One of my first entries on this blog was my darling husband's obsession with rubber duckies.

This morning, the Omega Family ventured off to a local nursery that has a fine display of Christmas trees with themed ornaments.  There was the snowman tree, the sports tree, the fairies-and-flying-things tree, the (oh, yes, there was one) horsie tree, and the kids' toys tree.

While OmegaDad was luring the child off to the horsie tree to select one special horsie ornament, I walked past the kids' toy tree, and this little lovely caught my eye.  Ohmigawd--perfect for a stocking stuffer for the hubby!

Glancing quickly around, I saw that the spouse and daughter were distracted, and snagged the blown glass rubber duckie from the tree.  I dashed off to the cashier, and hissed at him, "Oh, please, can you ring this up quick before my husband sees it?!"

The nice young cashier swiftly began ringing the duckie up.

And then...

Then...

My frick-frackin' husband came across the store floor towards me, dotter in tow, caroling, "OH MY GOD!  We've got to have this!"

What was he carrying in his hand?

What do you think?

ARRGGGHHHH!

This man has been my bane this year vis-a-vis Christmas gifts.  He mentions something he's interested in, I carefully file it away in my "possible gifts" list, and then he goes and buys the damned thing.

Now, if my mind had been working like a well-oiled machine, I would have immediately snapped out something waspish, like, "For goodness' sake, OmegaDad, we can't afford to buy more of these silly things!", told him to put it back, and surreptitiously purchased the duckie as a surprise gift.

Did I?

Sigh.  No, I did not.  I gasped.  I stomped my feet.  I wailed, "OmegaDAAAAD!!  How could you?!"  And then I displayed my find...

Three weeks ago, he eBayed some pretty nifty brightly colored enamal saute pans.  He mentioned in passing that he wouldn't mind having some more.  I immediately went onto eBay, searched the damned things out, and purchased a set, including a size and color he didn't have yet.

This evening, when we arrived home, there was a U.S. Postal Service box on the kitchen counter.  While I was unloading OmegaDotter, luggage, and getting OmegaGranny settled in, I asked what was in the box.  He crowed as he pulled out...

A red enameled saute pan.  The color I had located.  The size I had located.  From the set I had already purchased and carefully secreted in my office at work.

Grrrr.

(Please forgive the partial post previously--in MS Live Writer, a ctl-P will automatically publish your post; I was aiming for ctl-I to turn off an italic.  Sigh.)

Technorati: O. Henry, Christmas, gifts, rubber duckies