this is awesome. i should have this framed.

from Housekeeping Monthly (13 May 1955)

The good wife's guide:

1. 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. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

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

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

4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

5. Gather up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables.

6. 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.

7. 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 washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

8. Be happy to see him.

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

10. 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 first -- remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

11. 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 need to be home and relax.

12. Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

13. Don't greet him with problems or complaints.

14. Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

15. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

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

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

18. A good wife always knows her place.

i drove home from work last night wondering what i should do since my mom, sister, and enoch are away in houston and chris was TAing a night class. having had a couple slow weeks at work, it was a feeling i hadn't had in a long time. even my never-ending personal to-do's had been mostly crossed off. i actually had nothing to do.

my idea of a fun night alone:

1) b&n - don't you just love the feeling when you walk in there knowing you have nothing but a few hours to kill and a seemingly limitless supply of books! coffee, a good book, rain outside.... there's no better combination.
2) a blockbuster night - cuddling under the blanket watching a chick flick, crying and laughing through sad and happy moments.
3) read at home - there's no coffee and a limitless supply of books, but sometimes the comfort of my own bed and a limitless supply of my favorite snacks can outweigh b&n.
4) make it a late night at wendys - it's not often that i let myself do this. that is, after i found out that mcdonald's uses earthworms in their meat, taco bell uses a mystery ingredient in their meat, and the cost of making one wendys nugget is less than 5 cents.
5) ballys - always on my list but everything else always seems better.
6) nap - a luxury that doesn't come by often. a must on sunday afternoons.
7) shopping - i don't really consider myself the shopping type, but sometimes, it is extremely therapeutic. especially when i go alone, i can shop for hours on end. spending money is a plus but not required.

last night, i decided to combine 2 and 4. despite the heavy rain, i thought i'd enjoy the walk to blockbuster, but i regretted the choice about halfway there. i literally stood for a whole minute contemplating whether to turn back or keep going. people in cars watched me with a look of pity.

and the highlight of my night? i met a cousin that i hadn't seen in years!

it was the weirdest thing. i stood in line waiting to place my order at wendys and saw that there was a young korean guy working in drive thru. he did a double take when he saw me but i didn't think much of it (why would i? it happens all the time). it only clicked when he smiled and waved. it was LITTLE RYAN. it's funny how i aged all these years but thought ryan would stay the little ryan that i remember.

we used to play video games together. i used to hide his beloved doggie behind the couch and he would cry. he would go crying to my aunt when my sister and i didn't play with him because he said we're his fwends. i wonder if he still calls grimace the "purple ghost."

anyways, so that was my adventurous night alone.

thursday came twice this week.

sitting at cty. at my usual spot. i think james lieu used to sit here since his name is written on top. but didn't ajin sit here last? hmm. oh, in case you're wondering, i don't work here.

i brought dinner for chris. i don't say this to boast (i can count on one hand the number of times i've done this for him). i've been feeling so bad for him lately. he usually has meetings/class from morning through the afternoon and has to TA a night class twice a week with no time to eat dinner. when he's not at school, he's at cty catching up on work until 10, 11, or midnight.

i think it's time that i return the favor. there have been a number of times when i would call him after a particularly stressful or exhausting day at work and yell at him for nothing that he did (and he didn't yell back or call me crazy). and i can't even remember all the times he's packed me lunch to take to work (one time he wrote a note on a sticky for each item that he carefully packed for me).

this must be the way a wife feels when she sees her husband enjoy her cooked meal after a long hard day. even though i didn't have much time and all i could put together for him was spaghetti and meatballs, i'm so happy to see him take a break to eat my food and watch naruto (his favorite show in the world).

i promise not to give you a hard time anymore about working on the weekends.

as some of you already know, i've taken on quite a liking for golf lately. now before i go on, i'd like to apologize to anyone i have argued against in the past regarding golf as a valid "sport." i had always thought of golf as more of a game.

in the last several months, i've converted. golf is not only a sport, but it's a sport that takes a lot more than just physical skill. if it was just a game, what would make mini golf different from real golf?

so here i am, beginning to feel the excitement of a good swing and wanting to perfect it.. i often hear it call my name.

here is a link to a picture show from ey women's golf clinic that i attended last week: http://photoshow.comcast.net/watch/EY7re6pF

yes, i know. i have a long way to go. remember i am still very much a beginner.

i went dress shopping on saturday and brought the whole girl crew (except enoch, he was the only boy). at the first bridal salon we went to, i fell in love with the last dress i tried on. the lady there was nice enough to let me try on some veils with it and even adjusted the lighting to see what it would really look like in an evening setting. as we all oohed and ahhed over how gorgeous it was, it finally hit me. i took my eyes off the dress and looked at my face in the mirror.

i am getting married. i am the bride. this is for real.

it wasn't the first time i had gone dress shopping, and it's been almost 5 months since i've been wearing the most beautiful rock on my finger.

with the planning being stressful at times, i think i've almost begun to lose sight of the meaning of it all. i need to stop focusing on keeping pace with our planning schedule, stressing over the budget, and trying to make everything so perfect. it reminded me even how insignificant my wedding dress was. so who cares if my dress has a bit too much poof or if it doesn't have enough detailing or if the color doesn't exactly match my skin? we're gonna get married!! who cares if our reception site decides to totally cancel on us via e-mail for no apparent reason??

WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!


it's gonna be awesome. can't wait.

as promised, i present to you......... now big boy, ENOCH!!

playing with uncle chris and smiling at mommy


bubbles!!

what a handsome smile =)

just wanna bite those cheeeeeeks~

zzzzzzzzzzzzz............


look, he prays while he sleeps!