Are we on 8 more sleeps? I’m confused - we just had our 2 year old grandson overnight for the first time last night and Grandpa, Grandma and the 3 little dogs are exhausted!

Christmas tree is up and we are in full Santa mode!

my guess was wrong! the town she lives in is no where near Ontario! beautiful trees around her house though. Bet you had fun though AprilM

We had a blast! Nothing like seeing everything “new again” through the eyes of a little child! We waited so long for this little guy and he is truly a miracle and most likely will be our only grandchild. He is a joy!

Counting down - just 1 more week!

We are getting closer-this becomes such a present when you live solo-makes Christmas even better!!!!

5 more sleeps and then we get to open our packages, I am so excited and impatient but I am still being a good girl.

Just checked tlrnhi #101 says opening time is Dec 7 at 6pm EST in USA...that coverts to 7am Dec 8 West Australian time. It might be a day later, but I dont have to look at it all day, I can just get up and OPEN.

Thankfully I have been in Ohio with family for Thanksgiving.... I don’t get back to South Dakota til really late tomorrow. Not to many days for that package to tempt me!

Still looking at my package, it calls to me. 4 more sleeps to go.

I hear the same thing from my box "Open me please". Resist we must.

I received my secret santa parcel all the way from down under.
Thank you

LindaC

3 more sleeps, everybody!!!

I think my box was one of the first ones to be received, so my Secret Santa was definitely a pro at this! 😊 my box has been in my Happy Place taunting me for quite some time, but still (miraculously) remains wrapped.

On the other hand... my package to my very special Secret Santa recipient was mailed just a day before the deadline (mostly because i was working on something handmade to add, but also because i had been sick). I so wanted everything to be just right!!!

Obviously, this was my first time doing SS and i love it, but being a newbie i am now thinking i stressed maybe a little too much??? 😊 But, i guess on the bright side... because i mailed later - my SS recipient doesnt have as long to resist temptation, right?

I do hope that my package is still scheduled to arrive and not a fatality of the article below. The package I sent has definitely arrived, but I'm still waiting.....

https://www.terracestandard.com/news...prince-george/

I think my ss package comes from the same person I sent...seems like she hasn t gotten hers and I m still waiting on mine...got to cross my fingers...I hope at least she gets hers in time!!!

Oh no... b.zang and huntannette - What do you think the odds are that both of your packages were in that vehicle???

I hope not!!!

WOW!!! in all the years i have participated in this swap, this is the first year i have seen the naughty hole fairly empty I know you guys havent been that good all year--probably only since Sept when the posting for the swap Guess the spiders,mice,etc have enjoyed all the goodies left there for our munching pleasure.

Well... I think it's time to bring the SS package out of the darkness so that I can admire it a bit more before opening - just two more sleeps! I sure hope everyone receives their packages in time and that none were involved in that delivery truck fire.

Mine is sitting out of the way to not tempt me. On opening day, I’ll make a special hot drink and take my time enjoying the moment.

oh my goodness, 48 hours, ugh!!!!

Ok... so i obviously havent done this before. I live in Iowa - so i am on CDT - the hour of our gathering is 6PM EDT... so that means everybody in CDT opens 5PM their time.

Then we should take photos and post them and our thank yous (that would be the chat part)?

I put my box outta sight so as not to tempt myself, but tomorrow will display it in all of its wrapped glory!

You know its kinda funny... after restraining myself for so long part of me is really, really excited that the day is almost here - but part of me is also a little sad because once we open our packages the surprise is over. Maybe im not alone on that?

One more sleep!!! 😊

welll unfortunately neither me nor my SS has received their prezzyyy....so only today left before opening...I don t mind not having mine but am very disappointed she didn t get hers ....fist time this happens to me...wish i had sent earlier had I known....and I still didn t get what I had ordered for her....guess it is not my year ha ha ha hope you guys enjoy your gifts...I m excited for you all!!! till tomorrow

***Update***
Just in time! A nice, squishy package has arrived with a note on the outside to not open until Secret Santa says it's okay.

Huntannette... i am disappointed for both you and your SS. Does the package tracking reveal anything at this point?

I obviously don’t know how your postal system works - and while it will do little to help the immediate situation - i would think you might have some recourse there?

I am probably thinking of something you already know - my apologies. I just feel bad for you both and wish there was some way to help. Sometimes a person can do everything right, but still bear the brunt of circumstances beyond your control. I am so sorry.

A little hope to offer... a few years ago my husband prepared for an elk hunting trip in Oregon. Not wanting to chance his bow and assorted equipment to the airplane cargo-hold, he decided to ship them ahead with a major shipper (i wont mention here). He planned to hunt with his cousin so had everything shipped to his house. Never showed up and the last point of the tracking indicated one of the southern states (from Iowa to Oregon - not exactly an expected route). So hubby ended up on a 3 week hunting trip having to use an extra bow and equipment provided by his cousin (they are not the same sized or skilled individuals - so the equipment wasnt well matched to him, but hubby wasnt about to drop thousands of dollars on a new setup on short notice). I went to work immediately trying to figure out what could have happened - short answer of a very long and stressful situation - nobody knew. Hubby returned home in 3 weeks with no elk and still no bow/equipment. Now his turn to let the shipper know his displeasure (i guaranty you he is not known as a “diplomat”). Fast forward to 3 months later - the bow/equipment was found in an eastern state (???) in his very damaged special shipping case. An alert was out for it but the case was not in any shape to provide ownership info. Fortunately for hubby he had his name engraved on the bow and that is how they contacted him. He got a photo emailed to him from a higher level rep in the company asking him to confirm that the photo’s contents exhibited all known items in the case. Miraculously - everything was present and accounted for and in undamaged condition (except for the case). End of story - he got everything back. If i remember correctly he was reimbursed for the shipping charges and some small amount for the trashed case.

So... dont give up hope - and put pressure wherever possible for accountability on the part of the shipper!

thy couldn t give me a tracking number because I opted for land transportation, the other option was way too expensive....so since it was crossing the ocean nothing much I can do for now...i m pretty sure it will get there just not in time for reveal...shucks....just didn t want to disappoint her...I will send her a note tomorrow to let her know it s on it s way!!!

When I was in the rag rug business I shipped the rugs in round cardboard tubes. I made ends for them out of other cardboard and oceans of gray tape. You could beat on the package with a sledge hammer and it would not budge. So I had an order for two identical blue and white rugs. I sent them both on the same day with the same address and marked them 1 of 2 and 2 of 2. I always paid for insurance through UPS. This one time I needed it. Only the 2 of 2 made it to the destination. I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to trace it. The answer was there is this black hole and some of their stuff disappears down that hole. I was paid in full for the rug and the client asked me to make another so I actually sold three of them.

I thought since the package was round and 8 feet long that it rolled off some sort of conveyor belt and was caught in some machinery. Maybe that's what happened to the bow too. Mine was never found.

I put a second package in the mail to my person today. They won't have it by opening day, but there are more goodies, including handmade. I felt guilty for not getting anything made, and then found two things that didn't make it in the box!

Thank you Pamela - I've made these several times and everyone loves them! My father-in-law, who loves cookies, absolutely loved them when I brought a batch for Thanksgiving. And I just dropped-off a few dozen to our holiday bake sale that benefits our volunteer fire department and the ladies organizing said they will just have to sample these first!

They are delicious - thank you :)

I’m so glad! We took them to our thanksgiving too. :)

Well I don’t think I will have anything to open unless it arrives today. I am assuming that my SS has hers - I sent it a month ago in a very short journey but there has been radio silence from her.

Im sure mine will turn up at some point and I’m looking forward to seeing you all open yours!

I hear sleigh bells.... 😊

Happy Birthday tlrnhi!!!

RJLinkletter... i am so sorry that your package has not arrived (yet).

As far as your SS recipient... maybe she is a newbie at this (like me) and hasnt learned all the “ropes” yet? My package from my SS arrived very early - October 24! At first i didnt even know it was from her so waited a bit and asked if tlrnhi could confirm that! Right about that same time our family experienced a flurry of unexpected events - one of which was a kidney stone for me and i was down for the count! Aaarrrggghhh! Anyway, i am so glad that my SS PM’d me to confirm i had gotten my package - i felt so bad because i should have directly let her know instead of relying on that she might see my post. Mary...Thank you for being so gracious when i explained what was going on and accepting my sincere apology. 😊 yep, communication means a lot...

Thank you April.


I'm sorry that the mail system is "holding" packages in some sort of parallel universe. Never had this happen before. I've had people flake out on sending, but never packages not arriving when sent early. I'm hoping the packages do make it to their destinations sooner or later. There are only a few that I can tell that are being "held hostage" somewhere and those are the ones going across the giant pond.

I'm getting ready to pack a bag up to head out to hotel for this Christmas party. Everyone be good and I'll check in when I get back.

Oh, btw....thank you to those that sent me squishies. No, I haven't opened them yet. They are sitting on my desk and I'll open them tomorrow.

I broke ladies.... I have been really sick with a terrible cold since coming home on Tuesday. Today I’m still feeling miserable and just needed a little pick me up!

Thank you so much to my SS Leota for all the wonderful goodies. I will post a picture on Monday when I’m back at work (fingers crossed I’m better by then).

But for now I’m going to take my big bag of peanut butter M&Ms down to hide in my sewing room and play with my new pattern Twisted Triangles!

Hi I sent you a note...so sorry for the delay ...it is on it s way...I haven t received mine either so maybe we can open ours at the same time....someday!!! ha ha ha!!!

Just opened my ss pkg. i love everything in it, everything was wrapped and it was so much fun opening it thank you so much,it was from Barbara board name Scrubjay

sewingsondra

i still dont know how to post pictures when my grandson gets here i will post

sewingsondra

I have been sooooo good. Here is a pic of my up opened package and the date on the weather monitor.[ATTACH=CONFIG]620616[/ATTACH]