What Wendy Really Wants

I like lists and tend to make a lot of them. And don't most people, when they break up, make a list of what they want the next time around? Just to make sure they get their priorities straight? So, it shouldn't be surprising that this would be the first list I make, upon getting divorced.

I want someone who is just like my ex-husband, but completely different. I want someone who is smarter than I am, but thinks my jokes are funny anyway. I want someone who likes to have serious conversations, but enjoys how my stories tend to ramble on. I want someone that loves to tease me and to be teased right back.

I want someone who would like to spoil me once in a while, just because, but who also knows that I don't expect it. I want someone that will call or txt just to let me know he was thinking about me. I want someone who holds my hand, uses his turn signal, and tips too much.

I want someone who doesn't care that my house isn't always neat and tidy, that I spend too much time on the net, and that I'm not as skinny or as pretty as I was 10 years ago. I want someone who thinks I'm just as beautiful with my hair up, no makeup, and in sweats as I am all dressed up to go out.

I want someone who will not only go with me to a cheesy horror film but will stay over that night because he knows I'll regret it come three in the morning. I want someone who reads as much as I do. I want someone to whom staying home and watching TV and going out until all hours is equally appealing.

In addition, and most crucially:

I want someone who doesn't care that I used to be married and that I have children — who makes me feel as though it is possible to have a relationship that simply makes me happy.

That's not too much, surely?