October Online Day 1: Jonathan's Birthday

Today is October 1st: my husband Jonathan's 40th birthday.

As a result, today's post is dedicated to the love of my life. Happy birthday, sweetheart!

       OCTOBER ONLINE DAY 1: 

       25 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY

          HUSBAND, JONATHAN!

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER: 

1) His wonderful smile. 

2) The sound of his voice, especially when it's the first thing I hear in the morning. 

3) His laugh, and how easily he does so.

4) His beautiful hazel eyes, and how they change color according to his mood: a deep chocolate brown when laughing, the vivid gold flecks that appear when he is proud, the vibrant green when he is affectionate. 

5) His fantastic sense of humor, and his keen eye for the absurd. It's one of my favorite things about him. We saw Craig Ferguson live some time ago, and it was so much fun I simply cannot wait to go see some stand-up with him again in the very near future. 

6) The joy he takes in our children. His relationships with the three very individual kids we've been blessed with never fails to amaze (and sometimes amuse) me. 

7) His love of reading. Many of my happiest moments are spent curled up together in our bed, each of us reading. It is the very essence of loving contentment. 

8) The holidays. We celebrate both Christmas and Hannukah in our home, and he loves both. He takes so much pleasure in decorating the tree, cooking the Christmas turkey, stuffing stockings and the gift bags we use for Hannukah. I cannot imagine a winter without the tree and the candles. But most of all, I love how he leads the Hebrew prayers and helps the kids light the menorah for all eight nights. Sometimes, I imagine what it will be like when he helps our grandchildren pronounce the Hannukah blessing and guide their little hands to the candles, just as he did for our children. 

9) How he can still make me feel young, sexy & beautiful no matter how old, dumpy and unkempt I might be. 

10) His grill skills. Chicken, steak, kebabs: he slays 'em all! We have a covered deck--which he loves--as it allows him to grill all year round. 

11) His passion for his work with wine. I've known my husband for a few hundred years or so, but would never have predicted that he would discover a love for wine and become a sommelier. I love watching him "talk shop" when out at nice restaurants. 

12) His guitar. I am rarely happier and more content than when I am listening to him play. 

13) His intelligence. He's brilliant. And I am not exaggerating despite my obvious bias. It was one of the first things that attracted me to him. Before Jonathan, I thought my only dating options were A) smarts & B) looks. I was I unaware of the third option, the option he embodies: C) all of the above. 

14) The stretch he always does when in the mood for love. I adore that stretch. 

15) His Snoopy obsession. He's loved Snoopy since early childhood and I love the look on his face when the kids & I buy him a new addition to his vast collection. 

16) His hair. His parents have never exactly been fans of his long ponytail, but I certainly am. I love how it has gotten longer as he ages, the streaks of pure silver mixed in with the black, the way it looks when it is down...and the fact that only I ever see it that way. 

17) The fact that he is the only guy I have ever known who did not scoff or roll his eyes at my interest in role playing and comic books. That's just one example of the lack of misogyny in his personality that I cherish. 

18) His respect of and love for his parents. I didn't have an intact family growing up, nor did I have a good example of a strong marriage. Seeing my father-in-law's love for his wife and hers for him makes me so glad that my kids not only have the two of us for an example, but also the two of them. 

19) The way he goes overboard to make our kids' birthdays so special. I love how important it is to him that they have a memorable and happy day. 

20) The joy he gets when finding out we can spend a little more unexpected time together: coming home early from work, a day off translating to a fantastic outing, etc. It's as if there is nothing more he'd rather do than spend some extra time together. 

21) How much fun we have together! Life with him has never been boring, and I still feel like a newlywed sometimes. There's a lot to be said for that!  

22) His love for tattoos, and how much fun we have getting them. And how much fun we have at tattoo conventions! Something we only discovered fairly recently, but has quickly become a favorite romantic outing. 

23) His spirituality and deep connection to his Jewish roots, and how he is very comfortable in his beliefs and equally as comfortable in mine, despite my different religion. His respect for my beliefs is one of the things I admire most about him, if for no other reason than the fact that so many give lip service to such loving tolerance, but fall short on actually living it. 

24) How good a father he is. When I was twelve years old, I prayed, earnestly and whole-heartedly, that someday G-d would send me a better father for my children than the one I had been given myself. Not a day goes by that I am not grateful to G-d and to Jonathan himself that this prayer was answered, and so very well. 

25) And more important than all the 24 other things I listed: I love Jonathan for simply being Jonathan. I always have, and I always will. 

Happy Birthday, Jonathan! I love you!