this stuff! It's so cool that you all do it. I wish it was possible for me to take part.

Those ornaments are really creative!

Whoa, nice!!! Those truffles look amazing.

leggyorlyb wrote:I got my package yesterday!!! I was so excited to see that it was from Eloh!! I also forgot to post in here last night from sheer tiredness. I had to get some things ready for school today, a teacher's job is never done. I was so happy to finally be able to sample some baked goodies from Eloh, and I was not disappointed at all. I ate 2 of the truffles right away Thank you Eloh for a lovely surprise!!! May you and yours have a wonderful Christmas!!

YAY! I'm so glad you got it. I enjoyed doing it for you. The kids helped me pick out what characters to put on the ornament. Had to have a dark side and a light side

"A dark side and a light side."

Yeah, those Storm Troopers sure know how to rock the Force!

Epignosis wrote:"A dark side and a light side."

Yeah, those Storm Troopers sure know how to rock the Force!

Epignosis wrote:"A dark side and a light side."

Yeah, those Storm Troopers sure know how to rock the Force!

Looks like Darth Vader to me.

Elohcin wrote:

Epignosis wrote:"A dark side and a light side."

Yeah, those Storm Troopers sure know how to rock the Force!

Trained in the ways of the force you are not Epi. Darth Vader helmets those are. Eloh is wise and one with the force.

leggyorlyb wrote:

Elohcin wrote:

Epignosis wrote:"A dark side and a light side."

Yeah, those Storm Troopers sure know how to rock the Force!

Trained in the ways of the force you are not Epi. Darth Vader helmets those are. Eloh is wise and one with the force.

She told me she was doing the Storm Trooper and Yoda. You notice she didn't actually correct me.

Epignosis wrote:

leggyorlyb wrote:

Elohcin wrote:

Epignosis wrote:"A dark side and a light side."

Yeah, those Storm Troopers sure know how to rock the Force!

Trained in the ways of the force you are not Epi. Darth Vader helmets those are. Eloh is wise and one with the force.

She told me she was doing the Storm Trooper and Yoda. You notice she didn't actually correct me.

The pictures weren't pulling up on my computer and I figured I had just made a mistake. Thank you all for sticking up for me

Something came in the post for me this morning.

What? I want everyone's tells! Should've given myself Jay!

Wait I said that wrong, I meant I should've given my own name to Jay. I ALMOST said I should've given myself to Jay, but I quickly realized that would make it even worse...

Actually, as the only person who knows who has my name (and it was randomly assigned btw), I'm sure I will enjoy whatever they come up with because they are a pretty stellar individual.

As for whoever has me. I will have a new address after Wednesday!

Elohcin wrote:

As for whoever has me. I will have a new address after Wednesday!

Holy crap! What a coincidence!

Epignosis wrote:Something came in the post for me this morning.

Spoiler: show

JaggedJimmyJay sent me a sign I can hang outside to make people think our house is the new stadium where the Carolina Panthers play. Clever prank, Jay!

And he sent me two little jackets to keep my beers warm in the winter.

Finally, in that envelope is a list of everybody's mafia tells. Thanks Jay.

Epi, that pennant would look good in your new "Epi cave" in your new house! (I don't know if a room that's upstairs can be called a cave but that's what I'm calling it for lack of a better name.)

Elohcin wrote:

As for whoever has me. I will have a new address after Wednesday!

Congratulations, Eloh, Epi & Simon

Having been on break a while, I am out of the loop on the new home. Congrats! Same town? Bigger & better?

S~V~S wrote:Having been on break a while, I am out of the loop on the new home. Congrats! Same town? Bigger & better?

It's a house on a cul-de-sac in a much nicer neighborhood. Same town, yeah. Here's a summary of why we're leaving this one.

Glad to see the shipment wasn't gobbled up by the mail gremlins.

Congrats on the new pad y'all. Live the dream.

Spacedaisy wrote:Wait I said that wrong, I meant I should've given my own name to Jay. I ALMOST said I should've given myself to Jay, but I quickly realized that would make it even worse...

Actually, as the only person who knows who has my name (and it was randomly assigned btw), I'm sure I will enjoy whatever they come up with because they are a pretty stellar individual.

Jay is obviously sending epi slightly wrong so he can dominate him for 2017.

My goodies came yesterday! Thanks SVS for all the awesome stuff.

Here is the beautiful box that it came in.....


Open it up and there's a Long Island calendar so, as SVS says in her card, I can think of her year round



And under that was all this stuff!



Top row: Wildflower Blossom Honey from Southampton, NY. An ornament from Gilgo Beach which is the local beach SVS went to as a girl.... and is also the dumping ground for the Long Island serial killer Then Elizabeth's"Psychedelic Sunday Mix" is SVS's favorite trail mix for hiking.

Front row: An NYPD coffee mug because she remembered that my brother is a cop. And some chocolate coins and dreidel because Channukkah is popular this time of year in NY also.
All this is sitting on a Happy Camper reusable shopping bag because SVS remembered that I love camping.

Thank you so much Sherry! This was so thoughtful, I love all of these gifts and I'm touched that you remembered those things about me! Best Secret Santa ever!

Wow! That's some amazing gifts right there Sorsha! Kudos SVS.

Oh good, I am glad you liked it! I was going to send a bottle of wine (Long Island, while not really known outside of the immediate area, has a pretty robust group of wineries) but I was mailing it when we had a big cold snap in the teens, and you live in a cold place, and wine can pop corks even if it may not freeze through, so you wound up with trail mix instead, lol.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful gift(s) from Sherry, Sorsha. I'm so enjoying looking at what people got!

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Wow! That's some amazing gifts right there Sorsha! Kudos SVS.

I have to concur with my learned colleague - who'd have thought a 'secret Santa' gift could be so considerate and thoughtful?

I got a package from nutella today! I took a picture but I'm having some issues uploading. I'll try to get it up as soon as I can, but for now I will share she got me the most amazingly delicious dark chocolate covered blueberries, some local coffee (which I am waiting on MP to get home before I taste, but I LOVE coffee), some toffee hazelnuts and a little jar of preserves. All kinds of Oregon goodies! So excited to try it all! Thank you LA!!!

I'll get the pic up as soon as I can!

Yay, glad it arrived!

I got a package from Australia today



It came with a really lovely cut out pop up card.



And it had two of my favorite food groups (Glorfindel, how did you know?? I could LIVE on mustard and honey, and these all look so wonderful!)





I am having Christmas this year, and was trying to decide what to make, and this has opened up some interesting possibilities for me

Thank you so much, Matty, my friend I feel like I won the Christmas Secret Santa lottery. I got a package from a foreign land, and it had things I love in it!

Wow, matty took part all the way from Australia? That's amazing. Maybe I should do it next year.

Well, he IS an Elven Lord. Maybe he has special powers.

S~V~S wrote:Well, he IS an Elven Lord. Maybe he has special powers.

I am beyond thrilled that you liked my gift, my friend I hope you have the most awesome Christmas. Sadly, my special powers don't extend to the US postal service - I was beginning to doubt it would ever reach you...

Golden wrote:Wow, matty took part all the way from Australia? That's amazing. Maybe I should do it next year.

It's Australia, my friend - not the end of the earth...

Glorfindel wrote:

S~V~S wrote:Well, he IS an Elven Lord. Maybe he has special powers.

I am beyond thrilled that you liked my gift, my friend I hope you have the most awesome Christmas. Sadly, my special powers don't extend to the US postal service - I was beginning to doubt it would ever reach you...

I think that is a special power no one has!

And tbh, I was so thrilled to get a package from across the world, I didn't think I could be happier until I opened it.

Thanks again! I really have not stopped smiling since I got home.

That's delightful. The Syndicate community spans the globe!

Cool stuff from Australia! Nice work Glori!

So many awesome gifts have been given and I have another to share. I got my first pieces of mail in my OWN home and it happened to be a package from Boomslang (and a Christmas card from a dear friend -his girlfriend). Below is a picture of what I received Local tea and honey I cannot wait to try with the description written adorably on a recipe card. , I love it!

Awe! That's awesome! And perfect for Elo.

Ok, Alex came home and helped me so now the picture is uploaded!



Also we already polished off the coffee and it was AMAZING! So good, thanks so much LA!

Even after arriving back to Asheville from Kentucky, Christmas wasn't over—I received a lovely Arizona gift box from bea!



Got a number of tasty local chocolates, a creepy cool scorpion magnet, and a whimsical ornament of the Native American fertility and trickster god Kokopelli (which is now displayed proudly on my tree). And coffee, because coffee is always a good decision. Thanks so much!

I don't want to knock other cultures, but damn, when your fertility god also happens to be your trickster god...that's just messed up.