Today, 
18 years ago is when the magic began, 
yep,
 it's our
anniversary and good luck has it that this week I'm very much in 
love with my husband.  We met when he walked into my office and started chatting me up.  I was going on vacation in 2 days and I bet him that there were no black sand beached in 
Hawaii.  While in 
Hawaii, I sent him a post card bragging about how I won the bet.  The day I came back to work he called me and asked me out and the rest people....is 
magic!Here are 
18 reasons why I married 
Eric or things about him that impressed me.  Some of them may appear to be 
superficial and all of them still ring true today.....(see, I told you I was in love today) By the way, I was gonna make it 
19, ya know, one to grow on, but I think we're done growing.
1.  He always ordered 
DESSERT when we went out to dinner and would share.  Gotta love a man who shares his 
Chocolate MUD PIE 2.  He talked about his family with 
love and 
respect.  3.  He did and still does 
household chores and doesn't have to ask me what to do...he just does them because they need to be done.
 4.  He can 
fix or
 rEpAiR anything and when I say anything I mean it.
 5.  He speaks 2 and a half languages.  
English, 
German and a lot of
 Spanish from working with Spanish speaking men on job sites.  He can cuss in all three languages  too, including 
Croatian...don't ask.
6.  He is very
 sTaBle.  There is no drama and there are no issues. He doesn't play mind games 
unlike my family, "The Grand Champions of 1970-1982"...I found this 
new concept 
intriguing. 7.  He 
serenaded me with his guitar and beautiful voice while we were dating.  Have you ever seen old
 Ricky Nelson videos were he is on stage and he has that dreamboat look in his eyes and the girls would
 swoon? Well, I didn't really swoon, OK, maybe 
once, but I was impressed and he 
did have that 
dreamy look in his eyes.
8. 
 He loves cats.  Not that many men even like to be 
around cats, but he does.  That was a big plus for me since I've always owned them...and my cats live a long long time.
 9.  He is 
prudent with his money, but he will buy the best if need be.  He rarely spends money foolishly, invest and saves and once in a while will splurge.  We have never had an argument over money, 
over many other things, but 
never money.
10.  Loves and accepted my daughter 
Meredith. Who would marry a women with a
 9 year old moody and drama driven daughter is beyond me, but he did.
11.  He gives me
 neck and 
shoulder massages and I don't even have to ask...
he just does it. 12.  He is a very 
nosy person.  
He denies it.  He says he's curious and inquisitive...
he's nosy...I should know, so am
 I.
 13.  He loves to 
demolish and 
rebuild things.  Doesn't matter what it is, from something small to something large. His family is like that.  One day and (I'm not exaggerating), all of us were sitting in his parents back yard and his parents were lamenting about how they needed a new patio cover.  Eric said "Well, let's put one up, it shouldn't take that long"...and they did, 
the next day.  I like to tell people that I married into an 
Amish  family.14.  He recognized his
 inner child.  For someone who is so stable and practical I am 
amazed how 
silly and 
uninhibited and
 fun this man can get.  You would be shocked if I told you some of  the stuff this man has done.
 15.  Which kinda leads into this next reason.  We have the same 
dEmEnteD sense of humor.  Enough said!
16.  He gets me.  He understands the inner workings of bunny and that could be quite a challenge.  
He says he married me because I'm entertaining.
17.  We agree on every single "
moral" issue.  We  talk about everything from gay marriage to legalizing marijuana , to stem cell research and back to any other controversial issues....
We are one....other stuff is iffy.
 18.  The last and probably the most impressive thing about him when we met was....I was at his home one day and for whatever reason ( see #12) I opened up one of his cabinets in the kitchen.  I saw 
7, yes
 7, I counted, boxes of cereal on the shelf....
and they were all open.  OHMYGOSH!  In my home growing up, my father did the grocery shopping and we had a choice..Frosted Flakes or Cap'n Crunch..and we could only open one, finish it, then open the other.  So, you can imagine how impressed I was.
October 19, 1991       
...by the way, we still look like this today...minus the hair, add a few more lbs and assorted wrinkles.  And thank you very much, Eric and I live very happily in our little state of denial.