How Do I Love Thee?

Yesterday was Mr. Honey's birthday and we started out the day with me going to breakfast with friends so he could sleep as late as he wanted having the whole bed to himself. (This may seem strange to other folks, but Mr. Honey was in his late 40's when we married - he was used to having that bed to himself. Even now, after 14 years of marriage, if I come to bed after he does, I find him sprawled across 'my' side.)

He spent the rest of the day the way he wanted - and I'm not even sure what he did - and then I took him downtown to his favorite restaurant where he ordered the London Broil - he has been salivating for this for five months and he savored every bite of it.

I never thought I would be married - let alone to this guy. When I joined a new church one of my choir mates, who has since become a good friend - met Joe and then said to me. "I don't understand how you got him." I smiled at her and said, "It's OK, I do." I really don't but this is one of those things where you know God answered your prayers and threw in more than you asked for because He knew what you needed. Why do I love this man?

-He became a baseball Cubs fan for me. Keep this one thing in mind about Mr. Honey. He doesn't like change. Whatever his habit - he doesn't want to change it. So, when I wanted to start going to Cubs games with him, he didn't want to do it - at first - but we went with some friends and by ourselves and now there hasn't been a season where we don't go to Wrigley at least once and we've been to Milwaukee, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh to see Cubs games. Just let me try to get out of them.

-He's developed his own interests that have nothing to do with me. He goes out to dinner with his brother twice a year and to breakfast with his sister several times a year and I am NOT invited. He hangs with his buddy Bruce (who is also just retired) and they both have classic cars and they go to car shows and look under hoods and kick tires and I am also (thankfully) not invited. He's fascinated about finance and can read books about it. He gets into baking with a laser like focus and as a result chocolate chip cookies, breads, tiramisu, pies and other such goodies have been created and enjoyed.

-Because he loves dogs and children. Even though he's also afraid of the latter. The three girls next door love him. They would run me over with their tricycles and training wheels to get to him. They've even been known to ring the doorbell and just stare up at him and giggle when he answers the door before running away. We have a nephew who is like a son and a niece who is like a daughter that we refer to them as our kids. They feel that way about him though they have perfectly fine parents.

-He can build things. He can make electricity flow. And he doesn't think it's a big deal.

-For being supportive. When I finished writing my first novel. He came into the office and put it on a back up disk, labeled and it and put it away because he knows his wife's brain.

-For being supportive - part two. The yarn in the house makes him crazy because I wasn't the best housekeeper to begin with and this new hobby/passion/career hasn't helped. But he gladly gives his opinion on projects and gives me the business advice I ask for though he wishes I had some of Martha's organization skills. Except for the occasional sigh, he hasn't chastised me for shaking the much desired order out of his world.

-My girlfriends love him, too. That's a nice perk. I mean really, I don't know that many of my girlfriends' husbands. In fact, not too many of my girlfriends are married, but those that are (and those that are not) almost universally think Mr. Honey is very special.

-For mapping out the yarn stores in Pittsburgh. I wanted to go to a yarn store and looked up how many were in the area of our hotel. I found four and then he mapped how and when we could hit them all even though I wasn't interested in hitting them all. We went to two and he happily waited in the van while I went in and came back (no short time later) with skeins that would be taken home and added to the mass of yarn already there.

-For thinking he's funny. He's not but he thinks he is and that amuses me.

-He's a better wife than me. I don't even think about buying birthday, anniversary or Valentine's Day cards and I've always gotten one. One morning, shortly after we were married I was in the living room putting together a headboard and he was in the kitchen baking chocolate chip cookies. We both stopped at the same time and said, 'This is weird.'

-My Mom loved him. She thought he was a great balance to my flightiness. "I don't worry about you anymore.' While some might think that was insulting, I understood what she meant. It's a great thing when your parents like your spouse because they never stop being your parents.

Happy birthday, Mr. Honey, may the next 365 be filled with work to do, hobbies to enjoy and hopefully a cleaner house!!