Why I have to use coupons...

I met Abby at the mall tonight to do a little bit of last minute Christmas shopping. We didn't find too much (I only spent about $15 and that included my dinner), but we did have a lot of fun looking around and catching up. I called Ben when I was on my way home to let him know that I had left, and he mentioned that he had done a good deed that night that may or may not get him in trouble. When I asked him what the particular good deed was, he went into a very long, drawn-out story about how a girl had shown up on our doorstep selling magazines. This girl was pregnant and very young (something that he mentioned several times) and told Ben that she was trying to make something of her life. Again, Ben mentioned that she was young and pregnant, so he decided to buy a "few" magazines to help her out. Afterall, her shoes were wet, and it was cold outside. After picking out a "few" magazines, the girl added it all up and gave him his total. $140. Yes, that's right -- $140 on magazines. He waited for my reaction, but to be honest, I was stunned. Don't get me wrong -- I am glad that my husband is so compassionate and soft-hearted, but $140 on magazines is a little excessive. Especially when I have a slight hunch that we will never see a single one of those magazines.

When I got home, Ben met me in the garage to see if I was mad. I assured him that I wasn't but that I had established a new house rule -- no buying things from anyone at the front door unless I am home. As soon as we got inside, Ben asked if he could give me one of my Christmas presents early so that I wouldn't be mad. Again, I assured him that I wasn't mad, but he insisted that I open one of my gifts that night. He sat me down at the kitchen table and told me to close my eyes. When I opened them, there was a little gold box with a big green bow sitting on my lap. Thinking that it was jewelry (what else comes in a box that small?), I reminded him that we had a spending limit this year and asked if he had stuck to it. He assured me that he had, and I opened the box. Imagine my surprise when I saw these.
Again, I was stunned. The first words out of my mouth were, "There's no way that you stuck to the spending limit." His response was, "This isn't a Christmas present. It's an 'I Love You' present." Sweet, huh? He told me that he had wanted me to open them early so that I could wear them to his Christmas party tomorrow night and that I could only keep them if I wasn't mad about the magazines. I again reminded him that I wasn't mad and put on the earrings. I mean -- how could you be mad when you have such beautiful earrings....and such a wonderful husband?
So, in summary, I have to use coupons so that Ben can #1, buy me nice gifts, and #2, give money to random pregnant girls that show up on our doorstep.