The silent partner

My husband seldom wants things.

Besides beer, he hardly ever buys anything for himself.

So when he began talking about the iPod touch for weeks without end, I finally said, "Why don't you just go ahead and get it?"

The original plan had been to ask for money for Christmas from the various sets of parents. But it became apparent that he shouldn't have to wait that long. Seriously, I heard about the Touch ("It's got all these games -- like air hockey! You like air hockey, right?") just about every day.

So about two weeks ago, thank God, he ordered it. And in true Dane fashion, he saved 10 percent and avoided all sales tax by ordering it from Amazon.com. A savings of about $30. Great, except it meant he had to wait two agonizing weeks for the king of all grown-up toys to arrive.

Today, it came.

I got home from the gym after work and rather than a greeting, I got: "Look."

And, yes, lo and behold, there it was, on the living room floor, plugged in in all its glory to our laptop.

Hallelujah, a new day has begun.

So tonight, we've played air hockey (I beat the computer 7-6, thank you very much), waved it around while it made light saber noises (a true hit with Rye, who actually instructed me how to do this within a minute of my arrival home), played Labrynth (you remember - this is where you maneuver a ball through a maze without letting it drop into a hole. Just now, Dane said, "OK, I just have to stop. This is getting stressful!") and bowled. Dane has also done a myriad of other things, I'm sure, like check his e-mail, comment on friends' Facebook statuses, visit Huskerpedia, plan our retirement ... I'm thinking there is no end to what the Touch can do.

Earlier, he said, "You're never going to hear me talk again."

Hmm.

I didn't sign up for that, but I am glad the grown-up boy in our house finally has a really sweet toy.