I was sitting here reading the rants and peeves page and it hit me that I was irritated re-reading it. So, I thought to myself, what is it that I think of when I need to calm down or be re-assured.. what is it I count on? My boyfriend was the answer. So I thought about it, what is it I really love about him? Besides the normal answer "Everything".. I wanted to suss out some specifics.

I started with "I really love the fact he totally accepts me for me and loves my faults as if they were perfections."

Now, what do you love?

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2000

Answers

I'll give one brief example. It was this morning.

I get up. I fall back asleep. I get up again. I fall back asleep again. For some reason, I was having a really hard time waking up this morning. I was groggy and really out of it. When I finally staggered out of bed, all I wanted was a hot shower.

I went into the bathroom and was faced with a full tub of tepid soapy water. When Keith took his shower earlier in the morning, he'd forgotten to make sure the tub was draining after he was done. (We have a drainstop thingie that likes to fall closed, and you have to check to make sure it's open after you're done with your shower.)

I hate tubs full of leftover water. I HATE THEM. I especially hate it when I'm in a hurry and all I want is to take a nice hot shower but now I have to wait for the stupid tub to drain. So Keith passed by the bathroom door.

ME
Um, hey?

KEITH
Yes, darling?

ME
Can you like, please remember to put the frigging drain thingie down, because I really REALLY hate going in here to take a shower and having your nasty-ass water filling up the tub.

KEITH
(face falls) Oh, sweetie... I'm sorry. Oh no, I just forgot, I'm so sorry.

ME
(grumpily sighs) It's OK.

So then the water finally drains and I get in the tub and crouch down to turn the water on. We have the kind of tub with a hot water spigot and a cold water spigot. I was getting all ready to mix the water temperatures just right and have my nice shower. I flipped on the cold water first. Instantly I was hit with a rain of cold water on my back and head.

I let out this ear-piercing shriek and shut the water off. I wanted to cry, I really did. So then Keith comes racing upstairs, because I screamed.

KEITH
(sounds panicked) What is it? What happened?? Are you OK? What happened?

ME
(accusatorily) You left the stupid bathroom thingie in the up position and instead of having a hot shower I got ice cold water all down the back of my neck! That's what happened!

KEITH
(looks even more crestfallen than before) Oh, baby... I'm so sorry. Do you want coffee? Or a muffin?

ME
A muffin would be okay. I can't have coffee because I left my travel mugs at work.

KEITH
(hopefully) I could put it in a regular mug?

ME
I can't take those on the bus.

KEITH
What about one of those keg cups?

ME
I guess that would be okay.

KEITH
You take your hot shower and then after you're done I'll have an English muffin and coffee for you, okay baby?

ME
OK. I love you.

KEITH
I love you too.

Now see, some guys I know would have got all pissed off that I was yelling at them for trivial stuff, just because I was groggy and in a bad mood. But instead of getting super defensive or yelling back, Keith apologized and even made me breakfast. Isn't that great?

That's one of the things I love most about him. When faced with a problem, he doesn't freak out, start yelling, get all mad, or blow up. He just calmly tries to solve it. And he always treats me really well, even when I'm in a bad mood or I'm grumpy or crabby or being extra emotional (like at That Time of the Month). He's great.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2000

I love Jay for the fact that he makes me laugh. All the time. If I'm getting too serious, I can always count on him to make a funny face and get me giggling. It's really irritating when I'm trying to be mad at him. But then again, I get over that fast, because he's making the puffin face.

He bought me a fishy. What's not to love about that?

He's funny as hell, he's arty, he likes my cat, and he understands PMS. And when I take him to task for doing something he shouldn't have done (like getting fishtank gravel all over my just-cleaned bathroom) he doesn't get all defensive. He fixes it. And he's not afraid to do the same to me if I deserve it.

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2000

My boyfriend gives and gives with no thought of reward - which sometimes can be traumatizing for me because since I live by myself and have tons of bills, there really isn't any way that I can reciprocate everything that he's given me, and believe me, I want to.

I love his mind and trying to figure out how he thinks. I love how he tells me that he loves me all the time. I love how much he loves his mother. I love how he never gets really really mad if I leave the cap off the contact lens solution, but instead chases me with it and sprays it at me. I love how he always gets helium balloons from the dollar store and fills up my living room with them. I love the subtle way he hints by buying me all the ingredients that happen to go into the cookies I bake once in awhile. I love how he actually listens to me when we go clothes shopping.

Anyway, the list goes on, but there it is - I love him. :)

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2000

I love the way Dan cracks me up, we have the best time together. We laugh over the silliest things. I also love the way Dan will buy me little gifts when he's thinking of me, to add to that, Dan always buys the PERFECT gift, and I never have to hint to get what I want. I love the way he's working hard so that we can enjoy even more things in life, I love the way he supported me through my job search when I had little to no money for a long time, I love the way he knows just when I need to hear I love you. I love that he understands that I'm quick with my temper, and will just let me scream and yell until I feel better, and lastly I love that my happiness is so important to him that he'll help me do anything to realize my dreams.

-- Anonymous, June 22, 2000

I love Peter because....well, because he's Peter! Besides, he calls me "poof" while maintaining a straight face, and will even refer to himself as "boipoof." He kicks ass.

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000

I love my baby! I love the fact that I can't find her and she's never there!

Oops, probably not the response you were looking for, my bad...

-- Anonymous, June 23, 2000