Finally

I am terrible at buying presents for my husband. He ends up returning, giving away or not wearing whatever I manage to buy him. In my defense, he is incredibly picky about clothes given that he lives in shorts and polo shirts. I marvel at my friends who can buy clothing for their husbands. The only way I can do that is if I text him a picture of the item from the store for pre-approval. And even then, there’s a strong chance whatever it is will just get tossed into the back of the closet.

There have been a few successes, like the final season of the Sopranos on DVD, a sling player, and a book here and there. But the misses have been epic – “Why did you think I’d like a sprinkler that looks like a tractor for my birthday?”

This year, though, I scored big time. B loves popcorn, as in would eat it every day loves popcorn (as long as it’s not microwave popcorn). We have a cupboard in the new kitchen just for popcorn supplies. B’s beloved air popper died about a month ago, and he put a new one on my shopping list. It turns out that air poppers are hard to find in stores – Target, Walmart and HEB don’t carry them.

But then . . . I decided to look for an industrial size popcorn popper, like they have at carnivals and fairs. We’ve rented them a few times for parties, and B has always loved having one in the house.

After some searching and calling rental places about used ones, I found a brand new one for a steal online. I did double check with B before I hit “buy,” but we kept it as a surprise for the kids.

Ella correctly guessed that I had gotten a new popcorn machine, but she figured it was just another air popper. So when she and Lily came home from school and found this on the dining room table, there was great joy and celebration.

We now eat popcorn every single day, and our house constantly smells like a cheap movie-theater. But I finally managed to give B a birthday gift he likes.