December 09, 2010

A Favor to Ask (I'm Desperate Here, Folks)

I need help. In more ways than one, I suppose, but for the moment I'm fixated on one particular problem...

R and my 15th wedding anniversary is coming up in 3 weeks, and I have absolutely no idea what to get him. He bought me something, which we normally don't do for our anniversaries. He's actually become quite "the perfect gift" giver over the years (after I cured him of giving me things like ice scrapers, cookbooks and cooking utinsels during our first couple years of dating) so I'm sure he managed to find something that is meaningful and, well, perfect.

I, on the other hand, have never been one of those people who manages to find "the perfect gift" when gift-giving occasions arrive. My saving grace is that R's family are big believers in maintaining wish lists, so I work from those for birthdays and Christmas.

This fall, I've been even more sucky at it than usual. I managed to get R a card for his birthday and decided what to buy him (luggage, because his carry-on suitcase was falling apart) but didn't actually get around to making the purchase. Then a couple weeks after that, I realized I totally forgot my 16-year-old niece's birthday! And it's the same day as my dad's birthday, so how the heck did I manage that? Technically she's not a blood relative (her mom's one of my BFFs and is very laid back about those kinds of things), but still...Then R eventually wound up researching and buying his own birthday present because I still hadn't gotten to it - how lame is that?! It just arrived last week. (His birthday is in October.)

So I am in serious, desperate need of help. Ideas, in particular.

We always spend the day together (take the day off work if it's a weekday), but we don't usually buy gifts for each other. The last time we did was our 10th wedding anniversary. I got him an engraved frame and a photo album with a sterling silver cover that also had an engraved plaque on it. I didn't get around to actually putting pictures in them (mostly because I hate pretty much every picture taken of me during the past 10 years), so I took them back after I gave them to him with a promise to do that. Guess what I found a few weeks ago when I was cleaning up our office?

Finally getting pictures into the 10th anniversary photo frame/album might be a great 15th anniversary gift, but realistically it's not going to happen. So, I need ideas. Something other than conjuring up a baby out of thin air, since I haven't had any success in making that happen yet. And we're going on a short getaway for our anniversary, so travel probably won't count.

Ideas?? Thoughts? Suggestions?? Help!

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why don't you write him a long letter about your 15 years together? That would be really meaningful, and so very personal... Just perfect.

lastchanceivf said...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm I am at a loss here. DH usually likes musician stuff which means he has to be very specific in terms of wish list making....
I like the anon. suggestion though!

Libby said...

I think gift buying sucks at our age. What do we need that we don't buy for ourselves? And I hate clutter. So, I have to agree about writing him a letter because my DH actually mentioned one time that I don't write him little notes like I used to when we were dating. I don't think Hal.lmark makes a card that covers all the crap you've been through together! What he really likes (being former military) is firearms and ammo, but I feel silly going to places that sell that stuff by myself.

Happy Anniversary!

Patience said...

I am right there with you, sister! It's so hard when we've been with our men for so long and our wants and desires aren't really "things" as much as that baby out of thin air.

I bought DH a money clip for our last anniversary. I had it engraved with his initials. Don't know if your guy is a money clip kind of guy, but it's a thought. Is he a watch kind of guy? That's another thing I've done in the past.

I love the idea of a letter, too. I've done letters and little scrapbooks too.

Good Luck... and big congrats on 15 years!

Silver said...

My husband is not usually the best gift-giver, but on each of our anniversaries he has given me a rose in the material that goes with that anniversary. So I had a paper origami rose for out first, paper anniversary and over the years I've had a cotton T-shirt with a print of a rose he designed, a pair of stainless steel rose earrings and the year that stumped me, a compass in a box - the material that time was wood, the box was made of rosewood and the centre of a compass is called a rose! I get him a gift in the right material, but they tend to be more practical - a wooden photo box for the wood year, a linen shirt for linen. 15th anniversary is crystal, so that could cover glass or watches - just a thought.

Melissa said...

I gave DH a really nice watch with a super short engraving on the inside. He loved it! He didn't have a really nice watch and always loves wearing it!

Good luck... And Happy Anniversary!!!

MrsSpock said...

We are lame and don't even exchange gifts. Maybe create a photobook on Snapfish?

Rose said...

Two things Ive done for my dh that he loved... First was a list of 50 things that I love about him... Second was finding a toy (on eB.ay) that he loved as a child. It was a gas powered shri.ke car. When he opened it, it was like seeing him as a child on Christmas morning. The best part.... Watching my husband and my son create their own memories with it.

Good luck finding the right gift.

Riya Joshi said...

Hello man! Incredible post however I extremely needed to simply drop a remark on your blog. Your blog has a super cool outline. Is this wordpress by possibility? commercial office carpet tiles

Penelope said...

hkhkhk

Penelope said...


This is really nice post works well and easy to configure...thanks for all info.
YourWordsHere
cowhide patchwork rug grey https://rugsdubai.ae/product-category/patch-work-rugs/