Not-So-Secret Santa Return #1: Night Owl Cards

Near the end of 2022, I put forth a call to anyone who wanted to take part in my first-ever "Not-So-Secret Santa" project.  The basic idea was that I would send a care package to anyone who signed up.  Once my package arrived, then the person who signed up was to send me something back (as much or as little as they desired based on what I sent them). 

Well, you can bet that I'll bring this program back in 2023 because it ended up being a rousing success.  In total, I sent out seven care packages (some quite large, others smaller - it really depended on what I had available that I thought each recipient would like).  

I want to make sure to show off all of my returns over the next week or two - as I said, the care packages I received in return were super fun!  I think we'll start with one of the earlier packages that made it's way back to me, one from none other than Night Owl.  You can read about much of what I sent Night Owl over on his blog (see the entry here).  

Now, let's see what I got in return!  

Greg set the holiday mood right out of the box with this dinosaur Christmas card. 

I've made it quite known over the years that I like dinosaurs so I found this card perfect!  I think the Stegosaurus with the Christmas lights is my favorite but the tiny T-Rex with mittens on his hands is definitely a close second.  My son also loved this card, so much so that I saved the front of it for him...perhaps for some sort of Christmas project next year!

Inside the card, Greg gave me a bit of information about the next part of the gift:

Food!  More specifically, bologna from Croghan, NY and cheese from McCadam Plant in Chateaugay, NY.  

I ended up slicing both blocks of cheese as well as the bologna as part of our Christmas day snacks between brunch and dinner.  I think my entire family enjoyed the fruits of this portion of Greg's gift to me!

Food was one of the recommended items that people could send back to me as part of the Not-So-Secret Santa project and I was definitely pleased with what Greg sent my way.  The bologna was very good but I think my favorite was the Wicked Sharp Adirondack cheese.  I grew up eating Vermont Sharp Cheddar so the Adirondack cheese was right up my alley!

In addition to the food, Greg also sent some cards off of my want list including a bunch of 2012 Allen & Ginter minis:

The two black bordered minis complete the Reds portion of that set (the only part I was trying to collect) while the other four minis you see complete the entire regular back mini set for me!  Definitely awesome to get that set done.  Greg also included a couple of random Reds for me.

The Davis is definitely a keeper card for my Eric Davis PC that I have while the Galvis is some sort of parallel numbered out of 790.  I've long given up on knowing what every single Topps parallel is...and don't even get me started on Panini parallels!

Finally, Greg also found one of the difficult-to-acquire Healthy Body mini cards for me.

I've still got a ways to go on this set but anytime I can even get a single card closer you know I'm happy!

Overall, I was definitely pleased with what Greg sent my way - and it was a lot of fun to open up the package (and eat some of the contents).  As I said near the top of the post, this was the first of the Not-So-Secret Santa returns, I've got more fun packages to show off in future posts!

Thanks Greg!