Why was no one thoughtful enough to pass along this gem before I entered into the Holy Sacrament of Marriage?

HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE

Home Economics High School Text Book, 1954

Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal, on time. 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 are part of the warm welcome needed.

Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so that you'll 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. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the home just before your husband arrives, gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

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, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad he is home.

Some don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

The Goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

Wisdom

"I beg you... to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart
and try to love the questions themselves
as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.
don't search for the answers,
which could not be given to you now,
because you would not be able to live them.
and the point is to live everything.
live the questions now.
perhaps then,
someday far in the future,
you will gradually, without even noticing it,
live your way into the answer."

- rainer maria rilke

Just Married!

Slowly, the pictures begin to be posted (albeit fuzzy)...but exciting nonetheless to see the very first shots of our wedding!

Kinda ethereal, eh?

The Tudors Series 2

I didn't want it to end! :.(

...but series 3 promises to be nothing short of thrilling/breathtaking/spectacular/(insert bombastic adjective here)! I await 2009 with baited breath...and we'll hopefully be Showtime subscribers ourselves by then!
So Anne's dead, and somehow, the series is so phenomenal that I went from simply despising the character of Anne Boleyn to feeling so much for her pathetic fall from grace, jailing and subsequent beheading. I didn't think it would happen, but I completely and totally felt for the poor thing as she thrashed about her regal bed, weeping uncontrollably and soaked in blood, desperately fighting nature and her own body in the throes of her final miscarriage, knowing full well that the loss of her pregnancy equaled the loss of her head. So, so sad. Being that this is a true story, it really is heart wrenching to think this slovenly heathen of a King was so mired in egoism and his own power that he disposed of women at his pleasure. My mother-in-law made an excellent point, that Anne Boleyn was a man trapped in a woman's body. She thirsted too much for power, something of a Medieval (and feminine) Icarus, and most likely never would have lost her head had she been born a man. What a sad, sad tale. Here's to Anne Boleyn, skillfully played by the (now) exquisite Natalie Dormer: you have indeed won my heart, Natalie. Here's to hoping I see you more on the big screen.
Likewise, the role of the sinister and conniving Thomas Boleyn, Anne and George's father and sniveling power-hungry snake who (in reality) sold his own children up the river to save his own wretched skin (only to die several years later, alone and penniless) was played with unbelievable dexterity and almost painful brilliance by the incredible Irish actor Nick Dunning. Of a face to which you are likely to comment, "Where have I seen him before?", I only realised today that he had a rather inconsequential role in the beautiful Jim Sheridan film In America. Dunning's Boleyn is the proverbial man you love to hate, an undeniably disgusting character whose quest for power and wealth is rivaled by none other than his daughter, the Queen of England.
It will be interesting to see where they take the series next. The Boleyns have fallen from power, all executed on trumped-up (and, historically believed to be completely false) charges or (in Thomas Boleyn's case) exiled from Court. Henry has already had his infamous jousting accident that left him with a foul and festering ulcer on his leg. Henry now needs to bloat up to 300+ lbs., marry Jane Seymour, Jane will deliver Edward VI and die soon thereafter, Henry will then in quick succession dispatch of Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard, execute Thomas Cromwell, marry Catherine Parr, shift Mary I and Elizabeth I in and out of the line of sucession, and keel over at the ripe old age of 55. Royal intrigue at its finest!