Happy 60th Birthday to my Husband, John!

Today is John's 60th Birthday.

As a tribute to him I am going to attempt to tell you 60 things about him that you may or may not know.

Here goes:

1. John married an older woman, I am two years older than he is.
2.  John and I met in a speech class at Carroll College.  Professor Daley was our teacher.  John gave a speech on Easter eggs.  I wore short skirts to all my classes.
3.  John has a geography major.
4. John played football all through high school and college, he may have played before that, but I am not sure.
5. John grew up Catholic, but happily turned Lutheran when we were getting married.  He has been a faithful Lutheran ever since.
6. John always does the driving in our family.  Always has and, God willing, always will.
7. John suffers from Driver's Dimensia as of late.  This is diagnosed by me and is probably not really a problem at all.
8. John watches LIfetime movies with me.
9. The only time John said, "No" to me was when I asked him to go to Disney on Ice with me and the granddaughters.  He will not go to any skating show.
10. John claims that figure skating is not a sport.
11. John claims gymnastics is not a sport.
12. John loves his Packers.  He watches the Badgers, but his real love is for pro football.
13. John does not swear, ever.
14. There are three things that John does not let me do because I would never do them right - Cutting the lawn, shoveling the snow, and washing the cars.  He is very fussy about those three things.
15. John does not cook.  The only thing he makes is bacon and his bacon is very good.  He does however grill some mean meat, so I guess he does cook more than just bacon.
16. John goes shopping with me whenever I ask him to.  We enjoy our time in the mall.
17. We both like to people watch and both of us make fun of the people we watch.
18. John and I both love St. George Island, Florida.  If we could retire there, I know we would.  We have been there no less than 16 times since we discovered this paradise in 1998.
19. John likes taking the scenic route.  We like to driving road trips.
20. John was in the TKE fraternity in college.  He took me to lots of TKE dances back in the day.
21. John had great parents, both of whom are waiting for us in heaven.  My parents and his parents got along better than any in laws have a right to.  They genuinely enjoyed one another's company.
22. John loves salmon and tomato soup.
23. John got a raw deal late in his career when he got laid off, not once, but three times.
24. Lay offs are really just glorified firings, no matter what you call them.
25. John handled his lay offs with grace and patience.
26. John's first job after college was with Jensen and Johnson Engineering in Elkhorn.
27. Our first home was on Dewey Avenue in Watertown.  We got a great deal on the rent  because of a tear in the carpet and because the managers were members of our church.
28. We got married at St. John's Lutheran Church on June 12, 1976, which just happened to be the hottest day of the summer.
29. John is really good at spelling and he knows the meanings of lots of big words.
30. John loves Monopoly, but strongly dislikes Pictionary.  
31. John prefers the old monopoly with the play money over the new monopoly with the bank cards.
32. John is happiest when he is in his man cave watching TV
33. John has passion for old black and white movies.
34. John took his family (me and the girls) on lots of fun vacations. 
35. John has been out of the country three times.  Once to Mexico and twice to Canada.
36. John loves spending time with his granddaughters.  John has a grandson, Natnael waiting for him in heaven.  We cannot wait to meet him.
37. John is a conservative, but he is not a republican.
38. John is very strong.  He is good at opening tight jar covers, carrying big boxes, and doing heavy furniture moving.  I appreciate his strength.
39. John stopped buying me flowers years ago, when I foolishly, said that flowers were a waste of money.  He listened as he usually does.  Let the record show that I no longer feel that way and would welcome some flowers.
40. John has a great sense of humor which he passed on to our daughters, granddaughters and niece.  Some of the jokes have been told so many times but they are still funny.
41. John is a very loyal friend.  He may not have tons of friends but the ones he has are lucky to have him in their life.
42. John commuted to Sauk City for a few years after his lay offs.  That is one long commute, but he never complained.  In fact, I think he learned to enjoy commuting.
43. John is a great driver although he does have some road rage at times.
44. The hardest work that I have ever seen John do was hauling our waterbed mattress outside in the middle of winter after it sprung a leak.  It was so heavy and we could not figure out how to empty the remaining water out of the thing.  Did I mention that it was a king mattress?
45. John does not hunt or fish.
46. John does enjoy biking.  We like to discover as many trails as we can each summer.
47. John was president of the Watertown Aquatic Team for many years when our girls were members of the competitive team.  Our family loved WAT.  We made many friends and many memories during those years.
48. John spent many, many hours at our daughters' sporting events, including but no limited to swim meets, basketball games, and soccer matches.  (Lots of cheerleading, too)
49. John is a man who is true to his word.  If he says he will do something, he will do it.
50. John prays and he knows that God answers those prayers.
51. John chose our first townhouse in Watertown without my input.  I loved that house on Bayberry Drive. I should let him make more big decisions on his own.  He also picks out our cars.  I think the Thunderbird was one of our most unique cars.
52. John has to  put up with lots of my crap.
53. John has always helped me put the sheets back on our bed.
54. John threw a push lawnmower across our yard one day. I saw it fly passed the patio doors.  He has had power motors ever since.
55. John recycles but he is not very "green." He does not believe in Global warming or that Al Gore invented the world wide interweb.
56. John and I have enjoyed Jimmy Buffet, Bill Cosby, Rod Sterwart, The Beach Boys. Peter Noone, and Steve Martin in concert.  We have also seen many, many less famous entertainers along the way.
57. John laughs loudly, yells loudly, sneezes loudly, and snores loudly.
58. John is very proud of his daughters and what they have done with their lives.  He also loves both his Sons in law.
59. John does not like dogs .
60. John enjoys a good cigar every now and again.
61. John doesn't care much for birthday hoopla.  A call from his granddaughters will be all he needs to make for a great birthday.

So, there you have it.

60 things you may or may not know about John.

I want to wish him a very happy birthday.

I want him to know that I love him as much now as I did when I first met him in that speech class.

We have shared many, many wonderful things over the years and always seem to make each other laugh.

I still have lots of fun with him on our adventures and look forward to many more of them.

Happy Birthday to my best friend.

Love, Sherri