The Sweet Life: Ida LeClair’s Guide to Love and Marriage is officially out into the world. We had a wicked fun book launch and tomorrow I’ll be at the Patten Free Library in Bath doing my first reading. Next week, I’ll be in Hallowell at the Hubbard Free Library. Let the fun begin!
The Sweet Life covers all the basics in a relationship including losing your mate, grieving, and in time, maybe starting to date again. Here’s a little something from Chapter 11.
You lost your spouse. You’re still grieving, but some time has passed, and you’re feeling the need for a little companionship. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s a good thing. Let me assure you, you’re not being disloyal to your mate. You’re doing what they would want you to do: moving forward with your life.
But how, right? Because you haven’t dated since the early Paleozoic, and things have changed. The world is not the same place, and your body, well, let’s just say you’d only consider doing the dance of the seven veils with eight veils.
(If your spouse is still alive and kicking, don’t skip this chapter. Some of the things I talk about here will help you in the “dating your mate” department. Heck, a lot of the makeover advice will just plan make you feel good. Now, that’s a win/win!)
Laying a Good Foundation
Whether you’re ready to start dating or not, your world has probably been on hold since your spouse passed and maybe for years before that, if they had a long illness. Now, it’s time to release the hold button, freshening things up and expanding your horizons. Trust me, it’ll change your outlook on things to no end. Because here’s the deal: you’re not spiffing yourself up to attract a mate (though it might happen). You’re doing it for yourself. As my mother used to say, “Look good, smell good, feel good,” right?
Laying a good foundation is key, and by that I mean lingerie, underwear, whatever you want to call it. First off, go through your stuff and throw out anything that you wouldn’t want someone else to see. This includes you guys, too. There’s nothing romantic about prehistoric briefs, full of holes, stained, so ratty that your wife wouldn’t even have use ‘em as dust rags! She probably took care of this kind of thing, but now you have to step up to the plate. This is not just for looks, but it’s practical, too.
Last winter, after one of the many big snow storms we had, I noticed it seemed to take Charlie forever to snowblow the driveway. A couple of hours later, he clomps back into the house. I’m making him some hot cocoa, because that’s what you do when your husband’s been out snowblowing. I says to him, “Is somethin’ wrong with the blower?”
“No, why?”
“Well, you kept stopping and disappearing into the shed.”
“Naw,” he says. “It’s my underwear.”
“Your underwear?”
“Elastic’s shot. Had to keep going in there to pull ‘em up.”
“Why didn’t you just come inside and change them?”
“I was all dressed. Take too long.”
“Well, you must have had an inkling when you put them on this morning.”
“Ya, but I was in a hurry to get out there. Besides, they’re all shot, so it’s slim pickins.”
“Why don’t you just buy some new underwear? I can’t believe you let yourself suffer like that.”
“Haven’t gotten around to it. But I got a birthday coming up. Maybe I’ll get my wife on it.”
Don’t let dodgy underwear get in the way of you doin’ what you want to do.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Laying a Good Foundation
Coming Up This Week
May 24: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Patten Free Library, http://www.patten.lib.me.us/ 6:30pm, Bath, ME
May 28: Ida: Woman Who Runs With the Moose, The Castle on Charles http://www.castlenh.com/ 8:00pm, Rochester, NH
Upcoming Book Events and Performances
June 2: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Hubbard Free Library, http://www.hubbardfree.org/ 6:00pm, Hallowell, ME
June 25: The Best of Ida, Celebration Barn Theater, http://www.celebrationbarn.com/ 8:00pm, South Paris, ME
August 4: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Albert Church Brown Memorial Library, http://www.acbrown.lib.me.us/ 7:00pm, China, ME
August 11: The View From He’ah Variety Show, http://actonenh.org/ 2:00 & 7:30pm, Portsmouth, NH
August 30: Book Reading: The Sweet Life, Rangeley Public Library, http://www.rangeleylibrary.com/default.asp?Key=1&Cat=1 6:00pm, Rangeley, ME