Whatta Man

The other day I told Chip I was thinking about finally doing a "100 Things" list for the blog. "I already did that for you!" was his response. "You should do one for me!" Since Chip isn't one to beg for attention (that one was free, to whet your appetite) I took him seriously. So here, in honor of our wedding anniversary, is a quick list of 20 things* you might not know about Chip.

*I stopped at 20 because I found it hard to stick to facts rather than to just start gushing about his awesomeness. (See #21)

1. Chip has all kinds of skills and knowledge you don’t know about. For one, he can build computers. He used to do this all the time for friends and family members, but then he realized that while building the computer might be fun, being the only person on the tech support staff is not. So now he is more like our personal IT consultant rather than a full-time employee.
2. When you are trying to buy a car, Chip is the guy to call. He reads Automobile magazine and Consumer Reports and is always ready to recommend the right car for your lifestyle and budget at the drop of a hat.
3. (And he’s amazing at negotiating a price at the car dealer.)
4. Chip is also the guy to call when you need advice about which piece of home theater technology to buy. He subscribes to home theater magazines and just generally keeps up with what technology is most current and is the best priced.
5. I trust his opinion on the above matters completely. This is mainly because he’s enough like his father that you can be sure he has thoroughly researched the topic and will only make a recommendation that he is 100% sure about.
6. The reason that you don’t know how much he knows about these topics is that he’s enough like his mother that he won’t tell you about it unless you ask.
7. Chip has a degree in philosophy with a minor in music. He studied classical guitar with Lily Afshar while at Memphis State.
8. He is a gifted musician. He played the tuba in the marching band in high school (ha!) and in the youth symphony and also played guitar and bass in school-sponsored groups as well as in cover bands and original bands.
9. He is an excellent songwriter, but not much of a lyricist.
10. Chip is not a fan of classic rock.
11. His favorite sport to watch is professional basketball. His favorite sports to play are basketball and racquetball.
12. Chip never watched the NFL until living with me made it unavoidable. Then last year he won a fantasy football league! I’m so proud.
13. Every Sunday, Chip does all of the family’s laundry. He says it’s because otherwise I would leave all the clean clothes in a pile on the floor, but I think it’s really because he knows I find it sexy.
14. He totally kicked ass on his LSAT and got a full scholarship to the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.
15. I use Chip as my own personal spell check- he can spell pretty much any word off the top of his head, without writing it down! (I can’t spell my own name without writing it down first, so this totally amazes me.)
16. Chip is 6’1’’. He seems much taller because he’s so thin.
17. He’s been slowly going gray for the last eight years, which coincides suspiciously with how long we’ve been married.
18. Chip is a great teacher who has tons of patience with those learning from him. In fact, he has tons of patience in general. This is one of the many reasons he’s a great father and husband.
19. When he is interested, Chip is a good, active listener. You never get the sense that he is ignoring you and thinking ahead to the next thing he’s going to say.
20. No, when he’s ignoring me it’s because I’ve said too many things and he’s gone away to his happy place. But he’s definitely not thinking ahead to the next thing he’s going to say.

21. The most important thing to me about Chip is that he makes me a better person. He is a wonderful husband and father and I'm thankful every day that I was lucky enough to snatch him up eight years ago. Happy Anniversary Chip! I love you.