From January 7, 2008

Tomorrow, Geof is getting a PS3. I (not sure if seriously or jokingly) stared at him long and hard today - I told him I was trying to remember what he looks like. He said that I don't have to worry about that.

We'll see.

I am really proud of him, though. He has always gotten the newest Sony game system the day it is released. Pre-orders or waits in line. The PS3 has been out for over a year now. Sure, he has wanted one, but it just hasn't been practical to get one. Honestly, it's not practical now. BUT - he's getting it for free. We have a Sears Rewards card. It's our only credit card. We use it for everything. We get a point per dollar we spend (and occasionally they offer double points for groceries or gas or whatever). We pay it off each month and basically use it to collect the points. We've gotten gift certificates for Sears in the past that have gone toward our air purifier (think ionic breeze), waffle maker and steam cleaner. The last one, we got Sears gift certificates and used them to get new tires on the wagon (ended up spending about $15 for 4 new, good tires). So we decided over a year ago that the only way we could even begin to justify him getting the PS3 would be for him to either win it (like he did his brother's PS2) or to save up our points and use it toward that.

So Saturday, in the mail, was his $500 gift card to K-Mart (there are a ton of different places that you can choose for the rewards - as well as merchandise and travel). The PS3 is $499... and there's no sales tax in Oregon. So, as long as it is in stock, we'll be coming home tomorrow with a PS3. The up-side for me is that it's a blu-ray player, too... so I'll get to see a few movies (there's some mail in offer for 5 free movies). And he'll be happy.

But I already told him that I'm claiming the next gift certificate (it usually takes about 1.5-2 years to get the points saved up for what we want to use). Currently, I'm dreaming of a halo - or maybe an embroidery machine... but I've got a few years until then =)