Ways I have changed him

Last week a few of you asked to hear about ways that I have changed Torsten. Obviously I had to consult him on this. So I give you our combined thoughts on how he has changed since meeting me:

• He doesn't panic as easily. His reactions to things are a bit more in proportion to the severity of the thing.
  
• He is healthier. He eats lots of home-cooked Weight Watchers meals, drinks less beer, and consumes fewer desserts.
• He is less easily grossed out. He is still paranoid (in a good way) about cleanliness, but he's not as fussy about little things being in perfect order. He will even kill bugs. And if I sit on the bed in what he calls "my street clothes," the sheets no longer have to be changed immediately.
  
• He stands up for himself more. He is still incredibly nice and thoughtful and puts other people ahead of himself, but no longer will he do so to his own detriment. If he thinks he deserves a raise, he'll ask for it. If someone is doing something that's negatively affecting him or me, he'll tell them so.
• He's better groomed. He gets his hair cut more often, and he buys new undershirts regularly. He wears jeans that I pick out for him instead of his old Levi's. (I view this as a positive. He does not.)
• He works much less. His job used to be the main thing in his life, and he would be at the office until very late at night and back again early in the morning. Now, unless he has a major deadline, he is home by 7 p.m., and he pretty much never works on weekends.
• He is more flexible. He's more willing to let people drink from his glass, and if we have to go somewhere he doesn't want to go on a Friday night, it doesn't ruin his whole weekend.
• He likes baseball. Specifically, the Red Sox. He had never watched it before he met me.
• He is happier than he has ever been.