Christmas in....March?

This past Christmas my wife and I decided to go a bit light on what we got each other. She was beginning to open her own business and I unfortunately was laid off. In November right before Thanksgiving, my company could no longer afford me, so I was shown the door. I knew it was coming, but I was excited for a new adventure and began working with my wife managing her office while they get up and running. Working 20 years for a company that frequently mismanaged literally everything, I was honestly glad to finally get out (even if it wasn't on my own terms). My wife was extremely happy that I was finally away from that company as well as she could see it was taking a toll on my mental health and also my stress was at an all-time high. 

So, when Christmas came, I received a Gregg Jefferies 1989 Topps Future Star duo-tang a nice Under Armour hoodie and a banana bread candle for my office. I was extremely happy with everything, and it should have stopped there. However, I was in my living room on March 6th just minding my own business when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, my mailman was standing there with a package addressed to my wife. I signed for it and took it inside. About an hour later, my wife came upstairs to grab a snack and asked if I received my package at the door. I looked at her very confused and said it was her package. She then opened it, and said, "Here, the boys and I got you something special for Christmas, but they weren't being released until today. We love you and are proud of you!" I had mentioned that I wanted a box of 2023/24 Upper Deck Series 2 to get a crack at pulling a Connor Bedard Young Guns and my wife had splurged and bought me a hobby box! Christmas in March!

So, I debated on what to do with the box. Should I keep it unopened, or should I open it? After asking some Twitter friends, the general consensus was that I crack it open. My wife said to me, "You know, I bought it for you to open, not to sit and look at the unopened box!" Well, she has a point.

I proceed to open the box. In pack #2, I spotted something...a Young Guns with a Blackhawks logo?

Well, it ended up being Luke Philp...darn!

2023/24 Upper Deck Young Guns Luke Philp

The next pack, I spotted a Silver Outburst Parallel and it seemed to be a Young Guns...could it be?? Nope...

2023/24 Upper Deck Young Guns Outburst Silver Waltteri Merela 

The very next pack, I saw a Young Guns card along with a Black and White Canvas. Hmmmm...

2023/24 Upper Deck Young Guns Waltteri Merela....AGAIN?????

Who was the Black and White Canvas of though?

Well now....2023/24 Upper Deck Legends Canvas Wayne Gretzky Black and White SP

Ok, even if I don't pull a Bedard, at least I got a SP of the "Great One"!

The next pack had another Young Gun...not Bedard though..

2023/24 Upper Deck Young Guns Uvis Balinskis

The next to packs had inserts, but one of them was shinier than the rest...

2023/24 Upper Deck PC's Jason Robertson Sparkle Parallel Insert

On to pack #8 of the 12 pack box. Ok, there's a Young Guns card in here...I slide the cards and spot the logo....it's another Blackhawk...my heart is pumping, I slide the cards away from it and....

BEDARD! YEAHOOOOOO!!!!!!

2023/24 Upper Deck Young Guns Connor Bedard

Pack #9 was a good one too and it yielded this:

2023/24 Upper Deck Young Guns Canvas Matthew Poitras

The last 2 packs had 2 common Young Guns (not pictured). Here is the total haul in a FANTASTIC Christmas present in the month of March:

Thanks for reading. Ho Ho Ho!