I guess the difficulty is that the perfect gift one year ... may not be a repeat request. My original wedding band had gotten too small (notice how I didn't get too big), and my wife surprized me at Christmas with a replacement band. I didn't know it was coming, but I treasure that gift more than you can imagine.

On more of a repeat basis, things that deal with hobbies of mine are especially appreciated. Like my collection of die cast metal 1/18th scale model cars. My wife knows what I like and she'll often surprize me with one, or two special ones at Christmas. Those are always greatly appreciated.

I will generally tell my wife what I like but I struggle sometimes because she often doesn't tell me what she really wants and that's really difficult then to decide on what to get her. Actually, this year has been better. She commented on needing a new winter coat and when we went shopping we found her two that she loved on sale so we got both for the price of one. I've also got her a surprize gift that I hope she'll like ... a bracelet in white gold with rubies (her birthstone) spaced all along it surrounded by small diamond chips. Not nearly as gaudy as that description sounds. It's really very beautiful (IMHO).