Pleasing the Mrs.

Although my loving wife STILL feels like my card collecting is 'just a phase' that I will apparently grow out of, I have been trying to get her interested in collecting. I have foolishly tried to pick up cards for her from time to time (mostly Detroit Red Wings hockey cards). They all end up in my card room with me having to file and sort them away... I'm not too big a hockey fan, so with them being left in my care, they pretty much get buried in a 5,000 count box alongside former Orioles I stick in there like Sam Horn, Mike Devereaux, Adam Loewen, etc. never to be seen again. For Christmas, I decided to go 'all out' in my attempt to get her interested and filled her stocking up with nothing but Ichiro cards (her supposed favorite player). They currently reside in front of my china cabinet in the card room awaiting her to add them to the old lock box that my Ripken collection has out grown. She was surprisingly very happy with the assortment of Ichiro cards that I, P.A. and Pete put together for her, and I think she finally has some interest in folowing a player and looking for his cards. It all paid off for me when I ordered 2 boxes of 2001 Topps from bbcexchange.com (and told her about them WHEN I ORDERED THEM...). When they arrived several days later, she grills me 'When did you order these, how much did they cost, do I look fat in this outfit, etc.' I told her: 'Dear, you DO realize that the series 2 box right here COULD have an Ichiro rookie card in it?' She stopped nagging and said 'If you find it, its MINE.' SO, when i pulled the card, I shout into the kitchen: "Mal, would you like to see what an Ichiro Rookie Card looks like?" She stops in the middle of making the 50 pounds of ham she was making for dinner and RUNS into the living room to see... Naturally, I already had one, as I purchased it from some kid selling a collection at the shop, so I held it over her as if I didn't have one at all. "Dear, I need the card to complete my set..." and her response: "like hell you do, you probably already have one and are just being an ass..." We know each other too well.....