Dear Dad,

Happy Father's Day. I just bought this for you:

Annnnd you're welcome.

Love,

LL

man candles, you're welcome

So I just read about some new products for all my man friends. I got alot of you out there that I love lots and you are ALL going to be getting the following gifts, courtesy of some pretty fan-fuckin-tastic people at Yankee Candles:

 

OK what the bloody hell is this? I mean what smell is "meat sweats"?!?!?! Other notable new scents include: Riding Mower (clearly cut grass) and First Down (no idea, something with football, maybe leather pigskin?).

Boys don't burn candles. That's a female smelly thing. Or a single old cat lady thing. Yeah, cats and candles, both sad in older woman. Sweaty ball candle, also sad for men. Just say no.

Not sure there is a market here but we'll see how Yankee does. I mean I'd buy one of each just so I could see how bad the smell really was. But this is coming from someone who has 40 reed difusers in her home....

Man candles for everyone!

cananda just went up in my book

Wow, those northern canucks just went a notch up in my book. I mean their lower legal drinking age was a pro throughout high school and college, but now as my priorities have shifted (yeah like booze isn't still a priority) I like that they are also givers. I just read about the 17th Annual “Teddy Bear Toss” in Calgary where fans of the minor-league hockey team the Calgary Hitmen throw teddy bears onto the ice to celebrate the team’s first goal, with the bears eventually being collected and donated to the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Wanna see 25,000 teddy bears flying through the air at the greatest of ease??? Yes please.



Pretty badass. Can more American teams do this? Again, I'd like to state how I could run the shit out of a sports team's philanthropy and community efforts. I'm just sayin.

shop eddie

I need to start shopping at Eddie Bauer again.**

It's the holiday season and you gotta give the gift of....



**If you don't get it, watch this clip.

Step 1: Cut a hole in a box

Step 2: Put your junk in the box

now this is youth development

Now here is an example of some quality youth development, doing the everyday work of kindness in the spirit of giving back to the community. I've watched Barry for over 15 years at the MSU basketball games, and always wondered his story.

This is the work, the type of influence you can have, where you can open up your door, listen, and start a ripple of change. It is not about teaching wining or losing, but about the process, the developmental potential. It stirs all types of feelings inside me that leads me closer to an path of inspiration, dedication, reaching for more.

OK maybe I'm taking this too far, but none-the-less, a good story if you need a pick-me-up:

telling you your lupie business

Well this was my 4th year to suit up and attend the Lupus Foundation of America's Advocacy Days on the hill in DC. Last week we had meetings with all my representatives from the big commonwealth of VA. I didn't get to meet another Senator and I severely missed little Tommy P, but I found my voice....

As many of you know, I have a big damn mouth but when at LFA events I tend to be the tall quiet one in the back. My story is not nearly as traumatic or sad or meaningful as all my friends. I was diagnosed early, I can work a 40 hour job, I have health care, and therefore I keep my mouth shut. I don't know if I can accurately articulate this to those who don't experience it daily--the degree of disaster that this disease takes on the lives of the people affected, and how much I am abnormal. I was just emailing with one of my more sane support group friends who was THRILLED to get her drug list down to 8 prescription a day, and seriously she is what I would call high-functioning.

This year on the hill (for the first time ever) I felt strong enough to talk more, to share, and to give a 20-minute "tell-you-your-business" speech. And luckily, it went well. I'll be the first to admit that it might just be that my expectations have changed, in that it didn't bother me when those crazy women go off on their stories or when the foundation can't get their business together. I articulated our purpose and I didn't get as upset when the staffers replied "we are in a budget short fall" or "we don't support that."

Last week, I got a little crazy tweeting up a storm with the LFA stuff. Also, if you want to write any of your representatives, using an LFA form letter, you can do so here. Tell them someone special to you was on the hill (for big block of cheese day) last week, and you too support the cause even though you couldn't be there.

xoxoxox

we're getting slizzard

So I always wonder how companies or non-profits or other organizations man their social media accounts. You know, does one person have access or do a group of people? Well it turns out that the Red Cross needs to change the password on their twitter account. This week their was a rogue tweet that went out to all 200,000 of their followers:

Wowsa. That sucks. Red Cross responded immediately and took it down, but not before some clever bloggers got screenshots. I mean, who doesn't love Dogfish beer??? But seriously, you people are handling donated blood and perhaps you shouldn't be getting crunk at the office. For crying out loud, you're already so drunk you didn't even spell slizzard correctly! I feel as if the Red Cross owes me an apology for not being able to properly spell pop culture slang. Now go get in your G6....

There is an upside to the situation and Dogfish brewery jumped on it. They began promoting the mistake on their website and with their fanclub, suggesting people should give the gift of life. Great. So instead of having two drunks working for the Red Cross, we have thousands of drunks donating their alcohol-infused blood to the Red Cross. I'd be on board, except that don't like my universe blood anymore--damn autoimmunity.

This weekend, I'm #gettingslizzard

I'm efficient

Over the last year, since I officially enrolled in my power company's "Green" program, I get quarterly updates about where I fall in comparison to my neighbors, my most efficient neighbors, and with something like Al Gore's global warming standards. Every couple months I get my nose rubbed in the fact I am single and entirely too wasteful (I mean, really, I unplug things and recycle and have good light bulbs!). I'm not as bad as some people but not with my most efficient neighbors (bastards).

Well yesterday I received an update, and I'm happy to report that I am now EFFICIENT. I'm more efficient than everyone, on average, and am kicking ass with some steel toed boots. This might have something to due with the fact that I was traveling for about 40 days over the last 3 months, but let's just ignore that sidebar.

Well color me green...did I turn off my lights this AM? :)

a couple sad things

Well a couple sad things happened this week in the land of LL....

I have been working on some winter cleaning the last month and have successfully made 2 runs to the Goodwill. Historically, this has been a difficult process for me and there is a good chance in the future I will be one of those people on Hoarders (but with really cool stuff instead of stacks of those styrofoam trays meat comes in). Every time I would move across the country I'd have to purge, and Helga would make me make piles in the living room of things and then she would secretly take it to the Goodwill when I wasn't looking! Ahh this still brings a tear....

BUT I digress....anyways this week I was working on my shoe corner and ended up throwing away 22 flippy flops. They are cheap, shit sandals that the Goodwill probably won't even want. I figured that I only wear flip flops 2 out of 5 days a week in the winter, so now was a good time to purge. Sad. But the good news is: new sandal shopping this spring!!! Let's get more flippy flops that piss Momma B off (when I wear them to church or graduation). Business cas?

Also, I was going through my winter closet and purged a number of mittens and hats I haven't wore in 2 years. As I pulled out my favorite winter hat, the cream one with the one big ball on the top (which I got for $2 6 years ago), I realized it had died. Yep the stitching came out and the ball was hanging by a thread. Sad. It is now in the trash. Shame.

Finally, I think I'm going to have to trim/kill one of my house plants that has turned into a gigantic out-of-control tree (which I inherited from my friend Amy). The last time I had some visitors, they were like "we can't even sit on your couch, that thing is out of control." It is so big that the base cannot hold it anymore, and it is propped up by my couch and a 8 foot tall stake. I may need to kill this thing and then pull a martha facher to bring it back. From my quick interwebs search, the plant is a "Dieffenbachia" and looks like this but 6 feet taller and out of control. Thoughts?

I've made a hair decision

Sooo I officially booked my second fall vacation this weekend. I'm headed to St. Kitts for two week in December and have decided that am going to chop off all my hair before the big beach trip. As I've mentioned before, I've been growing out my hair to make a wig--to make a wig for Locks of Love or for me. I sort of feel like if I make the wig for me, then immediately all my hair will fall out again, just like a self full-filling prophecy. So instead, my official decision is to give it away for wigs for sick people.

So hang on to your butts, I'm already at the donation length but I'm going to give it another 2-3 months (baring any major flares) and then sip sip sip. I'm going to plan a flippy bob for the beach fun. Sounds a-mazing right???

Give hair, it's the least you can do :)