TO MOP, and 46 things I can say to myself when I get annoyed at my husband

1. I love you because you asked to marry me & loved me even before you tried to hold my hand or asked what my haircolour is.
2. I love you because you didn't give up on trying to marry me even when it was against the law of your country. If the God you believe in didn't make it a law, then you didn't believe it meant anything important.
   
3. I love that you loved me because I loved my religion, because I had thoughts about it, not just because I wore an "abaya".
   
4. I love that you learned English so that you could talk to me.
5. I love that you could have married younger (even virginal) and more beautiful girls than me who loved you and that for some reason you chose me to change you life around for me.
6. I love that you sold your land so that you could buy a car to drive half way across the country to see me just walk from my driver's car door to the door of my villa for a couple of minutes.
7. I love that you fought your family and villages' prejudices over what a white Western woman might be and did not just follow your mother as most Omanis would, when she was wrong about me.
8. I love that you love your traditions but do not look down on mine.
9. I love that you get jealous of waiters in restaurants when they bring me my order, lol.
10. I love that you offered me an Omani maher that of course I did not need and would not take, and tried to pay for everything when you could, but were not too arogant to refuse me when I wanted help when you had not.
11. I love that you buy me candy or juice at every gas station we ever stop at if you can afford to.
12. I love that you like mishakeek and walking in new places as much as me.
13. I love that you prefer dishdasha over Western clothes and musayr over kuma, and at the same time, you let me choose to wear abaya as I like, and would support me if I chose to wear the face veil, or a bright pink headscarf, either way.
14. I love that your village is still zanily colourful in an authentic way, like a real-life Ballykissangel, but Omani, not BBC Irish.
15. I love that you don't care what car we drive so long as it is strong and not expensive on gas, though I know you still dream like all Omani guys.
16. I love that you like to be healthy, which well, I don't, but I admire you for it, just the same.
17. I love that you love running with me on the beach.
18. I love that you like to go out with me anywhere and follow me even on the longest of dull window browsing shopping sprees in good humour, even if it just means that you are jealous.
19. I love that you send me funny mispelled text messages all the time and the funny.
20. I love you for being patient with my very fiery temper.
21. I love you because you always want to watch tv with me and that means finding something we agree on or turning the set off.
22. I love you because you wrote me a poem once in Arabic that I couldn't read and sounded very horribly written when translated to English but that all of my Arab friends said was good, and since one of them stole it off my mobile and sent it to his wife, I guess it must have been.
23. I love that you sing traditional Omani songs whenever you are bored or happy.
24. I love that you prefer to spend time with me more than with your shebab.
25. I love that you try to sneak out of work early to see me or make me lunch.
26. I love that while in your culture Omani men aren't supposed to be in the kitchen, that you can take care of yourself and me too, and don't mind helping out.
27. I love that you take me on adventures and camping trips, and my friends, and my workmates, and translate for us, and get all the English expats we know well out of trouble.
28. I love that you love to help tourists because you love Oman.
29. I love that when I take the time to make a meal you always make time to sit down for it.
30. I love that you like my cooking.
31. I love that you rarely complain and don't seem bored by my ranting.
32. I love that you try to bring me a flower everyday, even if you stop along the highway and steal it from the Balladiya;p
33. I love that you want to live in the same house your family has for hundreds of years.
34. I love you because you can be hard-working, and you don't like the government to take care of you, and you don't feel you deserve money for nothing.
35. I love that when you have enough, you try to make sure everyone around you does too.
36. I love that the family maid said you were a good man and that you make sure that she is cared for nicely when no one had ever prompted her to say this to me and she did not know who I was. That says something about your character.
37. I loved that you lived with the beduoin for a short time in your life long enough to admire the simple things.
38. I love that you lived in the city enough to know there are many people to learn from, and that change is not always bad, and that new is not always best.
39. I love the fact that you have never ridden and camel and I have.
40. I love that you shoot lizards in my bedroom and crazy stuff like that from time to time so I can write it on my blog.
    
41. I love that you sit through boring lectures with me just cuz you want to spend time with me even if I am stuck working.
42. I love that you secret hobby/passion is painting
43. I love that you know how to fight with a sword, shoot an arrow, and fire an old musket. Cuz you never know when that might come in handy.
44. I love it when you tell me stories, whether they really happened or not.
45. I love that you rescue my cat when she climbs too high.
46. I love that you suck at fishing, because I don't eat fish. But hanging out in the sun sipping Guava juice while you fish is fun.