Elaine Ambrose

Bestselling Author, Ventriloquist, & Humorist

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Don’t Match Your Socks with Your Shirt

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epcot 1989

I love socks. I grew up in Idaho where the winters require boots and a collection of thick, colorful socks, enough to fill an entire dresser drawer. Also, my pitiful feet resemble hooves fringed with bald sausages, and they practically scream to be covered. I wore socks during childbirth because my feet were uglier than all the mess associated with labor and delivery.

While disheveled and haphazard in every other part of my life, I am fastidious about my sock organization. There are categories for work, play, sports, holidays, and whimsy. It’s a sad day, indeed, when a hole appears in the heel or toe of a favorite sock. As a teenager, I knew how to drop a light bulb into the worn sock and sew the offensive gap with a needle and thread. I don’t do that anymore.

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I’ve also outgrown my corporate fashion sense that ordered me to match my socks with my shirt. I have a favorite photograph that shows my children and me at the Epcot Center at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The vacation seems like only a few days ago, but it’s been two decades. At the time, I was a manager at Boise Cascade Corporation and wore coordinated suits at work so felt that my socks must match my shirt during leisure times. In the photo, I’m wearing white shoes and shorts with red socks and shirt. I don’t do that anymore, either.

Here are some distinct reasons why you should increase your sock collection:

  1. They fit. You don’t need to worry about trying on various sizes because there are basically two choices: medium fits shoe size 6 through 10, and large fits size 10 and above.
  2. They are inexpensive. Sure, you can spend $25 for a good pair for skiing, but balance that with $2 for a 2-pack for everyday wear. It’s less painful to throw away cheap socks when they are tattered and threadbare.
  3. They complement your mood. If I’m in sophisticated fashion boots with a classic winter outfit, I often wear outrageous, unmatched socks to soothe the inner rebel.
  4. Others know what gift you’ll like. My daughter always gives me socks as a present because she knows I’ll love and wear them. It’s personal and fun but not demanding.
  5. They bring comfort. On those rare occasions when you get to lounge around with a good book and a plate of cookies, toss the shoes and stay cozy in a favorite pair.

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Here’s one more recommendation about socks: Remember that a colorful life demands more than wearing boring attire. Limit your use of white socks, and tiptoe out of your comfort zone into some snazzy, bold patterns. Search on line at websites such as www.boldsocks.com or www.joyofsocks.com. You and your feet will be happy.

 

 

Five Reasons to Attend Your School Reunion

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first grade class 1958 elaine age 5

You wear your favorite yoga pants and the “This Wine is Making Me Awesome” t-shirt, sit down with a bag of cookies, and proceed to open the mail. Then you choke when you see the letter about the pending high school reunion only six months away. There is no way you’ll lose 50 pounds in time, so you tackle that second bag of cookies before it gets stale. And you cringe because your title of “Most Likely to Succeed” turned into “Most Likely to Wear a Bathrobe to the Store.”

In my hometown of Wendell, Idaho, the annual combined class reunion includes graduates from the past sixty years. All ages come together to reminisce, shake their heads at the rambunctious youngsters, and moan about the loss of the playground equipment.

“Kids can’t even play anymore,” they mumble. “I remember how we fell out of trees, crashed off the monkey bars, and rode our bikes without a helmet. I hit my head so many times I forgot my name. These children will never know how to have fun like we did.”

The old-timers nod and pontificate about the pending doom of society. Then the band begins playing a concoction of Country, Blue Grass, and Tent Revival music and the mood changes to positive reflection. Even the most caustic attendees adjust their suspenders and tap their manure-covered boots in sporadic rhythms.

“Look at ol’ Mr. Brown,” someone mentions about an elderly man dancing alone in the grass. “He was my parent’s teacher back in ’63. Looks like he’s still breathing.”

“I noticed Harley still has his own teeth.” A collective gasp of approval comes from the group. “Did you see Wanda’s fake hairpiece? Looks like a muskrat crawled onto her head and died.” We’re all suddenly back in high school.

Even if you hated school, you don’t want to miss the excitement and renewed camaraderie that could result from attending the reunion. Here are 5 reasons to go.

  1. It’s nice to see the popular people living ordinary lives. Now, the Student Body President runs a small eldercare facility, the Homecoming Queen works part-time in the Post Office, and the athletic star lives in a rehab center somewhere in the Midwest. The worthless class clown, however, flew to the reunion in a private jet.
  2. The 10th reunion is High School Part II. The same people still try to organize, direct, and cheer-lead the group. But by then, the others can drink alcohol so the orchestrated program is more tolerable.
  3. The 20th Reunion encourages interesting liaisons. For those still single, divorced, or looking, suddenly the frumpy girl from History 301 looks cute or the nerd from English Class learned how to dress without white socks. Sparks fly and couples are holding hands and promising to stay in touch. There’s only a 10 percent chance these flings will last after the sun rises the next morning.
  4. The 30th Reunion is why Spanx was invented. Middle-age classmates have lost hair and gained bellies. They pull out reading glasses and show photos of their children. Some have grandchildren. The party is over by 10:00 pm.
  5. The 40th Reunion brings the Memory Wall. Photos of smiling faces beam from a poster showing those who have died. It’s a stark reminder that we’re not invincible. The crowd that cheered together and stomped to the beat of “We are the Champions” is missing several members. We hug each other with intention and share photos of grandkids.

If you receive the invitation to our reunion, don’t automatically throw it into the trash. Consider a nostalgic visit back to a time and place that formed an important part of your life. You can attend for a few hours, if only to celebrate your current life without all the crap and drama from high school. It’s okay to rent a luxury sports car for the day.

 

How to Cut Out Your Ex from Your Life after Divorce

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BFF

If there’s ever a time you need a little distraction in your life, it’s during the divorce process. That’s why we launched our Divorce Care Package series. With each post, we’ll show you what things — books, movies, recipes — helped others relieve stress in the midst of divorce, in the hopes that a few of their picks will serve you well, too. Want to share what got you through your divorce? Email us atdivorce@huffingtonpost.com or tweet @HuffPost Divorce

It was the simple things in life that reminded writer Elaine Ambrose she’d make it through the roughest days of her divorce: good, slightly indulgent food (hey, it’s not called comfort food for nothing); close friends and family firmly in her corner; and areally killer Tina Turner song.

Below, Ambrose, who blogs regularly for HuffPost, tells us more about the little things that helped her cope post-split.

  • The Song
  • “One of my favorite songs dates back to 1984 with Tina Turner singing ‘Better Be Good to Me.’ I played that song a lot during my divorce, and I’ll admit to fantasizing about prancing around, shaking my booty, and snapping a big whip. Yes, that song made me feel like a real badass then.”
  • The Quote
    joSon via Getty Images/Canva
    “I started a Facebook account in 2008, the same year as my divorce, and added a quote from Erma Bombeck: “When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would have not a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.'” Even though I was divorced during midlife, I was determine to find the humor and positive potential in my life. I was thrilled in 2014 when I was chosen to perform a stand-up comedy routine at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop in Ohio.”
  • The Book
    Amazon
    “My book, Menopause Sucks, was actually released in 2008 right when I was going through the divorce. Fortunately, I had changed my married name back to my maiden name before the release, but the publisher didn’t have time to change my bio on the back cover. (What a bummer.) It still listed me as married, but at least the description didn’t include his name. Even though I’ve happily remarried, I’m not changing my name again.”
  • The Photograph
    “I love my travel photographs, but I have hundreds that include my ex. I probably won’t return to the Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt and I don’t know how to erase parts of the photos, so the cut-and-paste method will need to suffice for now. Here I am with Ramses the Great.”
  • The Movie
    “My adult daughter was instrumental in challenging me to improve my grumpy mood as I wallowed in the drama of divorce. For starters, she took me to see the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’ My divorce troubles seemed to fade when compared to life in the slums of India. This powerful, colorful, and entertaining movie provided the inspiration I needed to leave my personal pity party and celebrate the opportunities in my new life.”
  • The Diet
    H. Armstrong Roberts via Getty Images
    “After my divorce, I established a no-rules, no-fault diet. If I wanted only pie and ice cream for dinner, that’s what I ate. As long as I exercised to burn off extra calories and balanced the fattening meals with salad-only dinners, I enjoyed the freedom to eat whatever and whenever I wanted. And, I only had to clean up after myself! The food freedom was liberating.”
  • The Splurge
    sf_foodphoto via Getty Images
    “One of the few joint possessions I requested from the divorce was a time share account, mainly because I had paid for it. I used the points to take my children and their spouses on a New Year’s trip to wine country in Napa Valley, California. The wine was particularly tasty as we all raised our glasses to toast a new year with exciting adventures to come. To be honest, there was a brief moment of grief because I was the odd person at a table full of happy couples, but hey, I survived just fine.”
  • The Hobby
    Ezra Bailey via Getty Images
    “As I was going through the divorce process, I started a blog as a hobby and called it ‘Midlife Cabernet.’ Since then, I’ve become a syndicated blogger and my humorous essays are featured on Huffington Post and several other websites. This year I compiled the blogs into a book and published Midlife Cabernet – Live, Love, and Laughter after Fifty. The book won the 2014 Silver Medal for Humor from the Independent Publisher Book Award Program (IPPY), and Publishers Weekly reviewed it as ‘laugh-out-loud funny.’ I believe that a good sense of humor is necessary because it’s always better to laugh than to break something or smack someone in the head.”

Two Shades of Grey

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fat cupid

The owner of a hotel in England recently replaced guest copies of the Holy Bible, the world’s bestselling book, with Fifty Shades of Grey, the soft-porn bestseller than inspires horny women to imagine torrid but poorly written fantasies. While I endorse creative marketing strategies and applaud freedom of physical expression, I assume that the hotel management will also provide locked safes for families with children, and disposable, battery-operated toys for those flying solo.

Because I can’t stop myself from noticing the profound and conspicuous differences between the two books, I’ve noted an excerpt from each:

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among men. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste….
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for (his) love is more delightful than wine.”
–“Song of Solomon,” Old Testament, written more than 3,000 years ago

“I found some baby oil. Let me rub it on your behind.”
—Fifty Shades of Grey, current bestselling novel

I don’t want to debate religion (thank God). I’m merely questioning the literary value of certain bestselling books. It doesn’t take much imagination to slither into Anastasia Steele’s sticky bedroom where she exclaims with amazement, “I don’t remember reading about nipple clamps in the Bible!”

But it takes thought, reflection, and reading ability to get lost in Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (a personal favorite) or to feel the heartache described in The Help by Kathryn Stockett or to appreciate the wit of Olive Ann Burns in Cold Sassy Tree. Maybe it’s all a matter of balancing excellence with trash, much like enjoying the occasional corn dog at the county fair. But it’s also important to use or lose the delicate sensory perception abilities that come from our brains to arouse the gray matter between our ears instead of between the sheets.

The movie adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey premieres on Valentine’s Day, but I won’t be attending or investing in supplies of rope, paddles, or whips. The only kinky habits I enjoy are to romp with my sweetheart and cool down with warm pie and ice cream washed down with a bold Cabernet. No bondage or spanking sessions are required, and we’re completely satisfied.

I prefer my version of passion over age fifty to be titled Two Shades of Grey. The first requirement during intimate encounters would require all lights to be dim, and the second option would be lights out and only then the flannel jammies come off. The only risque activity would be if we both wore blindfolds; not for naughty pleasure but to protect our eyesight from loose but lovable skin.

I guess we should be grateful that the book is encouraging some women to read. Maybe they’ll transition to other options to discover passion and drama in more literary choices. Nothing screams “Take me now!” like the vision of a loving couple reading good books together in bed.

There is a subtle connection with Fifty Shades of Grey and A Tale of Two Cities, the all-time bestselling novel ever written. Biographers of the author Charles Dickens wrote that he believed that prolific sexual activity was necessary for a healthy man. The sub-plot for his great novel centers on the erotic exploitation of a young, powerless girl by an older, powerful man. Ironically, that plot sounds similar to the story in Fifty Shades. Maybe it’s a literary masterpiece after all.

Don’t Fart During an MRI

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I share this true but pathetic story to commiserate with other tortured souls who relentlessly endure and survive extreme humiliation. We’re a group of accident-prone fools who regularly trigger embarrassing situations that would permanently traumatize a normal person. My experience this week will be difficult to surpass: I farted inside an MRI machine.

In medical terms, I had torn the meniscus cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between my shinbone and thighbone. In middle-age woman terms, two demons from hell invaded my body and lit fires in my knee and then danced around poking the raw nerves with electric forks. The pain was beyond intense, and the accident severely damaged my body so I couldn’t stand, walk, or even crawl to the wine bar.

Five drug-induced days later, I finally saw an orthopedic surgeon. He manipulated my knee until tears streamed down my cheeks and I threatened to tear off his arms. It should have been obvious that I was injured by the way I was ripping off chunks from the sides of the examination table. I silently vowed to add him as a nasty character in my next short story. Finally, some lovely angel gave me legal narcotics. Soon my ravaged leg was a big, bandaged joke, and I laughed and laughed.

A few days later I experienced the MRI – a magnetic resonance imaging procedure that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio waves to make images of damaged ligaments and joints. A handsome young technician helped me into the tube of terror and strapped down my leg. I nervously remarked that a first name usually was required before I allowed anyone to tie me in a bed. He didn’t laugh but ordered me to hold still for 45 minutes. So there I was, in pain, suffering from claustrophobia, moving on a conveyor belt into the white torture chamber, and I didn’t have a clue how to remain motionless. And, to complete the distress, my only audience wasn’t amused by my jokes.

After about 20 minutes, I started to get anxious. I was tied down in a tunnel and could only hear strange beeping noises and grinding sounds. For all I knew, they were deciding which body parts to extract and sell on the black market. Then a queasy feeling predicted a pending passing of gas. I bit my tongue, pinched my side, and tried to focus on a pastoral scene in a green meadow beside a babbling brook. I could hear my mother’s advice: “Squeeze the dime.” I fidgeted.

“Please hold still,” came a voice from outside the shaft of shame.

I watched as the lights and numbers revealed how much time remained. Three minutes. I could do it! No! My body betrayed me at the one-minute mark. I was trapped and helpless so my nervous body did what it does best: it farted. I released gas with the intensity and conviction of a team of sumo wrestlers after a chili-eating contest. And the confined space caused the sound to be amplified as if a dozen foghorns had simultaneously activated. I didn’t know whether to cry, giggle, or call my son and brag.

“Well now, I think we have enough images,” the handsome technician said, suppressing a laugh.

The magic bed moved backwards into freedom, bringing along the putrid stench of decay. I was mortified as my imaginary meadow became a ravaged pasture full of rotting manure. What in the hell had I eaten? I avoided eye contact with the timid technician and hobbled back to the dressing room. Once again, I accepted my fate of being the perpetual, reluctant clown, the oddball, the one who farts during a complicated medical procedure.

If I ever need another MRI, I’ll request a facility in Texas. Everyone farts there.

Five Fun and (Almost) Free Things to Do

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elaine 2013 (114)

 

It’s already the second week of January. How are those resolutions working for you?  I made it three days without chocolate, so I’m golden for the rest of the month.

If you’re still in the “New Year, New You” mood, here are some hints for five fun, inexpensive activities to do that will improve your life. Try at least two of them before the end of the year.

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  1. Avoid negative people. You’ll never change them, so why be around them? They will suck out every ounce of energy you have and leave you a depleted shell of wasted humanity. This rule could be awkward if the offensive person is a relative, client, or neighbor, so just reduce the time you spend with them. Delete irritating, bloviating, and whining friends from your social media accounts. This experience is delightful, liberating, and perfectly legal.

mirabel flowers

2. Plant flowers in the spring with a child. Grab a cute kid – grandchildren are perfect for this project – and take them to select some flowers, haul everything into your yard, get dirty, make a mess, laugh, and plant some petunias. If you don’t have a yard, use some inexpensive pots and potting soil in your home or plant flowers at a nearby nursing home. Invite the sweetie pie over for tea parties throughout the summer so you can watch the flowers bloom and grow forever. Hum “Edelweiss,” if necessary.

 

elaine 2013 (113)

3. Explore other times and places that spark your imagination. You won’t need to find your lost passport or endure airport security lines if you find a comfortable chair and a good book. Look through your collection, browse your local bookstore, or schedule a few hours at the public library. I recommend Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, and All the Light You Cannot See by my friend Anthony Doerr.

brooke bubbles 4

  1. Blow bubbles. Watching kids giggle while they blow bubbles is better than any entertainment on television. Bottles are inexpensive from craft stores or you can make your own solution by gently mixing ½ cup water, ½ cup dish soap, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. You’ll need to keep the wands from empty bottles, and it’s best to do this activity outside. It’s okay if you secretly do this by yourself.

cabin wine

  1. Sit still and observe nature. Free: walk to a city park and sit on a bench. Some cost: drive to a nature center or the nearest scenic place. I prefer the mountains. More cost: add a bottle of wine and bring along a good friend/designated driver. Repeat these scenarios as often as possible.

These activities don’t cost much money and you don’t need to download, upload, or charge anything. The only batteries required are in your car. Simple pleasures are usually the best. Have a splendid year.