My Sekrit Santa gift went into the mail yesterday. I have all the usual nerves about how it will be received.

2004 was, overall, a good year for me, but bittersweet. My wedding happened, and I had the Buffista sixpence in my shoe. The DH and I missed the people who should have been there: both his parents, who died way too young, my grandfather who died in February at the age of 96. And there were the people who came out to tell me they wished they were there because they remembered me fondly -- including, but not limited to, the attendance lady at my old High School. Folks, I graduated in 1986 -- how is it possible that I made such an impression? But I had a great time writing her back and filling her in on the details of my life.

Babies everywhere. In the past 3 months there have been 9 babies born to friends and family. I can't even count for the whole year. Almost all of them healthy. Gus, who wasn't, now is. Instead of a minimum of three open heart surgeries, he had an experimental procedure in utero, and they expect they "might" have to do a valve replacement. Go, Gus, go!

I'm okay with 2004. I'll be hoping for good things in 2005 for all the Buffistas.

I should know by the end of the week if my Secret Santee's big present will get there before 25 December.

I have all the usual nerves about how it will be received.

Are they frayed? Mine could be frayed, but I just accepted I didn't know my giftee well enough to give a gift up to my usual caliber.

Are they frayed? Mine could be frayed, but I just accepted I didn't know my giftee well enough to give a gift up to my usual caliber.

Mine are frayed. I went with homemade (plus another little thing), but will she like? Is it the right color? Can I knit well enough to be giving people these things? Plus, just realized yesterday that I put a return address on the package. It has my real name, so it's possible it won't be recognized, but otherwise, oops.

The Due South script sounds great. I'm not into that show, but I just love it when gifts match a person's interests well.

Frayed, yes. Not all due to Sekrit Santa giving. I wished I could have gone for homemade, but, time, bad planning, etc., meant I joined the shopping mob, so good for you, Libkitty!

I have some nerves on the prezzie I sent, too. I know I'd like it, but it's more a grab bag than one supercool gift.

Okay, I gotta ask: you silly, wonderful people with the Sekrit Santa nerves -- is this your first year in the exchange? I ask that because what I found, after the first time I was in it, was that just getting prezzies from an invisible internet friend -- and in some cases, an invisible internet friend who you haven't actually MET in person -- is so damn cool.

It doesn't have to be that one supercool gift -- there is NO one supercool gift. Getting stuff from other Buffistas, knowing they put a lot of thought and care into it even if they don't know a whole lot about you, encompasses a lot of what Christmas is about (for me). It's a Buffista thang.

So calm your frayed nerves!

2004 included some of the biggest mistakes I ever did make. Which is probably why it was also really fun in places. I was also kind of a jerk a lot, which is less good. But I could play the On The Other Hand game back and forth for an entire thread, so I'll leave give it the grade-school report treatment.

2004 was a year of contrasts.

I've never gotten a gift from a Buffista that didn't absolutely rock my socks.

Hee! It is my first year. But I will say that my excitement in putting it together and in the mail far overshadowed any nervousness. So much so that my mom commented on the work and glee I was putting into it as opposed to my, say, buying the first presumptuous thing I saw for The Nana.

I loved getting a prezzie for a Buffista. Somehow, when I wasn't looking, it's like y'all became a collective hivemind best friend. Which, I suppose, is the first thing I'll say about 2004.