Tuesday, November 15, 2011

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

I look forward to my birthday every year.
I don't care that it makes me a year older.

The fact that I survived another year is worth celebrating.
Its my day.

So far my birthday has paid off with my Kindle from Squeaky
and two book downloads...
"In The Balance" (Harry Turtledove)
and The Cool War (Frederik Pohl).
A book is the perfect present for me.
I am grateful for all of the above...
and I am tickled pink!

This morning when the man gets off of work,
he comes home carrying a camouflage sack on his shoulder.
He walks inside, swings it around to me and says
"Happy birthday."

Ummmm...
I knew what it was,
not a difficult thing since it wasn't wrapped.
A folding camp chair.

Oh.

Don't worry, I smiled, hugged and thanked him.

He said
"It was a good thing you said you wanted a new chair,
because I had no idea what to get you."

That he had no idea what to get was pretty obvious to me at that moment.

This would not have made it onto my birthday list.

It was because of a statement I'd made about the chair 
that I sit in out in the shop.
Two days prior, 
I had felt the chair out there wobble.
I stood up and looked at it and saw that the rivet was trying to come out.
I turned to the man and said

"I'm going to have to get another chair...
this one is about to give out."

What I meant was that I needed get one of the folding metal chairs 
that we have in abundance, 
to use instead.

Well, I am touched anyway,
even if it would not make my wish list.


He listened to my ramblings and 
thought he'd found an idea that would work for a gift.

He was thinking about what to get me, even worried over it.
That is a gift in itself.

And one that I do appreciate very much.

I gotta love him for trying.

But next year I think I'll help him out and post a list on the fridge.


=;]

10 comments:

  1. Well, my friend, Happy Birthday and Many Happy Returns. Enjoy sitting ;-)

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  2. First of all...Happy birthday!

    Second of all... you've got yourself a good one. He listens to you... that's the best part.

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  3. Cricket- Hahahaha... I'm sitting on it now. =:]
    Thank you. It's really not until tomorrow, but things keep showing up early.

    Cube- Thanks! Yes, I did get a good one! You're right, that is the best part!

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  4. Beats a dashboard cover for a car I don't drive anymore.

    Happy Birthday tomorrow!!!

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  5. That's what we men do. We hear a problem, we find a solution - even if it's not necessarily the one you had in mind :-)

    (MY WIFE has learned never to say out loud, within my hearing, what she is only at some point considering. She knows that I will acquire it on my next trip outdoors!)

    Happy Birthday!

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  6. Happy Birthday, Silly Rabbit!

    For Christmas and all other gift giving holidays, I definitely recommend a list. I had to feel for the man, because that sounds like something I would have done and considered myself so clever :) Some of us just don't have the knack and a list is appreciated!

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  7. Peggy- Thanks! I agree... beats the heck out of that. Ha!

    Suldog- I know. I've forgotten how to live with a man, but I am re-learning. Actually it made me laugh, still does. I know you are right about men fixing whatever it is that women voice. I think it must be in your dna.

    You, like the man, are a good husband and I'm sure much appreciated.

    laura b.- Thank you! I am not a very good gift giver either. I also need firm ideas to work with. I had my kids circle pics in catalogs and sale papers for me.

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  8. I see shades of Mr. Cube. He can be totally clueless when he buys me gifts, but then again I can be totally clueless when I buy him stuff. He has bought me jewelry that is gorgeous and he has bought me jewelry which I returned. Back in the early days, he would come home with a candy bar for me. He hasn't done that in a long time, but it was sweet while it lasted. I've always believed that it's the thought that counts, not the money... although I've got nothing against money ;-)

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  9. i'm obviously very late here but i hope your birthday was a special day. whether the chair was wanted or not, you're right, was good how he was listening to find an idea he believed would truly please you.

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  10. Cube- I couldn't agree more! In fact, I think those little special unexpected "nothings" are what bond us most together.

    lime- Yep. I love that chair, because it was given with the best intention and I am touched by that. Half the fun of getting things is seeing what someone picks for you and why.

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