Present Pressure

In one week, I'll be celebrating my husband's birthday for the first time. He will be 25 (that old guy).

And instead of showing off my culinary prowess at home, we'll likely head out to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, Tahoe Joe's. Having someone else cook for us ends up being a present for me, too.

However, I'm pretty stuck on gifts.*

There are things he needs. There are things he wants. And surprisingly, these things are not the same things, nor are they affordable things.

He's looking at a bunch of stuff at Best Buy that all begin with weird combinations of numbers and letters. When he describes these items, I usually know that--even though I love him very much--I can stop listening to what he says because I will not understand what the item Stephen is describing actually is. I will not be able to discern the best/loudest/most kick-butt version of said letters-and-numbers device from the other letters-and-numbers devices. I would likely pick up the wrong thing and ruin the birthday.

If I go the "things he needs" route, Stephen could end up looking like a better dressed man. He could benefit physically from getting a suit, and I could benefit emotionally from helping him find one. So many cuts, patterns, and colors to choose from! And shoes!

Wait...

If I'm more excited about a gift than I expect the receiver to be, it's not really a gift; is it?

Obviously, I need your help. I've already thought of gift card, but...bleh. I'm the wife. I have to do better than that. Suggestions?


*I feel fairly safe discussing Stephen's birthday gift on this public blog. Stephen's reading rate of this page is, like, 1 out of 10 posts. My odds are good he'll never know.