Operation 1950’s Hot Housewife – Day Two
Day Two (Yesterday)
I am not a morning person and the alarm going off at 6:11am was not a welcome thing. I gave myself some time to lay in my husband’s arms since I was taking full advantage he didn’t have to be up at 0400 (4:00am) and was actually there when I woke up. Those arms are just too perfect and my few minutes turned into twenty. Oops. The goal for the morning: leave the house by 0800 (8:00am).
Here is how the morning went:
- Got up and showered
- Groomed my eyebrows (which since I waxed them so much as a teenager are pretty thin and luckily don’t require too much upkeep)
- Fed Doc
- Watered Glider (she had ‘food’ aka worms in her bowl already)
- Made biscuits and jam for breakfast
- The hubs had already made his coffee. I didn’t know he’d gotten up while I was in the shower. I don’t even know how to make coffee (I know, I know) and his coffee pot is on a timer, so it’s this ritual he does each evening with getting everything ready. It’s really cute, actually.
- When I came out of our bathroom and saw hubby was already up, I made the bed. Usually, I would just leave it.
While the biscuits were in the oven I was in the bathroom blow-drying and straightening my hair. I wasn’t even going to begin to attempt a pin-up look (though I LOVE the Bettie Page hairstyles), and since hubby likes my hair stick straight, I pulled out the flat-iron. GOOD GRIEF that felt like it took forever. I have a lot of hair – a good thing and a curse! Usually I am ready to go in fifteen minutes. I think this took about thirty to forty minutes just for my hair. In the middle of trying to make sure I was following the rule of blow-drying by holding my brush vertically and my hair horizontally (or something like that), I stopped, washed my hands and ran into the kitchen to make sure I wasn’t burning anything.
When the biscuits came out of the oven I asked hubby if he wanted honey or jam and he said, “Oh I’ll do it.” I replied, “No, no. I got it,” and then smiled. He chose jam. So I prepped the biscuits and brought them over on a cute little plate then grabbed his coffee mug to refill it. I had to ask him how much sugar and milk to put in. He looked at me funny when I wouldn’t let him serve himself. Note to self: Learn how to operate the coffee machine pot thingy.
While he sat eating, I stood and ate while emptying the dishwasher from the night before. Then I loaded our used dishes and went to finish my hair. And make-up. You know you don’t wear make-up very much when you go to look for blush and realize you have none left. When did that happen? I have no idea! I used light bronzer instead and it looked fine. I also put a brush and bronzer into my purse. More on this in a minute.
I put all my bathroom utensils away, got some of my beloved Clorox Wipes and wiped down the sink and ewww, this is gross – but I also did a wipe to get any of my locks that had made their way onto the floor. I hate hair on the floor.
I actually wore an “undergarment” slip and then put on my dress, as promised. Before I left, the hubs was showing me trucks he’s interested in (online). In my head I was thinking, “I should get going,” but in 1950’s housewife mode I thought, “I should sit and listen to every.single.detail. about the features on this truck and its bed.
After a few minutes I kissed and hug hubby and left for work. At 0820 (8:20am).
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| You can’t tell, but yes I have make-up on! |
When I got into work I think I got literally a dozen compliments on my dress throughout the day. I was also told how well-put together I looked. That was nice, I admit. The irony is that I loved the dresswhen I bought it then started to hate the pattern, but since it’s summer I thought it would be appropriate. I guess it’s not as bad as I thought! I had also worn the dress to work maybe three times in the last 11 months and no one ever said a word. For some reason yesterday everyone spoke up. I guess the effort on the hair and make-up does make people take notice. I also didn’t do my make-up over the top. It was more than normal, but not “glamorous” by any stretch of the imagination.
The day flew by. Before I knew it, I was in the car heading back home. WITHOUT my laptop. Yes, ladies and gents. I left my laptop at home! I usually take it with me because my company’s global headquarters are on another continent sometimes requiring nighttime emails (their morning is my night). Did I notice its absence? Yes. Did I miss it? No.
Hubby wanted to go to the grocery store with me, so when I got home in keeping with this guideline, with my modern twist: 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; I brushed my hair and checked to make sure my make-up still looked okay while still in the parking garage. I reapplied some light bronzer and headed up. Obviously, there was no 15 minutes of rest. And the ribbon? Not happenin’.
I got in and hugged and kiss hubby, then immediately changed into my yoga gear. We grabbed our grocery totes and walked to the store.
When we got home, I told hubby to relax. He poured a drink; and opened me some wine then I got to cooking. The menu didn’t quite align with my hearty/gourmet plan, but it was good. Salmon, steamed veggies and wild rice. The veggies were already prepared so all I had to do was steam them. The rice was easy and the fish took just over an hour.
Recipe: I lined a glass pan with aluminum foil, sprayed the bottom with Olive Oil Pam, washed the fish then applied a rub of thyme, marjoram, mustard seed, smoked sea salt and Adobo (MSG free) along with some olive oil and lemon. I set the oven to 200 degrees (not a typo) and baked the fish, uncovered, for 60 minutes. At the end of the 60 minutes, I set the oven to broil for 7 minutes and let the fish continue to bake – do not wait for the oven to get all the way to the broiling point; just turn it to broil and wait seven minutes. It was moist and perfect.
We were so full we didn’t eat dessert – lemon sorbet. Hubby got up to clear his dish and I exclaimed, “No! No! Let me do that.” He rolled his eyes and kind of laughed at me, then took my dish, too. I got up and grabbed the plates from him, rinsed them and put everything in the dishwasher.
We watched This is 40on Redbox and then got ready for bed. Let’s just say we both slept reaaaallly well.
Thoughts: I need to get this timing thing down a little better! Waking up and using the oven to make breakfast on a weekday is new to me. I know some of you are rolling your eyes right now. It took a lot more time than I had anticipated and I did not expect it to be almost two hours from the time I got out of bed until the time I left the house in the morning.
I am also going to have to have a more positive attitude about the hair and make-up thing. I am not liking having to spend so much time in front of the mirror. It’s not that I was a hag before, but since I am not a pro at blow-drying, straightening, curling, etc. or at make-up application, this is taking up a lot of time. It is just not something I enjoy doing. Braided pigtails, a tank top, jeans and a baseball cap works for me most of the time. And to the office, I can do sloppy buns or just brush my hair and go. Blow-drying is really just drying my hair with no rhyme or reason to it. If anyone has suggestions on making beauty routines fun, I am all ears. Well, eyes.
It was nice to come home to a clean place and that other people noticed my efforts. I enjoyed shopping together, which we often do. I also liked knowing I’d come home to prepare dinner for us. Resolving to cook more is something I am actually really happy about. Spending time together without the laptop was wonderful. He shut his down, too. We laughed, joked and though he is resistant of letting me pick up after him, it reminds me how lucky I am that my partner treats me like an equal.
Thinking back to a time when people ate together, had conversations and didn’t have their noses buried in iPads, smart phones and technology makes me smile. There is a place for those things, but it won’t be at my dinner table. Considering how the night ended, I’d say although not perfect in my timing, Day Two was a smashing success! 😉
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For those who want to participate in Operation 1950’s Hot Housewife – With a Modern Twist, click here for a list of guidelines. I’ve added my own modern twists for each one.
