Best Surprise Wedding Present...

As many of you probably know (or at least recall reading), I got married on the 11th of the month.  Like most wedding couples, my wife and I have ended up with a variety of gifts (and though all were unsolicited, they are nonetheless quite appreciated)!  Both of our parents gave us wonderfully generous gifts that will be cherished forever, as did my grandmother and many of our friends and family.  However, you don't care about the typical wedding gifts, you may care about the best surprise wedding gift.

First, a bit of history as to what I was expecting.  As most married men will probably tell you, once you get married that's basically the end of any type of gifts for you as a guy.  Oh sure, you'll get the occasional socks and ties, and maybe if you are lucky a new grill scrubbing brush, but basically, no more gifts designed for you.  Instead, you'll get piles of dishware, house decorations (none with a Reds logo I assure you), and more smelly soaps and shampoos than anyone could possible need or want.  Heck, it starts early.  If I were to go through and look at the majority of the wedding gifts, they would fall in the above categories.  Case in point:  One friend even got "us" a gift card to Sephora.  I didn't know what that was, but my wife assures me that A.  it's a make-up place and B.  she'll be using the gift card and doesn't need my help.  It's enough to make me wish for another wine rack or embroidered towel.

Anyhow, you can imagine my total disinterest when I arrived home today and saw we had another box waiting outside the door from a mutual friend couple.  It was clear it was a wedding present...and by now I basically knew what to expect.  Heck, my wife still had a couple of hours at work when I brought the box in and I didn't even bother to open it, it sat on the counter with the rest of the days mail while I went back to whatever it was I was working on.

Flash forward about two hours, my wife came home, we exchanged pleasantries, and then she went upstairs and opened the box (without me - but really, what did I care)?  All of the sudden, I hear her yell my name.  And again.  And again.  Reluctantly, I trudged up the stairs to see what magnificent wall hanging or plate we had been gifted when I saw her standing there with her hands behind her back.  "Look," she said, "we got another wedding present.  Read the card."

I did, and the card stated that the couple who sent us the gift each picked out a part of it.  As with many of the gifts, my wife got some gift card to some store that I've never stepped foot in (and probably never will - at least not willingly).  However, when she pulled MY part out from behind her back, I almost had a heart attack.

It was a gift that I LIKED.  No, correct that, it was a gift that meant something to ME - and it was so unexpected I couldn't help but be floored!  I got BASEBALL CARDS!

From that box that I so carelessly left upstairs for my wife to open came two boxes of unopened cards for me.  One was a blaster of 2011 Topps Baseball (Series 1) and the other a box of 1994 Bowman's Best.

I still need a few of the diamond cards from Series 1, so that was great, and I've never opened a single pack of Bowman's Best - so that's extra exciting to have a full box of the stuff to bust!  (And, as I write this, I can say that I opened the blaster already but I haven't busted the Bowman - that will be a box break for my blog at some point this coming week I believe)!

So yes, wedding gifts can be fun for guys too - all it takes is someone who remembers that guys like fun things too...even if our idea of fun isn't always that same as our wives (or girlfriend, etc.)!