What do you want for Christmas? What? Nevermind. Forget I ever asked.

My poor husband. I asked him, jokingly, the other day, "What would you think if I asked for jewelery for Christmas?"

His answer surprised me -- he said, "I'd be relieved!"

You see, I'm a fairly straightforward gal. If I say, "Don't buy me anything" for a specific holiday, it means, "don't buy me anything." If I say, "surprise me, here's the budget" it means, "surprise me and don't spend more than that."

But this year, when he asked what I wanted for Christmas, I think he immediately wanted to take the question back.

I asked him to paint our bedroom. I even provided the color I wanted.

Later, we were talking about it, and he told me that he might need my help. No worries, I said. The gift is not doing it by himself, it's doing it cheerfully. Not complaining. At all. Or at least very little.

He'd rather buy jewelery.

But I do want a puppy for my birthday. Don't tell the dog.