I told my wife years ago to stop buying me gifts. She's awful at it. She's proof that "It's the thought that counts" isn't a good rule. Really, she's great in other ways but she's the 9/11 of gift buyers. For her 40th birthday, I got her her dream gift - a baby grand piano. A few years later on my 40th, even though I outright said what I wanted, she got me some socks and a DVD of Left Behind 2. I was like "Honey, this is nice but I didn't see Left Behind 1 so I don't think I'll be able to follow the story so you should just take it back." Now I buy what I like.