> This morning my dad, brother, and I all went shopping for the perfect gift for my mom. We knew exactly what we wanted to get her...a necklace with a cross on it. Simple enough, right? Wrong. We spent over three hours going from store-to-store in search of this "perfect" gift. We saw probably a hundred different necklaces, but there wasn't a single one that the three of us agreed upon. My dad was overjoyed about my going along with him, since he claimed I could give him "a woman's opinion about this kind of thing." I was almost in the dark as much as he was. I mean, I don't even WEAR jewelery (except for my class ring and Promise Ring, that is), so I wasn't much help. There were a lot of things I LIKED, but nothing I LOVED, which I think is what my dad wanted me to find. Soooo, I have to drag my mom to town today to get some ideas, but as my dad told me, I "can't make it too obvious." Heh...riiiiight. And what is "too obvious," anyway?

This is what to do. Your dad tells your mum that he wants to buy a cross necklace for YOU, and would appreciate a woman's opinion.

Your dad then takes your mum out, she shows him whatever she thinks the perfect cross necklace is, and your dad hums and haws and says he'll think about it and maybe get it later, and cautions her not to buy it for you herself, because he isn't sure yet.

Brunnen-"sneakiness can be fun"G