The Best Present EVER

Almost exactly two years ago, Diesel gave me the BEST Xmas present EVER. And as we all know, it wasn't just the present, it was also the presentation.

Diesel took me to a nice dinner at one of our favorite Seattle restaurants, the Harvest Vine. It's a cozy little restaurant in Madison Park where we like to sit at the bar and watch the chefs make updated versions of classic Spanish tapas. After a delicious meal, he gave me my Xmas present. I was unimpressed with the card. Was that it??? He said some nice things, blah, blah, blah, and then..."the one thing we haven't done together is go on a loong, nice vacation. This is why I have gotten us tickets to go to BARCELONA in February."

I was floored. That was the best present EVER! Barcelona is by far my favorite city in all of Europe. And I was going there again, with Diesel. On the other hand, I was also sad. There was no way Diesel would ever top himself. No future Xmas present would ever be good enough.

Anyhow, so the point is, he was able to get a good deal on the tickets due to the SAS specials that they run every Xmas. This is how it works: on each of the 24 days leading up the Xmas, SAS has a great deal on tickets to one selected European city. This year it's $299 each way.

So this year, now that we're married and all, and I don't even get an argyle sweater (read about how Diesel didn't get me an argyle sweater here), I figured there would be no surprise trip and decided to take it upon myself to make myself happy with a little vacation. The best part is that now that we're married, my money is still mine, and his money is mine as well. So it works out pretty well for me, financially speaking.

As I was navigating the page, I had my TV on the PBS Rick Steves special. He was going on about how Prague is amazing city. When I lived in Germany, I had a couple of chances to go to Prague, but somehow never made it. I always regretted it. Anyhow, so as Rick was all singing praises about Prague, the SAS special for today was finally revealed: PRAGUE!

Coincidence? I think not. In fact, I think it was a sign. I emergency-called Diesel. My idea was shot down. Apparently we need to save money. "Why, oh why?," I ask.

I keep telling myself that Diesel will indeed read this and get us tickets to go to Prague and surprise me on Xmas eve. Unfortunately, I have an inkling that this will not happen. Now that we're married there is less incentive to impress me, or maybe no incentive at all.