Song of my spouse

Here's my take on Julie's special Thursday Third Degree, Spouse/Partner edition:

List five annoying things that your spouse or significant other does regularly.

• Count me in on the countertop problem. It’s just gross.
• “Washing” dishes with a rinse and a prayer. Again, ew.
• I’ve mostly cured him of this, but he was raised to believe that a used tissue must immediately be flushed down the toilet. It can’t go in the garbage can. What a colossal waste of water! If you must put it the toilet, at least wait for the next real reason to flush to get rid of it.
• Shoes in the house. Not just because of the easily avoidable dirt-tracking, but also: hard-soled shoes on the hardwood floors, right outside the bedroom door, at the crack of freaking dawn.
• Bringing home a giant bag full of work plus a laptop every single night, complaining loudly and extensively about its weight, and then not touching it until he leaves for work again the next day.

List five things that you believe your spouse or significant other would say about YOU.

• When I cook, I leave the dishes in the sink until after. He’s a clean-as-you-go kind of person (although “clean” is relative, see #2 above), but I can only handle one project—the actual cooking—at once.
• Control-freak tendencies (hi, Julie!). I’ve banned him from doing the laundry, for example.
• Corollary to the above: Redoing things he’s done (such as loading the dishwasher) to my satisfaction.
• Internet addiction. Must… check… e-mail… Must… read… blogs…
• Letting the kids strew toys all over the floor and not picking up for hours or days.

List five UNIQUE reasons why your spouse or significant other is the greatest. Unique means I don't want to hear about what a great father he is. I already KNOW that.

• He’s extremely generous with both material goods and praise/compliments, for me and for everyone around him.
• He’s a creative dad (not the same thing as “great,” OK?). He comes up with fun projects (see below), games, and goofy songs, and is excellent at getting us out of disciplinary jams with distraction and humor.
• He’s very handy (as well as a good cook). He can fix or figure out anything, and he’s usually at his happiest when he has some sort of project going on. After all, he built this. He can also draw, a talent I admire since I utterly lack it.
  
  
• He can be quick to anger, but he’s usually quick to get over it too (much quicker than I am). He doesn’t hold grudges.
• He’s very loving and loyal to his family. I know that the kids and I are his first priority, with his mom, grandmother, aunts, and even my parents and siblings immediately behind. This January, he flew back to his hometown just a few days after we’d returned from there. His great-aunt, wife to a beloved uncle and mother to a beloved cousin, had died, and he wanted to be at the funeral. He also sends his grandmother fresh flowers every month.