"Lost" When It Comes to Dan's Birthday Gift

My husband, Dan, celebrated his birthday last weekend. Even after eight years of marriage, I have a difficult time picking out gifts for him. Or I should say, I have a difficult time picking out gifts that surprise him. Usually, he sends me a link to his Amazon wish list a few weeks before. At least that way I know I am buying him something he will like. I can't decipher half the stuff that my geek chic engineer husband wants anyway, so it's nice when he just sends me a link to the exact items.

For some reason, his wish list was empty this year. He did have a set of TV speakers listed for a while, but he explained to me that he would have to store the subwoofer in the middle of our living room, and it would be awesome. I vetoed this awesome-ness.

Eventually, I settled on buying him Lost: The Complete Collection. This set included the entire TV series on DVD (plus a thousand hours of bonus features, I'm sure), a Black Rock journal entry, a collectible Senet game, a black torch light, and a Lost island replica. It was a gift made in Geek Heaven. I patted myself on the back for deciding upon a birthday present that would finally surprise and delight my husband.

About a week after I had purchased the Lost collection, Dan and I were watching TV when an advertisement for the new Game of Thrones DVD set caught his eye.

“That might make a good birthday present . . .” Dan said, throwing me a sideways glance.

I was thinking the same thing, but Lost was already en route from Amazon cyber land to my house.

This thought must have registered on my face because Dan quickly said, “Or is it too late?”

I shrugged.

“That’s okay. DVDs are so last year.”

Of course, seeing how a six-season DVD set was exactly what I had gotten him, his statement did not make me feel any better.

A few weeks later, Dan started to open his presents, and I was slightly nervous.

"I hope you like it," I told him. "You said something that made me think you might not."

Dan looked a little worried as he continued unwrapping his gift.

"Lost!" he exclaimed.

"Why wouldn't he like that?" asked my dad, who happened to be visiting for the weekend.

"Don't you remember?" I asked Dan. "'DVDs are so last year'?"

"Yeah, but it has a game included," my father pointed out before Dan could reply. "Dan likes games." 

Dan, who loves being the center attention, just shook his head and smiled. 

The next day, I caught Dan playing dismantling the Lost box set when I got home from work.

The day after that Dan asked, "When are we going to start our Lost re-watch marathon?"

Now, instead of a TV subwoofer, Lost: The Complete Collection is stored in the middle of our living room. I guess DVDs weren't as "so last year" as Dan thought.

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