When it's time to unbury the treasure

For some reason, the movie title Ten Things I Hate About You (which is loosely based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew), occupied space in my brain and refused to relocate. So, I thought perhaps that meant it was time to focus my writing energy on Ten Things I Love About You. Since school started and my novel deadline looms, I find that the love of my life and I sometimes move in different orbits. When I find myself a wee bit cranky because he asks me to disengage myself from the laptop to hug him, I know it's time to slap myself in the head...and remind myself of the gift he is to me from God.


I've listed these in no particular order and, yes, I know there are more than ten...I couldn't help myself.

What I treasure about Ken:
1. He knows how to make me laugh even when I'm grumpy and frumpy.
2. He brings me coffee in bed. Fresh coffee. Which means he probably had to clean the whole contraption before making it because I'm certain I didn't the night before.
3. He and I share a neurotic fear of roller coasters.
4. He married me.
5. He tells me I'm beautiful in a way that makes me believe him. And just the touch of his hand on my bare shoulder can sometimes be enough.
6. He surprised me with a laptop years ago because he believed I could be a writer even when I didn't.
7. He manages our finances and, after being a single mom, I'm grateful to have him do it.
8. He cooks; he cleans; he washes. Not always, but often enough to relieve me of some of the burden.
9. He's not as crazy-in-love with grocery shopping as I am, but he can be fun in the grocery.
10. He listens to my school stories.
11. He's not been a perfect stepfather, but he's not been an unperfect one either. Dynamics are complicated, but he stretches himself.
12. He's not afraid to make decisions. The process of getting to the decision might be interminable, but once he's there...he's rooted.
13. He's not afraid to say he was wrong if #12 didn't turn out the way he expected.
14. He's goal-oriented in a way that humbles me. For years, he worked six to seven days a week so that we could own our home. After Katrina, he spent months driving hundreds of miles each week to work, boomeranging from city to city so that we could maintain our financial obligations.
15. He's generous. When I write, I mean full-on, butt strapped to the chair write, he takes care of meals, cleans the kitchen, washes clothes, fields my phone calls, and essentially makes himself invisible so I can focus.

And most importantly, he is a man of faith who came to the Lord as an adult, and who has been forever changed.
What do you treasure?