Want to feel inspired? Meet Jaclyn.

Via http://friendsofjaclyn.org/

This is a picture of Jaclyn Murphy (center) and one of the many college sports teams that have signed up to participate in the Friends Of Jaclyn Foundation programs.

I first heard about this story watching "Real Sports" with Bryant Gumbel, and I wanted to share it with the world.  The foundation began after Jaclyn, a child fighting a pediatric brain tumor, needed inspiration to get through difficult cancer treatment, and her dad hooked her up with the Northwestern women's' lacrosse team after she was inspired by a picture on the hospital wall.  The team adopted her as their own and supported her year after year through cancer treatment, all while winning more than a handful of national titles.  Jaclyn told her dad about another patient that they needed to "get her a team" and that is how the organization was born.

Today there are hundreds of college sports teams around the country signed up and on the waiting list to adopt a child with a brain tumor for life.  Sometimes that isn't very long, but sometimes it is and either way, it is a lifetime commitment.  What an incredibly rewarding and worthy cause.

I feel inspired to do something for the world, don't you?  Check out their website to learn more about the Murphy family and the foundation.  Watch the Real Sports episode on HBO for a lift.

Weekenders: Summer weekend bucket list

Everybody is working for the weekend, particularly the sunny, summer ones that are currently upon us.  Here are my very best ideas for a summer weekend bucket list.

• Brunch: Don't go too early, because it is the weekend and going early would just qualify it as breakfast.  Make sure there is good coffee and plenty of time to sit, hopefully on a patio with bistro chairs.  Le Reve, Café Benelux, and Blue's Egg are my favorites, but here is a full list.
• Farmers' market: I like to buy vegetables that I never make at home normally so that I am forced to do something with them.  Like, beets.  Find one around Milwaukee here.
• State parks: Wisconsin state parks and trails are awesome, as all of you granola-munchers out there can confirm.  Check out some ideas from this recent Milwaukee Magazine article - Best Trails.
• Camp fires:  I prefer to make fancy s'mores, like strawberry and banana, nutella, or peanut butter chocolate.  Make sure you get those giant marshmallows that are better served on a double graham cracker.  Patience is a virtue for those monsters.
• Pools and boats:  Make new friends that have pools and boats.  No explanation needed, you know what to do.  You supply the beer, they supply the fun.
• Go country:  Pull out your inner redneck, put on a funny outfit, and do something country.  Such as visit the race speedway, or a country music festival complete with camping.  Then, tuck those denim shorts back in the closet for another year, because that is probably enough.  The phrase is "a little bit country," not a lot, so keep it classy.
• Summer beer flight:  Try all the tasty summer ales before they are gone for another winter!  Sam Adams Summer Ale, Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy, Lakefront Brewery Wisconsinite, and PBR in a brown paper bag.  Let's be real... the PBR is a year-round delight.

How to chicken someone, and other good pranks

In the spirit of inserting more fun into work or home, I suggest that you start upping your game on pranking.  It is awesome.  You are missing out if you are not pranking people.  To be clear, I do not mean pranks that are harmful or embarrassing, because then you will just feel bad about it later.  But the harmless ones on people with even a small sense of humor is a hobby worth cultivating.

First, as I have mentioned in other posts, my favorite calling card in the rubber chicken.  In the most amazing showing of love and appreciation for my antics, the hubs bought me Santa Chicken (pictured above) as a stocking stuffer last year.  This is of course something that is hidden, often under pillows or in the shower, all year long.  I usually accompany the prank with a verse of the song "Santa Chicken," also know as the "Santa Baby" tune with different words.  Once the hubs got me back really well when I slept unknowingly on top Santa Chicken for hours and then screamed when I realized that I was under attack.

My day to day prank, though, is of course hiding miniature rubber chickens in people's stuff.  Or adding it to a tip for a funny waitress.  This prank runs in the family, and my sister usually gets me at the holidays when I am distracted and she puts chickens in my shoes.  Curses, just when I am feeling full, and tired, and safe.  The first time I chickened the hubs I put one in his bag of Chex Mix and he almost ate it.  That would have been a tragic and early end to our love affair, and he was not amused.

Here are some other good ideas:

Jello:

Putting things in Jello is as awesome as it looks.  I did not pull this one off, but someone did it to me, and I was impressed.  Yes, that is a gnome.  I leave gnomes in my office so that they do my work at night when I am gone, but so far they appear to be the laziest bunch of garden freaks I have ever met.  Don't Jello anything valuable, that violates the "do no harm" rule, as that gnome could not be saved.

Office reversal or foiling:
We once covered everything in my boss's office with aluminum foil, and I mean everything. Piles of papers on his desk, chairs, even the push pins on the bulletin board were individually wrapped.  The sweater on the back of his door looked like left-over pork chops still hanging up.  I only wish I still had a photo to show you.  On a separate occasion, we completely reversed his office and all of the furniture, pictures, etc.  He either was lazy or liked it, because it stayed that way for years.  The challenge is to get everything as close to mirror image as possible.

Hotel mummy:

Can't wait to try this one on my next hotel stay.  While I won't be there to see the maid's reaction, I can relish in my imagination that it will be immediate fear, followed by confusion, followed by laughter.  This could be equally funny if you ever stay overnight on a visit with your parents.

Saran wrap:

Saran wrapping anything is funny.  Best choices are an office desk, car, or other things around the house.  I hope to do all of my husbands' shoes next.  I hope he didn't read this.

Other than this, you could always leave funny things in public places around town.  Lionel could bring people joy anywhere...