I'm Glad I'm a Wife In 2006

Here is an article taken from Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May 1955

The Good Wife's Guide

*Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs.

* Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you'll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

* Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

*Over the cooler months of the year, you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

*Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

* Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

* Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk to you first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

* Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax. Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

* Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

* Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always excercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

* A good wife always knows her place.
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Let's hear it for living in the 21st century!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tinkertown

Well, not an original title, but that's where we were! And what a day it was! We got to go to Tinkertown for a birthday party...we got there around 1:00 and didn't get home until around 6:30. This is a child's dream land. The hosts were kind enough to have all-you-can-ride wrist bands there for the kids, and we rode-all-we-could, that's for sure. Daryl had to work, so that was unfortunate, but the girls made it very easy for me to be there "alone". They had an absolute blast, and it was great to see them enjoying themselves so much.

The Funnest Thing

Okay, I've discovered a new interest/past time...or something. Our neighbor left for the weekend and asked me today if we wanted to borrow her motor scooter while she's gone. It is a TOTAL BLAST! I could have driven around all evening. I honestly laughed out loud when I was driving. I'm not sure if it was from feeling like an old person or the simple thrill of driving a motorized vehicle with the wind blowing my hair! I've been saying for a long time that I want one of those for my 50th birthday (when I have no kids to haul around), but now I know for sure!

What's a Mom to do???

So today I found 2 of my kids (I'm sure if #3 could figure out how she would have joined in) jumping on my bed, for the 199th time. And for the 199th time, I told them not to. And then I proceded to spank their little bums because of the 199 warnings they had previously had. I spanked #2 first, and she took it quite seriously, although she didn't cry. Then I spanked girl #1. I thought I was spanking rather hard, for just using my bare hand. She said, "Ow!" and looked at me and burst into belly shaking laughter. I'm not talking trying-to-be-disrespectful-ha-ha-on-mom laughter. I'm talking hilarious laughter. What could I do but join in? We had a great laugh...and I'm still mystified.What would you do???

Spa Party!

It's Girls' Night Out! I had a great turnout for my spa party that I booked with my friend who is a "home spa" product dealer. (I don't feel like making a link here) It's expensive stuff, but really nice of course, and I got the good end of the deal since I had the party! I'm glad everyone bought stuff and made it worthwhile for me. It was fun to host a bunch of ladies, even if we could hear the kids in the basement (don't worry, dad was with them)! Here's a picture of the most relaxing part of the evening - cold eye pads and lip masks!

My sweet potato!

This Week

So, it's been a rather uneventful week. But we're trying to be outside and make the most of the last days of summer. It's good to have Kim "home" again, with us. She got here on Wednesday, after waiting for us at the airport for awhile...I had a flat tire on the way. But I was very thankful how it worked out. There was a little air compressor in the trunk of the car, and I blew up the tire enough to get us to the garage and have the hole patched. (I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself for that one. I've never used an air compressor in my life and the guy in the parking lot that I asked to help me wouldn't even try because he said he didn't know how!!!) Anyway, all's well that ends well, as they say.

Yesterday (Sat) was just an around home day. Daryl worked at jacking up the sidewalk to drain rain water away from the house. It's fun to see him having such a blast working outside. Then we joined some friends for a bbq for supper. Today is another beautiful day, but super windy. I'm waiting for the girls to wake up so we can get out and enjoy the sunshine!

A Fisherman's Tale

Well, at least we have the pictures to prove it. This was the one that got away!
Daryl caught this beautiful walleye when we were in RL. They measured it, etc. (26" long) and we all admired it, thinking what a nice supper it would make for us. When Daryl pulled up the stringer a few minutes later, it was gone. Very sad ending to my story.

Adrienne is 6 months old!

Red Lake

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures. After getting back from 5 days away, there's plenty of laundry, cleaning, unpacking, etc. Not to mention the weather is so nice and we want to be outside. I can't believe summer is almost over. But I'm glad we had another opportunity to go to Red Lake for a long weekend, and this time Daryl got to come along! The girls and I left last Wednesday, and Daryl came after he got off of work Friday night.

It was so good to get our city kids out of the city and into the bush! It made Daryl and I really miss living there, as it always does. Of course mom and dad were great hosts, and we enjoyed sitting in the new sunroom, even though it's not quite finished yet. Dad made killer ribs for us on the famous Weber one night. Mmmmmmm......

We came back on Monday, after waiting in Dryden for about 5 hours because of hwy 17 being closed due to an accident. It was weird to actually be killing time, with nothing to do. We got home around 11:00 pm, so obviously we missed the Third Day concert we were supposed to go to. We were bummed about that, but what can you do? We're glad to be home safely. Oh, forgot to mention that Anna-Christina stayed in RL, and is coming back tonight (Wed) with my dad.

With Papa and Grandma

Adrienne loved all the attention!
She doesn't do this very often!

Fishing!

Anna-Christina caught the first fish, and boy was she happy! It was great.

Olivia decided she would rather "drive" the boat than fish!

Adrienne was very quiet almost the whole time we were on the lake. She just sat still and took it all in.

Blueberry Picking!

I think the girls had a better time than I did in the blueberry patch! I was so glad to come home with berries though, and grateful to mom and dad for going with me! It was nice to be outside and enjoy the silence and the beautiful bush, even though the picking was hard work.

Since I'm on Vacation...

The Alphabet...My Way!
Accent: I hate to admit this...but I think it's...ahem...Manitoban.

Bible Book that I like: I'm learning a lot from Proverbs right now. Doesn't matter how many times you read it, there's always something you never saw before.

Chore I don't care for: Putting away laundry.

Dog or Cat: Daryl is allergic to cats (thank God we have a good reason not to get one). Maybe a dog when we don't live in the city anymore.

Essential Electronics: Computer. Is my dishwasher an electronic?

Favorite Movie: Princess Bride, Life is Beautiful (in Italian w/ english subtitles of course!)

Gold or Silver: White gold, please and thank you.

Handbag I Carry Most Often: Is a diaper bag a handbag?

Insomnia: Very badly at all stages in pregnancy...I've been plagued with it again recently.(NO, I'm not pregnant)

Job Title: Mommy, Mental and Emotional Caregiver for a medical resident, waitress, maid, cook, you name it...

Kids: 3 girls, ages just-turned 5 and 3, and almost 6 months.

Living Arrangements: 3 BR, 2 baths, bright sunny living area (on sunny days mostly...) that I really enjoy. Needs lots of little fix ups but it's coming.

Most Memorable Moment: It's a tie between Daryl's proposal and giving birth 3 times.

Naughtiest Childhood Behavior: Splashing in the water and screaming to make my mom come running down to the dock in tears. (what can I say? I was only following Rhonda's advice)

Overnight Hospital Stays: Appendectomy when I was 10, 1 c-section and 2 "normal" deliveries (as normal as I can be in labour).

Phobias: I don't know if I have any real phobias...but I did see a really huge, gross spider today and it made my scalp tingle. YUCK.

Quote: "If my life is fruitful, it doesn't matter who criticizes me, and if my life is fruitless, it doesn't matter who praises me." John Bunyan

Religion: "Pure religion that God the Father accepts is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Siblings: Three sisters who are the funniest people in the world.

Time I Wake Up: Hopefully between 6:00 and 6:30 but not always.

Unusual Talent: I can wiggle my nose holes. My sisters used to make fun of me, but that's because they were jealous.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Definitely lima beans.

Worst Habit: Procrastination, just like my sister who I got this from. Biting my nails. Interrupting people.

X-rays: My back and the bump on my shin. I think that's it. Olivia's lung x-ray when she was a baby was torture to watch.

Yummy Stuff I Cook: Muffins, Desserts, Ginger Beef

Zoo Animal I Like Most: Monkeys.

No pictures this time, but just wanted to say hello. Daryl and I had a very nice anniversary (since you asked) :)...
We left Adrienne with her "grandma" from church, and dropped off the other girls at Jenn's for their sleepover. We went out to eat at the Ivory, which is AMAZING Indian food. We didn't exactly want a buffet, but when we saw it, we wanted to taste everything. And for a buffet, it was very relaxing and nice. Nice quiet atmosphere and good servers, etc. We had such a good time visiting in peace and quiet and gorging ourselves on curries, chutneys, cheese chicken, etc. MMmmmmmmmmmm. I'm sorry to say, but both of our stomachs hurt when we left.
Anyway, enough about the food.

The girls and I are headed to Red Lake this week, and Daryl will come on Friday. Hopefully we will be able to eat lots of walleye!!! I will be sure and post pictures after.
Cheers!