Avoid an Australian Husband

In the November, Redbook, an article called, "American Heroes," discusses the what nationality of men make the best husbands? Are the Americans more macho? The French more suave? The Italians more sexy? Who does make the best husbands? Yes, send out the international search party for this special breed of beast that is all that a wife ever dreamed. Well, not so fast.

What the study did reveal is that American, British and Norwegian husbands ranked high on the list of husbands most willing to help out with household chores (such as, laundry, shopping and cooking). At the bottom of the list were the Aussies. They may be cute and have a fabulous accent, but don't expect them to hand you a laundry pin or dry the dishes.

The study was done by Oxford University and studied the habits of 113,500 husbands in 12 different countries.

I guess we need to applaud - and congratulate - our American husbands.

Grilling Tips

If there is anything most husband's love to do - it's to grill.

Now that an Autumn chill is in the air it's a great last-chance-option to fire up the grill. Depending on where you live, there may only be a few more weeks before winter sets in. Dropping temperatures will soon make cooking outside uncomfortable or prohibitive. Ribs, chicken, burgers, or veggie options (such as grilled eggplant or veggie burgers) are delicious. The smell alone will make your neighbors drooling with envy and coincidentally knocking on your door with a bottle of wine or homemade brownies.

The secret to grilling is often in the marinade or glaze. The traditional brown sugar BBQ sauce is a backyard classic, but don't be afraid to branch out. A couple of month's ago Sunset Magazine (August) was recommending a Zaatar Glaze (from the Middle East) and a spicy Basil Chile Lemonade Glaze (with red chili flakes). Regardless what you use, make it something new and memorable. The marinades work best if the meat is left to soak several hours - letting the texture absorb the flavors.

For an added (yet, simple) zing stick a few cloves of garlic into small slits in the meat and rub with brown sugar, ketchup and a little olive oil.

After dinner, roast a few marshmallows over the grill and make the timeless and delicious smores for dessert (marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers).

Of course, praise your husband for his fabulous grilling techniques - even if you selected the meat, marinated it , and lit the grill. Who is counting anyway? And a full belly always makes everyone happy.

Bette Davis on Marriage

"I'd marry again if I found a man who had fifteen million dollars, would sign over half to me, and guarantee that he'd be dead within a year."

- Bette Davis
(Bette Davis died today in Paris in 1989).

CDQ!

"Where are you, and when are you coming back?" The wife asked breathlessly.

Where is your husband when you need him? It is an known fact that when anything breaks, floods, stops, or falls, a husband is nowhere insight.

Do you ever have your husband walk out the door for a business trip and as soon as the door closes a tree falls on the house, the car gets a flat tire and the kids get sick with the flu. Why?

Is it Murphy's Law (anything can and will get worse) or Husbandology Law (if it goes south it will happen when I am alone)that allows us to always have to pick-up the pieces (and it's a 1,000,000 piece puzzle) when the are AWOL.

Well, tomorrow (Oct 3) is the day SOS became the international distress signal
(1906). But interesting enough it replace "CDQ." What did CDQ stand for? "Come Damn Quick." To me, the CDA acronym sums it up very succinctly.

So tomorrow, you might want to implement the CDQ call in your house. Use it to text your husband on your cell phone. Does it mean help? No, it means, just get here - now.

How likely are you to divorce?

According to recent studies, the US divorce rate remains around 50% of all married couples. The majority of those who divorce will marry between the ages of 20 to 24 years. The least likely age group to divorce are those marrying between the ages of 35 to 39 years.

You are most likely to stay married with your first marriage. If you get married for a second time there is a 60% likelihood that you will divorce and if you marry a third time there is a 73% likelihood that you will divorce.

If you are childless you will statistically be more likely to divorce than if you don't have children. It is reported that 66% of all divorced couples are childless.

Now, you know the likelihood of you marriage lasting - statistically, of course. But then again, love will find a way.

Bad Girls Go Everywhere, But Where Do Good Wives Go?

A new book is out and about entitled, "Bad Girls Go Everywhere." This 270 page biography is about the life and times of 'chic, intelligent and free-wheeling Cosmo girl' Helen Gurley Brown. The bio (priced at $27.95) has already sparked controversy - was she a blessing for single girls, a curse for married woman or a ground-breaking liberator of both?

Brown's 1962 book, Sex and the Single Girl, sold over 2 million copies in just three weeks, but instead of changing a male-dominant system -like followers of the women's movement - she showed women how to manipulate it.

Charlotte Hays, of the Wall Street Journal, doesn't buy the praise lavished on Brown in the book by Scanlon, saying Brown was a woman who "disdained housewives-and slept with more than a few of their husbands, simply because doing so afforded her more money or a better apartment. Call Brown 'Shrewd' but don't call her a feminist hero."

Indeed, Brown has claimed to have been "sexually involved" with a boss or a colleague at every office that she worked while single. And she didn't marry until she was 37-years-old - a lot of time to 'cat around' and then to David Brown, a movie producer.

After her best-selling book, Brown ran Cosmopolitan Magazine for 35 years, encouraging women to live larger lives, establish careers and embrace their sexuality. To this day, Brown still over-sees Cosmo's foreign editions.

It may be fun and exciting to be a swinging single Cosmo girl - at least until that liberated girl lands in bed with YOUR husband - and then, perhaps, it ain't so sexy.. is it?

Something worth celebrating?

Today, in 1987, the publishers of the Oxford English Dictionary announced that the word 'bonk' would appear in the 1989 addition of the Dictionary.