Share the things I'm learning about my husband.

And is difficult to wake. His step-dad, P, tells stories about picking a young Matty up in his sleeping back and shaking him… with no result whatsoever.

Once, in the middle of a cold, wintery night in Ashland, I heard the back door of the house slowly creak open… but didn’t hear anyone walk in or out. (The floor boards are so creaky, that it’s impossible to miss people passing through the doorway.) I found that house a bit creepy anyway, so I was a bit disturbed by this. I gently shook Matty.

“Matty,” I whispered. No response. I shook him some more, and desperately whispered again… this time loudly, and directly into his ear. I swear, it took about five minutes of poking, prodding, and pushing for him to finally wake up. I was surprised he didn’t end up covered in bruises.

_{Turns out the door simply hadn’t been closed properly when we came in that evening, and the wind blew it open. But that’s beside the point.}

I’ve discovered that if I kiss him on the back of his neck and shoulders whilst he’s asleep, he makes really cute little moaning noises. I’m easily entertained, so I’d do it most nights. Not sure he has any inkling of what was happening.

within arm’s reach.

Matty truly finds other people’s achievements inspiring and encouraging, and loves to share that with those around him. He’s always surprised when I remind him that not everyone reacts in the same manner as he does. It’s just not in him to feel threatened, insulted or inadequate when others do well.

Don’t get me wrong though. It’s not like he’s the male version of Pollyanna… and thank goodness, ‘cause with my cynical nature, that’d drive me up the freakin’ wall.

with farting when I’m present.

Lucky me. ;-)

And I mean really thick. We used a shaver on the number three setting when we were in Aus and, apart from the struggle of getting the thing through his hair in the first place, it still could have done with thinning out.

Running my fingers through his hair has proven to be a challenge. But I give it my best shot. ;-D

I know I’ve already mentioned this, but it’s worth mentioning again.

He really hates pants. Especially long pants. The shorter, the better. None at all is his preferred option. I suspect he only tolerates wearing them for the sake of avoiding public indecency charges.

Almost too honest. If he tells you he can do something, or is good at something, according to my experience he’s right. There’s no sense of modesty… and he’s certainly not immodest... he’s just telling it like it is.

He’ll also freely admit to what he can’t do, or do well. But that doesn’t stop him from giving it his best try.

Probably because he’s so active. He doesn’t always remember to do this, though… and it’s easy to tell, because it’s just like watching a battery-operated device starting to run out of power.

We’ve learned that it’s a really good idea for him to eat before we go out anywhere. At first I’d ask, “do you need to eat something before we go?” I now know that if he responds with, “I’ll be okay”, it means that we need to feed him before we head out the door.

Breakfast is really important for most people… but particularly so for Matty. We’re getting better at doing this more routinely. It’s been good for me, too.

Odd, in that he’ll usually take out one piece at a time. For example, he’ll dish up food for one person, and get a fork out of the drawer for them. Then he’ll dish up the next plate, and go back to the drawer for another fork.

He does take out enough forks for everyone if he’s setting the table. But only the forks. Mind you, when he was setting the table at my parents’ place, he did get out knives as well. Proving that he does adapt to his surroundings.

I knew he could cook, but I hadn’t experienced just how well he could cook. The first time I really noticed this was when he cooked breakfast one morning. Delicious, perfectly-cooked scrambled eggs, spinach and toast. Oh, and a fresh tomato sauce/salsa thing that he just whipped up using some of the tomatoes from my sister’s garden.

And this guy knows how to season. He loves using spices and herbs. Or, “erbs”, as he pronounces it in his American accent.

Over the last few days alone, he’s cooked a roast, baked some yummy choc-chip biscuits (cookies) and a cake, and last night he made some of the most delicious hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted.