I owe my parents far more than I will ever be able to repay. It has taken me a few years to come around to that admission. Financially, I used to think I would get to a point to "settle up" with them. But they finally hammered it into me that they really wanted to help me out when I needed it. They're also pretty clear that, as far as they're concerned, anything they have belongs to me as well. Or as my Dad sweetly puts it, "It's your inheritance that I'm spending"

I've finally gotten my head above water over the past couple of years. So when the opportunity comes to do something for them, even if it's a material gift, I don't hesitate. Which explains why for Mother's Day this year, I snuck a 50" plasma HDTV into their home and set it up. This was also a Father's Day gift. Of course, this meant their old TV had to go. But the old TV was in a big cabinet that was a part of the room decor. The TV was given away and we tried wrestling the solid wood construction cabinet into another room of the house. It wouldn't fit through the door way (believe me, we tried.) without some disassembly. Finally the old cabinet was out and Mom had to redecorate the living room. They decided they wanted the new TV hanging on the brick above the fireplace. Which required moving the mantle up 2(!) inches and some serious engineering to make sure the heavy TV was secured to the wall...um... securely. I show them the HD channels to let them see what HD really is. Mom was hooked and spoiled. She only wanted to watch HD channels. This is inspired her to upgrade to digital cable and a HD capable decoder box so she could get more channels. Including the GemTV channel which she tortured Dad with for several weeks. Of course the entire home theater had to be re-wired and hidden away in a new cabinet. This required an IR repeater to get the remotes working properly. What started out being a really neat gift turned into weeks of rearranging, purchasing, and frustration.

Well, guess what Mom and Dad gave Paul this year for his Birthday/Christmas gift? Yep. The same exact TV plus HD-DVD drive for my Xbox 360. My living room immediately went into shambles.

Generous gift of love? Spiteful favor returned? You decide.