Guess I blew it.....

[Ed Sallee]

Well, today is my LOML & my 5th year anniversary. And me, being me, took her word that "I don't want anything" at face value..... in terms of getting her a gift....

But, after talking to several gals in the office, I discovered that the old "I don't want anything" is a ruse.... a test....

And....the worse part.... the traditional 5th anniversary gift is WOOD! Unless she wants the humidor that I'm working on.... If there ever was a good reason to build something for the wife, this was it. I guess I blew it!

[Tom Walz]

Oh, heck no.

Get a card, flowers and tell her in the card that you will build whatever she wants. The important thing is getting her something she will like.

Good Luck,
Tom

[Matt Day]

Good call Tom, I agree with your advice.

I came home the other evening from having a beer with some guys after work, and I didn't order any dinner because I had planned to eat with my girl that night. She said "Why'd you come home, you could have stayed out as long as you wanted!".... sure... she says that after I'm home already!

Congrats on the 5 year anniversary! I think deciding on what she wants and even giving her some design input will be fun, it's a way she can get involved and participate and will hopefully make the gift more meaningful. I try to keep my girl up to date on what I'm doing, so she doesn't wonder why it takes so long for me to complete a project!

[Rod Sheridan]

Then there was the Valentines Day when I bought Diann two tires for her motorcycle, based upon the slogan "Nothing says true love like a new pair of Michelin's" or words to that effect.

Well the guys at work were convinced that I'd be on my way to being single again, however she was extremely pleased.

Just goes to show that whatever she wants is the correct decision.

That said, the previous post about giving a gift card for home made whatever is a great one.

By the way, Happy Anniversary.............Regards, Rod.

[Rich Souchek]

Ed,
Whatever you do, don't buy her cut flowers. Lot's of gals take that as a sure sign you are having an affair with another woman.......:D
Rich S.

[Jim O'Dell]

If you have a Rockler, Woodcraft, or other wood store open in the evening, take her out to eat but stop by on the way there aand tell her to pick out the type of wood for something she'd like to have built. Doesn't mean you have to buy the wood there if you have a better supplier, but at least you have her input. Congrats on the 5 years!! Jim.

[harry strasil]

Take her out to a nice dinner and then start a discussion, "On just what she didn't want"! Or just cut a heart out of nice piece of wood and cut or Print a BIG 5 on or in it.

[Ed Sallee]

I think I'll go with the "Gift Card".....

I just can't believe that I missed the "Wood" anniversary.....

[Ben Davis]

You haven't missed it yet!

[John Thompson]

Ed.. you are old enough and should be experienced enough to know "I don't want anything is a ruse without the girls at the office having to advise you.

And all she has to do is ask for something wooden and you simply pop it out in a few days so... I'm going against the flow (which is good advice by the way) here and suggest Dinner where you present her with a simple necklace or possibly a charm bracelet with attachable charms with her kids names on them.

A wooden present from you is pretty predicatable so.. surprise her with something she would never expect from a man and that lives and breathes wood normally. Variety my man.. variety.. ;)

Good luck and BTW.. my dog house is available at only $39 a night but the towels are scratchy and it in on a "dead zone" for cell phones I am told. :D

Sarge..

[Bonnie Campbell]

A nice gold necklace with a petrified wood heart 'stone' pendant.....

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Get her a Tennis bracelet and tell her the "custom jeweler" hadn't finished it in time.

[dan rowka]

The last time SWMBO said she didn't want anything, I ignored it and bought something anyway.

Well, she actually meant it and didn't get me anything thinking she had made the "no gifts this year" clear.

[Andy Bardowell]

You haven't blown it at all Ed, card, flowers, dinner and a show will impress and you can still build her something, and by show, no movies; Terminator Salvation would not be cool!

[glenn bradley]

And....the worse part.... the traditional 5th anniversary gift is WOOD!

I pulled this same goof and cranked these out right quick. I had three evenings though, you are on a bit tighter timeline. Good luck.

P.s. Never believe that line again.

[Judy Kingery]

Ed,

Interesting array of responses; hmm, being a woman, I don't think it's a ruse when she says what she does and doesn't want - I always tell my husband the truth. I don't like cut flowers because they just look pretty for five minutes and keel over, waste of money in my opinion. Both of us tend to like simple acknowledgements, funny cards, not expensive items, and we tend torward practical things for each others' gifts, not superfluous items.

Ha! I got him a game camera for his birthday and he was really pleased! He liked the make/model so much that he bought an additional two cameras for different places on the farm/ranch. I'm with Tom, Matt and especially Rod - Glen bought me an air compressor for Chistmas and I was absolutely delighted!!! Comes in very handy. I got him a reciprocating saw at Christmas a year ago and we were surprised that we both used the dog of that all year for all kinds of applications.

Happy Anniversary to you, sir, and many, many more!!!

Jude

[Paul Atkins]

Glen, you made urns for your anniversary? We just had our 5th and went on a road trip to Portland to see our favorite music group - Avett Bros. Nice to get out by ourselves, but I knew I needed to make something from wood - not yet though. Time flies - (I actually was making the wedding ring the night before and not really being a goldsmith, took a lot longer than I figured.)

[Ed Sallee]

You guys are great! Still, stuck at my desk at my paying job..... but there's some great ideas in here...

Sarge..... $39 bucks a night for a doghouse.... good grief... unless of course it's one that you built, then you're not charging enough.

[Eric Larsen]

And....the worse part.... the traditional 5th anniversary gift is WOOD! Unless she wants the humidor that I'm working on.... If there ever was a good reason to build something for the wife, this was it. I guess I blew it!

Been there -- did this: I built a little stepstool with dovetailed ends -- just a six-inch wide piece of yellow pine cut into two legs, a "seat" and a crossbrace made out of scrap. Rounded the dovetails over a little so it wasn't all hard edges. Cut half-circles (drawn from a beer can) at the bottom to make "legs."

Stained it, dried it quick in the sun, and rubbed some danish oil on it. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty, and could easily support her (and even my) weight.

She loved it. Showed all her friends. You'd think I'd sprung for the hope diamond. The wood shrunk to the point of being unsound here in the desert. So I'll make her a better one this year.

[Belinda Barfield]

Happy belated anniversary Ed. So, what'd you end up with? Card, gift, you can't just leave us hanging. :)

As a side note, I hope all you thoughtful guys have appreciative wives. Having never received a gift of any sort from my SO (other than one Christmas), I'm truly envious of your lucky women! It says a lot that you actually put some thought into what she would like for a gift.

[Ed Sallee]

Well, we wound up going out for dinner.... had a very nice time, and I sort of lucked out... because I had given her a little box that I put together from some scraps from other projects over the weekend.... I gave it to her on Sunday.

She said over dinner, that the box that I gave her was a very nice anniversary gift.... (boy, did I get lucky on that one).... apparently, she assumed that it was the gift that I intended.... being wood and all... so, all is good! I, of course, didn't put the two together on Sunday when I gave her the box.... and I still didn't put it together until she mentioned it last night over dinner. Again.... Lucky!

Here's the box and she just loves it! You may have seen it on here as I posted the pic in General Woodworking when it was finished....

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn88/evsallee/2009%20Project%2010/DSC08332.jpg

[Eric Larsen]

Here's the box and she just loves it! You may have seen it on here as I posted the pic in General Woodworking when it was finished....



That's a lot nicer than the stepstool I made for LOML!

I think when you get down to it, it really is the thought. I'll bet most of us are married to people who would rather have something made for them (a box, a nice dinner, etc.) than something bought for them.

[curtis rosche]

get her a tree then make something from it later