A vague deadline is nobody's friend either, I'd say. I know it's not mine, because I have the same issues as Kristin.

I like the idea of a set close date for the thread.

Should we make this an official proposal--something that includes setting a closing deadline (I kind of like the end of March to give the slackers a little extra time) for the GBandGR thread each year, with the caveat that any ungifted Santa giftees at that point will have the option to throw their names back into the pool to be gifted by other volunteers (with the wonderful, "shit happens, no hard feelings" attitude Vortex and others demonstrated above)? Even if I didn't participate in the regular gifting, I'd probably pick up an orphaned giftee at that point, and it would be a way for people who found themselves unable to gift for one reason or another to bow out gracefully without the thread going on for months.

any ungifted Santa giftees at that point will have the option to throw their names back into the pool to be gifted by other volunteers

I really, really like that idea a lot.

I like it too. I might be able to pick up an orphaned giftee , because christmas pressures will be gone.

Pinch hitting! We should definitely do that.

I enjoyed pinch hitting when I was a brand new buffista but I'm not sure I like the idea of a deadline as early as March for Slackers. One of the best gifts I ever got was (iirc) delivered in June.

I'm one of the people spending all year ruining Christmas. My gift has been sitting here while my schedule has been kicking my ass for months and I haven't mailed it.

Seems fitting that I haven't gotten my gift either.

I will not participate in the gift exchange in the future.

Sorry for the late response (the rain that usually arrives with the season surprises everybody completely, as usual too, so there were electricity problems for the last couple of days).

So it seems like people still wanna play with Secret Santa, with a slacker deadline of March, right? I'd love to organize that.

And, as I said several times on the Good Riddance thread, since there are several gifts which were not openly posted about in thread, if there are any giftless giftees from the Goodbye 2009 exchange, could you please e-mail me, so that I could follow what's going on, and see if anything can be done, even at this late date?

Also, msbelle rocks.

This conversation petered out, but I think it's important enough to put out as an official proposal to talk about in Lightbulbs.

Proposal: To set a closing deadline of March 31st for the Goodbye and Good Riddance Thread (I think the actual date is good thing to debate in Lightbulbs), with the caveat that any ungifted Santa or Slacker Santa giftees at that point will have the option to throw their names back into the pool to be gifted by other volunteers (with the wonderful, "shit happens, no hard feelings" attitude Vortex and others demonstrated in B'craxy). This would be a way for people who found themselves unable to gift for one reason or another to bow out gracefully and for everyone to get closure on the year without the thread going on for months.

Seconds?

Second.