Perfect Gift ...

So, I think I have the perfect gift for Paul for Christmas. I'm really excited to have thought in my brilliance of this gift. Of course, I can't tell you what it is, because Paul reads the blog regularly (thank you, dear). However, with my excitement comes great doubt. You'd think that I'd know whether or not he'd like it and therefore could subside any doubt.

Little do you know our gift history this year. For all occasions I have thought I had the "perfect" present, only to be met with sure disappointment. He had mentioned that if he had an iPod he could download podcasts and listen to them in the car. So, I bought my sister's "gently" used iPod from her and was excited that I actually was giving him something he wanted. That bum barely even smiled when he opened the gift. It was an iPod shuffle. And he'd need some gadget or the other to actually make it broadcast on the car radio. So rather than buying the gadget and happily listening to podcasts (all while thinking of his thoughtful wife), Paul let the iPod sit unused. (Anyone want a used iPod?)

So, right before Father's Day his company handed out a book/DVD/CD called The Secret. It's something about positive thinking, but I can't tell you since it's a secret. ;) Anyway, he said that he realized that he preferred listening to that to listening to news and talk radio all day. So, his brilliant wife decided that the perfect Father's Day would be other CDs he could listen to in the car. I got the new John Bytheway book on tape, "Supersonic Saints" about LDS pilots and some of their amazing experiences. I thought this was a definite winner. And I knew that he loved the movie "The Other Side of Heaven," so I got that on CD as well. (I had purchased the book a while back for Christmas and that sat there unread until I finally read it.) Anyway, I figured these would be exciting for him. When he opened them, he did smile, although he was definitely not excited. So unexcited, in fact, that one of the two is still in its plastic wrap covering. Can you believe the rudeness? (Paul, you know the password to this blog if you feels the need to defend your actions.)

So, every time I saw the unwrapped CDs, I would ask if he really wanted them or if I should just return them. He insisted that he would get around to listening to them one day. I'm so glad they're loved. Anyway, for our anniversary (#7) last month, I re-gave him the two CDs since he hadn't yet opened them. Why get him a new gift when the last one is still in perfect condition and UNUSED?!??

One of them got opened on our long drive to Washington at my prompting. The other still sits in its OEM shrinkwrap, if it can be called an OEM product. :) I told Paul that if he doesn't open the CD before Christmas then he's getting it as his only gift. That would stink, because I think I may have the perfect gift for him ... although obviously I've been wrong before ...