10 Things You Might Not Know About Paul

Let's face it, I do not have the stamina to name 49 on his birthday. Maybe if I were half his age, but I'm not. I am younger, however--a fact I remind him of quite regularly.

Here are ten things you might not know about my husband. In random order:

1. He has tinnitus (ringing in the ears). It's from years of listening to an unholy decibel level of music, even when the music he converted to in his early 20s had a holy emphasis .

2. He loves to spend hot Sunday afternoons on the deck, drinking iced tea, listening to music (at lower decibels than in his youth), getting tan .

3. He loves to acquire free T-shirts. Never mind that some of his shirts represent things he has no affiliation with. or interest in. Free T-shirts equal endless pleasure for him.Except the American Red Cross ones that say "It's Hip to Give." He earned those with his blood . Literally.

4. He despises cats. And makes no apologies for it. He is cordial to them, but avoids them at all costs .

5. Though not the youngest in his family, he was the last to get married. The fact of the matter is, he had determined early on that dating is an expensive hobby, whereas playing the same guitar year after year was a fairly cheap one. And a guitar makes no demands of your time. He decided that he would not spend a penny on a girl until he was fairly certain he'd be parting with all of his pennies at the altar in exchange for her love. And demandingness.

6. He is a good iron-er. My personal superhero: Iron Man.

7. He is really good at word games: Scrabble, Taboo, UpWords .He is also really good at strategy games: chess, Risk, Clue. He is also really good at outdoor games: baseball, football, tennis. So if you take him on in a game, you might want to anesthetize him first .

8. His exercise routine is admirable. One day he runs on the treadmill, the next he lifts weights .
Sundays he takes off.

9. He predicts the ending of almost every movie. Seriously, I don't know how he figures out "whodunnit" so often. Once in awhile he gets stumped, but that's a sure sign the movie is really good in his opinion.

10 . He obsesses about finishing a jigsaw puzzle once he starts it. And if the last piece in a 1000 piece puzzle turns up missing? Oh boy. The. man .can .NOT. sleep. If the Bible were not finished being written, I am sure God would include the "finding the lost puzzle piece" among the parables of coins and sheep . Just for Paul. He feels the passion of the pursuer of lost pocket change and lost puzzle pieces. Lost, stinky woolies? Eh. Not so much.

So, there ya have it.

Happy birthday to my half-deaf, well-tanned, free T-shirt lovin', cat-hatin', last-married, fresh-pressed, smart-gamin', health conscious, mystery solvin', puzzle maniacal, one year older husband.

From your eavesdropping, pale, shopaholic, animal lovin', first married, oft-wrinkled, not-so-smart-gamin', health semi-conscious, mystery-producing, puzzle loathing, four year younger
wife.