Married Life: I am pit crew, hear me roar

So the popular question for everyone who emails me these days is: So, how's married life? I suppose I should eventually answer the question.

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, I have been blessed. Unlike most weddings in Pakistani culture, mine was not to a complete stranger. It wasn't even to an acquaintance, it was to a person who became a good friend. That is probably why, when I try to describe things betweenMr. Abez and I, I say being married is like hanging out with a friend. All the time. Except when he's at work and I'm home cooking and straightening up.

Yeah, he brings home the bacon and I turn it into pumpkin pies. Does that make me a housewife? It might, but I think there are too many negative connotations associated with that word. I prefer to use a different term. Allow me to explain. A race car has only one driver, but there's a whole team of guys with power bolt-removers who go zzzummmzummmm and change the car's tires real fast when the driver has made a pit stop. Could any one of them have driven the car? Probably. Could the driver change his own tires? Sure he could. But when you're a part of a team, you do what needs done and you support your mateys.

I am the man in the red jumpsuit. I am pit crew. I could be the driver, I could bring home the bacon and HF could put some biryani masala on it, but at the moment I'm simply not. And besides, his masala bacon is terrible and if he did the cooking we'd all die of grease poisoning. Keep that man away from olive oil, he thinks it's God's Answer to the scourge of low-fat foods.

Do I mind being pit crew? Not at all. Especially since the pit has broadband internet access as well as the freedom to do as pit crew likes. And then there's the stylish jumpsuit. And the power tools.

-ahem- I know that some people consider huswifery to be a downgrade, possibly even the waste of an intelligent female. Considering the path to academic over-achievement that I was once on, this may not seem like the fruition of all those 'you can be something' speeches that the guidance counselor gave me, and yet, am I not something? I make pit crew what I want it to be. I don't wake up and drag my feet to the kitchen (I wake up and HF drags my feet to the kitchen for me, hehe) I wake up and think about breakfast creatively. Then I make eggs with too much salt, but I digress.

I don't do household chores all day, I have a set agenda of things that need done in order to run a clean, smooth Formula 1 team, and I get them done as soon as possible so that I have time for the other things that are important to me. Do I still not have the time to blog properly? Yes, but that has nothing to do with housework and everything to do with chilling with my favorite race care driver. :)

The mutual give and take of a successful relationship doesn't end on the emotional level, it extends into the practical. Would 'I love you' be worth anything if I refused to make my husband a cup of tea when he was tired, or if he refused to help me when I was tired? I find nothing degrading in supporting the person who supports me. I'm proud to be part of an efficient, enthusiastic team.

Got to go, HF will be making a pit stop soon and I need to put a radial tire, err, chicken in the oven. It's the um, fuel for the engine, hehe.

Labels: HusbandFiles

posted by Abez @ 7/26/2005 01:41:00 PM
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The Husband Files: DIY Mango Milkshake

My husband has an interesting recipe for mango milkshake.

Step 1. Ask your wife to make you a mango milkshake.
Step 2. Look forlorn when your wife won't make you one.
Step 2.5 Discover that your wife doesn't like mangoes.
Step 3. Pout.
Step 4. Dolefully accept ingredients from wife for do-it-yourself mango milkshake;

• milk
• icecubes
• sugar
• two mangoes

Step 5. Begin combining ingredients. In a wok.

Labels: HusbandFiles

posted by Abez @ 7/12/2005 12:10:00 PM
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Coming soon:

Is it a sin to be rich?

For now: It has happened. I have given myself the first mortal wound of my married life. I do not wish to horrify those of you with delicate constitutions with the gory details. Nor do I wish to upset those readers who lack intestinal fortitude. (please, not on the computer chair...) So all I will say is this- There was a hot skillet and a cocky, no-good hash brown that refused to accept its rightful place in the circle of life, and when it took off I had to show it what's what. I had to chase the sucker down and retrieve it, and being a Suggard does come with occupational hazards, and at some point during the high-speed chase, I invented a new recipe for Seared Abez. Tsssss. So now there's the pink burn on my forearm of all places, almost into the crook of my elbow, and if you think that's bad, you should see what I did to the hash brown. mwa. ha. ha. chomp.

Oh, and I fought the Shogun and nearly lost the tip of my thumb, but the fruit salad does taste meatier for it. The End.

And here, for the sake of posterity:

Mortal Wound: TROGDOR!

Mortal Wound: Sensei Presents

Mortal Wound: Killing me softly with pineapple

Mortal Wound: Oven-roasted Knuckles

Mortal Wound: GONGGG!

Mortal Wound: ZAP!

Mortal Wound: Waxing your thumbs: pros and cons

Mortal Wound: Carrot upside-down cake

Mortal Wound: Crackers on the rebound

Mortal Wound: Death By Exasperation

Mortal Wound: The Mortal Wound Medley

posted by Abez @ 7/07/2005 11:17:00 PM
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