Ten Random Things You Might Not Know About Matthew

10. Despite his well-touted reputation for eating fruit, Matthew amazes me more by his muffin consumption than anything else food-habits-related. He has been known to have five muffins for a meal, and to have demolished an entire bag within two days. Fortunately for me, I only have one every week on our "fruit and yogurt" nights, and he makes them whenever we run out.

9. Matthew claims not to be able to read music, yet he can play guitar (a little), the recorder (a little), and the piano (a little), and can pick up the tenor part of any song (when singing) pretty easily. This baffles me.

8. It bothers him when he wears clothes that don't match. He once accidentally paired a black belt with brown shoes and came home in shame and mourning to me. That's what you get for dressing in the dark when you leave for work at 5:45 am so your wife can sleep in. True love, folks.

7. He dislikes cats, apparently buying somewhat into the myth that they are antisocial and incapable of showing affection, yada yada. After owning two cats of my own and reading James Herriot's opinion on the subject, I am convinced that this is "hogwash." We have come to the agreement that we will get both a cat and a dog, and that if they can get along together, so can we.

Oddly, I don't like kittens nearly as much as cats.

 6. Matthew was pretty terrible at swimming when we first started dating. But I love to swim and we kept going to the pool every week pretty consistently throughout our courtship. With a lot of practice and nagging advice from his beautiful girlfriend, he actually has become a pretty strong/fast swimmer and he can always beat me whenever we race. My next goal is to teach him how to float on his back in the water, though he claims this is impossible.

So true...

5. When I doodle, I draw pictures (usually of hairstyles, horses, and ballet poses). When Matthew doodles, he writes his name. Over and over again, in many different fancy signatures. I thought this was a little weird at first, but I actually think he does have a much cooler and more original signature than I do, so I guess it paid off.

4. Matthew used to do gymnastics when he was about ten (at the same time I was doing karate - funny, huh?). He even showed me his cute little leotard and shorts (which he can still fit into; isn't that incredible/weird?). He didn't stick with it into his teenage years, but he can still walk on his hands for a pretty long distance.

3. If there is one thing Matthew hates, it is exaggerated nasal/cartoon singing. He will stop whatever he is doing to tickle-torture me if I start singing Snow White's "I'm Wishing" in my best high-pitched squeaky princess voice.

2. Matthew gives really good massages. Being his wife and therefore the only one (by my own jealous decree) who can constantly beg/demand one whenever the occasion permits, I am of course biased. But he did tell me that he used to give a lot of stress-relief aid as a high school student, and even considered becoming a masseuse at some point or another. I for one am glad he changed his mind; now I get his hands all to myself....

1. Matthew goes by "Matthew" in his family, never "Matt." I call him "Matthew," but earlier in our courtship I called him "Matt" a lot, and he has said that his friends at school also called him "Matt." Now, most of the time, I call him "Hon." :)

I love him.