34 Things about Michaelfor His 34th Birthday

1:: Michael's favorite color is yellow, but only because he was forced to pick a favorite color as a child.

2:: Michael does not like to pick favorites. He is afraid of offending abstract objects. Or he's really boring. I haven't decided yet.

Things we really know are his favorites:
3:: Favorite Band: Sunny Day Real Estate
4:: Favorite Restaurant: Chipotle
5:: Favorite Type of Cake: Chocolate
6:: Favorite Genre of Literature: Sci Fi/Fantasy

7:: Michael has lived in the following states: Utah, California, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland, and North Carolina.

8:: Michael is pathetic when he gets sick. At the first sign of a tickle in his throat, he starts downing orange juice and sleeping 12 hours a night.

9:: When Michael and I first met, he was majoring in recording industry, but when we met the second time, he had switched to computer programming. This made him less cool but I fell in love with him anyway.

10:: Michael's pre-mission band was called Towergrape. He still likes to listen to their CD. I don't. Michael's post-mission band was called Skipping Mad. They rocked.

11:: Michael served a mission to Bolivia for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

12:: When we got married, Michael said he wanted three kids. I said I wanted six. So far, he has won that argument.

13:: Michael's first job out of college was with a small company called Venzia, owned by a friend of a friend. Michael's second job out of college was with Plus Three, where he still works to this day. He has been there nine years.

14:: Other places Michael has worked: Taco Bell, radio station in Fayetteville, computer lab at MTSU.

15:: Michael has considered going back to school to become a lawyer. He likes to debate, and he always thinks he's right.

16:: When Michael was a kid, he wanted to be a physicist. I have a skeptical attitude toward quantum physics. Michael and I don't have fights about money or housework or sex or which end to squeeze out the toothpaste. We fight about quantum physics.

17:: Michael is always the first person to say sorry.

18:: Michael gets obsessive about his hobbies, and for that reason, he never has more than one hobby at a time.

19:: When we met, Michael's hobby was writing music. The fact that I played the violin was very high on his list of reasons to want to date me...He wanted to try his hand at writing music for the violin.

20:: His current hobby is playing poker. We do not discuss this with my mom.

21:: Michael does not like to dance. He will not dance to fast songs ever in front of anyone but can be coerced into dancing to slow songs if I remind him that he loves me.

22:: Since Michael and I are not big on dancing, we did not dance at our wedding. Instead, we wrote a song together and performed it at our reception. It's the best love song I've ever heard.

23:: Michael does not think about housework, including mowing the lawn. It's not that he purposely puts it off (I don't think) but that he doesn't notice it needs to be done.

24:: Michael walks and reads at the same time. Sometimes people stop me on the street and say, "Is your husband the one who reads while he's walking?" It's weird.

25:: When we met, Michael was a Republican. Our first argument was about politics. We were engaged at the time, and I have a journal entry from then saying, "I don't know if I can marry him. Maybe we're not compatible."

26:: Michael describes his current political opinions as left-leaning moderate. He claims that I had no influence on changing his political views. That is a bit insulting.

27:: Michael attended the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte last year.

28:: Michael was a night owl in college. He has been a bad influence on my Early Bird self over the years, and we often lounge in bed until noon on Saturdays while the kids watch Saturday morning cartoons.

29:: Michael remembers all the useless trivia that the rest of us crammed into our brains in school and then promptly forgot as soon as the test was passed.

30:: Besides being overweight, Michael is my ideal in physical appearance. He's tall with broad shoulders, dark hair, and glasses. I find him incredibly attractive.

31-33:: Michael would be really embarrassed if I posted these ones on the internet.

34:: Michael is exactly the type of guy I always dreamed of being with. I lucked out when I met him.