Wish List

D, the incurable romantic that he is, sent me this :)

When D and I got married, we decided to start an on-going "Wish List" of sorts - one for each of us, stuck to the side of the fridge for easy look-up.

We have always been on a budget, and while D is very open and relaxed about receiving gifts, I am not. I feel I have to somehow justify why I deserve a gift and even then, it cannot be clothing or accessories as I have very specific tastes.

Oh, and no jewelry either.

And, it has to be something that will be durable, will have lasting value, will not compromise my principles, will not make a huge dent in our budget...

Whereas D is okay with receiving socks and undies and bathrobe and slippers, I am not. I think I can buy my own socks and undies, thank you very much.

Anyway, so, the Wish List has been our way of keeping up the element of surprise while giving each other what we really want. And be it Christmas or birthday or anniversary, we just pick an item off this list and get it for the other. Within reason. As long as it fits our budget, that is.

For instance, our first Christmas together half-a-dozen years ago, I had about half-a-dozen items in my Wish List exclusively for sharing with D, one of them being a baby of our own... now I know, it is not that easy, but, at least it gave him the idea... plus, I had a snazzy camcorder on the list, which still remains on the list unfulfilled to this day...

And, D's list that year had Banjo lessons as one of the items and so I bought him 6-week banjo lessons for Christmas - simple as that - no fuss, no worrying about whether he'll like it - and he got to choose the venue/instructor as well.

As time goes by, we cross out the ones we have exchanged with each other (or no longer fancy/need), and add new ones...

The old Wish List paper on the side of the fridge fell apart so I meticulously transferred the remaining items on the list to a family notebook.

Now this family notebook has the Home-Improvement list on one side - viz., a list of household projects - things we need to fix up the house, plus things we need to make it look nice.

The fix up the house part is easy enough: upgrade main bath, fix energy-efficient patio doors, repair the deck, redo the kitchen and so on... which we can get to as budget permits.

The make it look nice part encompasses the frills like furniture, window treatments, area rugs, art work and such. I know we'll never get to it soon enough...

The other side of this family notebook is the growing Wish List - a 2-column template, page-by-page. Right now it is only 2 pages long with about a dozen items each. Nothing frivolous, nothing extravagant, nothing lofty... just things we would need/want but would not just go out and get it as we are on a budget.

Am sure once Ana learns about Wish Lists, we will expand this to include her.

I share this Wish List with my brother and parents who always insists on getting us a Christmas present - but unfortunately for me, never share their Wish List claiming 'Oh, we don't follow that system'!

Last year my Wish List had a Stand Mixer. It hasn't been crossed out yet, so, it appears that I still would like one, especially since I love to cook... looks like D sent me this product pictured above to see if I'd be interested :)

This year, however, I am blurring the lines between my Wish List and the Home-Improvement list: I would like a proper bedroom which can act as a relaxing sanctuary for me instead of the perfunctory sleeping quarters it has been so far. To that end, I have added just a few items to my Wish List which will help create this much-needed minimalistic Zen-like abode... I think D has been given plenty of hints... not sure if he will take the hint, though.