A month or so before Christmas, Sharon said, "Honey, all I really want for Christmas this year is a round trip ticket to see Esther, Eric and the girls. It's expensive flying the day after Christmas." How could I say no? Of course I got her a couple of other things to open that morning (ear rings and clothes), but the ticket was the main thing one.
We did something similar for me. In late November I needed to buy a djembe. I wanted a medium size, such as a 14", to have reasonable bass but not need a trailer to move. I was going to get a plain one and ask one of my artist friends to decorate it, but fell for a nicer djembe with a tribal mask design-- which cost more. "Why don't we let this be my Christmas present?"
Sharon looked at the price tag. "That can be
one of them."
I added a padded carrying bag, a Shure SM58 and a cable.
"OK, I guess that works."
Of course, she had a couple of things for me to open as well, some candy and two more, lovely, tie dyed tees by
Happy Hippy Rose. (The third tie dye, the one with the djembe, was a birthday present.) And I had a couple of things for her to open.
One of the nice things about doing it this way is that it was very easy to not focus on the materialistic side of Christmas on the day. I love it when a plan comes together-- even when it's not mine.
