So you want to know he isn’t perfect

After my last post about Az the Beloved, some of you seem a little concerned. Could I have snagged the elusive hetero-sensitive husband? Do I know some ancient husband-training secret? Is he genetically predisposed to perfection?

Now that is an unhealthy temptation to put before any wife. I can make mental lists of all his flaws on any cranky day, and then spend the next two weeks struggling to forget the list I so unwisely made.

But our anniversary is approaching, and I have an anniversary tradition I indulge in sporadically, and this seems the perfect time. So here goes. Note that this list must be original each year, and contain no duplications.

Another Top 50 Reasons to Love Az the Husband

1. He never yells at me when I leave the tools out in the rain.

2. Whenever I ask if a dress looks cute on either of our girls, he says, “Cute isn’t something she wears. Cute is something she is.”

3. He never considers food overcooked. This has saved many a meal.

4. He brags about my baking to other people.

5. He revels in being “the married guy” on his shift.

6. He is brave, and won’t let me tell you the stories that prove it.

7. He calls my huge, clodhopper feet, “baby feet.”

8. He still cares what I think about everything.

9. I said, “You better not have a midlife crisis and leave me for some younger woman.” He said, “Veronica, you are my younger woman.”

10. He reads to me.

11. He makes a mean red beans and rice.

12. He does laundry.

13. When I am a tired, worn, sleepless mother who has not showered in a week, he tells me I smell good. He may be lying, but if so, he’s good at it.

14. He watches bad movies with me.

15. He loves living without a tv.

16. He still goes to church with me when he has been up working the night before.

17. He loves books as much as I do.

18. He hates NASCAR.

19. Sports bore him.

20. He sat on a jury for a particularly despicable crime, and kept the disturbing details to himself.

21. He tells me my garden looks good. This is rarely deserved.

22. He lets me take a few bites from his plate every time I ask (I don’t ask often).

23. He can make conversation with absolutely anyone.

24. He looks like a lumberjack, but thinks like a geek. And yes, that is too sexy.

26. His eyes still twinkle at me.

27. He once had a sty in his eye, and asked me to lance it. Yes, that is gross, and I didn’t do it, but the man trusts me to PUT A NEEDLE IN HIS EYE.

28. He never complains about the fact that 3/4 of the closet space is mine.

29. He lets me pick out what shoes he buys. And he seems kinda proud to have a woman there picking out his shoes.

30. He never complains about picking up something from the grocery store - even the embarrassing somethings.

31. This image in my memory: my handsome man in faded levis and a white button down oxford, with my daughter’s sippy cup sticking out of his back pocket.

32. The way my youngest gleefully shrieks “Daddy!” whenever he comes home.

33. He never takes off his wedding ring. I don’t require that, but I still find it charming.

34. He walks through cemeteries with me and has exhaustive conversations about the etymology of the names on the headstones (we are nerdy, people).

35. He is willing to play what-will-we-name-our-next-baby whenever I want, for as long as I want, even when I’m not pregnant. And makes me laugh by suggesting names of obscure Reformers (no, we are NOT naming our next child Oecolampadius).

36. He reads my blog comments even before I do. He likes to see people liking what I write.

37. On the very, very rare occasions when he is embarrassed, he blushes.

38. The bluest eyes I have ever seen.

39. He can stand against the world, as long as I am happy with him at home.

40. He is willing to move in with my parents. Words cannot describe.

41. He is able to forget past girlfriends by an act of will. I’ve never seen anything like it.

42. He reads to our girls almost every day.

43. He can enjoy the fanciest gourmet meal, and the next day still be delighted over macaroni and cheese.

44. On my biggest, frizziest hair days, he tells me my hair is beautiful.

45. When I remind him we must forgive someone, he grumbles but tries to do it anyway.

46. He plays Scrabble with me, even though I usually win. And he crows when I lose.

47. He remembered our exact wedding date today, and I forgot it.

48. He claims a beautiful woman is shaped like a classical guitar: bottom-heavy.

49. He decently airs out the bathroom afterward. We have been married ten years, people. This is important.

50. It only took me an hour to write this list.