42 Things I Love About Jeff

Just came back from a wonderful weekend up north with my sister and her family, where we celebrated Jeff's birthday; he and I are the same age for about two months. For my gift to him, I visited a "paint your own ceramics" shop I discovered during a neighbourhood/househunting exploration, and made him the tile coaster and mug you see in the photos on this page. It was my first attempt at this sort of thing, and I had way too much fun. The text on the mug reads "Mr. Grumpypants," a nickname that Jeff's sister gave him a long ways back because of his disposition in the morning. :-)

Upon arriving home, however, we found out from my Dad that my Uncle John Ohi died while we were gone. We will all miss him. :-(

Today would also have been my brother's birthday; he would have been 39.

During times like this, I am reminded again of the importance of fully embracing the moment, to never assume I'll have lots of time later to do the things I want, to spend time with the people I love, and to appreciate what I *have* rather than dwell on what I don't or can't have.

And this brings me to a long-overdue entry...

42 Things I Love About Jeff

He's the King of Sandwich-Making. I hate making sandwiches when Jeff is around because I know he makes better ones.

His devotion to my sister's daughters.

He's a technonerdboy!

The way he keeps a kitchen towel draped over his shoulder when he's cooking.

His organizational skills.

His confidence on the ski hill (not surprising, since he used to be a ski instructor). Love the way he does those turns...

He doesn't give up.

How he looks when he's sleeping.

His strength and reliability. I don't know how I would have gotten through my mother's, brother's and sister-in-law's deaths without him.

His appreciation of good design.



The way he paddles a canoe. (*SWOOOOOON*)

His sense of style. He has far better taste in clothes than I do. :-)

His ultra-short hair. I want him to try shaving it all off someday.

His sense of responsibility and loyalty to his clients.

His cool family. I feel pretty lucky to have the in-laws I do.

He values physical fitness.

His love of books and reading.

How he likes fixing things. He's a rare breed of technonerdboy who also is handy in the toolroom.

He's there for me when it really counts.

He's a good cook. He's one of those cooks who never cooks from a cookbook, likes to make things up on the fly.

He kept his childhood toy, Flatmouse.

His sense of romance.

His patience with my tendinitis. During the whole moving process, Jeff did all the heavy packing and moving without once complaining that I wasn't doing enough.

He's an sf nerd at heart.



He's a good sport. Ages ago, for example, I sent a poem and cartoon to CITY-TV's Breakfast Television show, teasing Jeff about his crabby morning persona. I ended up winning the Valentine's Contest, and Jeff actually agreed to appear on the show with me despite the fact that we had to show up at the studio at 6:30 a.m. (!). The first time he saw the cartoon and poem was during the show, which is aired live.

His love of music. Loves to listen and will, on rare occasion, even noodle on a guitar. On rarer occasion, he sings...wish he would do it more often; I like his voice.

His appreciation of office supplies. And he's even more of a pen and notebook freak than I am. :-)

His soul is in the outdoors. I never see him more relaxed as when he's at the cottage, or on a canoe trip.

He gives great hand massages.

His smile, when he's got it on full power. Still makes me melty at the knees.

His close friendship with my sister.

The fact that he had to be taken to the hospital as a little kid because he got a pussy willow stuck up his nose. And the fact that his mom kept the pussy willow. :-)

He's not self-conscious about the fact that he plays D&D.

He's very good at explaining things and is King of Analogies.

His love of astronomy.

His packing ability. He's able to take what looks like an impossible number of boxes and cottage gear and make them fit into a car trunk.



How excited he gets about technology.

His willingness to communicate, even about difficult subjects.

The way his short hair goes all fluffy like a baby bird first thing in the morning. I took a photo of this on the weekend, but I've been forbidden to post it. Ever. :-)

His devotion to his work, and how much energy he puts into it.

How great he is with kids.

His patience with my idiosyncrasies.

He's super-neat, very tidy. I'm not so much, and this caused some Major Adjustments early in our relationship, but we both appreciate the other's quirks (see above).

He's not afraid of getting his hands dirty. I find it funny that the first thing many people say to him re: switching from a condo to a house is "You realize you're going to have to mow the lawn? And shovel snow?"

He's upfront, speaks his mind.

How he values his solitude.

We've known each other for nearly 25 years, have been married for over thirteen years, and we're still learning things about each other. We've been through a great deal together, good and bad. And every time we make it through a rough bit, it makes us appreciate what we have that much more.

Happy birthday, my love.

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