I Heart the Big O

My son is making so much money from his lemonade stands that he is donating part of the proceeds to the organization that is providing access to medical marijuana to children.  He's also donating to me in the form of the above perks. He's a fine, fine son, and I'm grateful to have the privilege of being his mother (although I'm tempted to dig into his stash -- shhhhhh.).

The Walk to End Epilepsy and Oliver's Lemonade Stand

I have literally nothing to muse or mull about today, but the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles did send me the following link to the EndEpilepsy video which features OLIVER!

Check it out:

The Epilepsy Walk at the Rose Bowl and the Disappointing Fate of Ollie's Lemonade Stand

Oliver, his friend Mac and The Husband were up past midnight last night, preparing lemonade and chocolate chip cookies for today's End Epilepsy Walk at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. This morning, they rose at 5:30 to pack up the car and drive over there to set it up:

Henry, Sophie and I joined them a few hours later:

Ollie's Lemonade Stand was in full swing when we got there, and some of my favorite people came to support us and Team Sophalofa:

Here's our team:

Here are some random shots:

Here's the Quarterback of UCLA's Bruins -- very cool guy who brought in a ton of money in honor of his sister who has epilepsy:

Here's Oliver with Henry, a seizure dog, courtesy of a canine therapy group that was founded by a high school classmate of mine in Atlanta, Georgia!

So, all was well -- until the unexpected happened. The Health Department showed up and Shut Ollie's Lemonade Stand DOWN for operating without a permit.

Holy crapola, right? And what the hey and WTF?

Oliver was devastated, to tell you the truth. He and his father had worked so hard, and he had hoped to make many hundreds of dollars, a significant portion of which he intended to donate to the Epilepsy Foundation. Yes, we told him how proud we were of him, how this was sort of a lesson in entrepreneurship, how frustrating these things are (it was difficult not to rant and rave against a bullshit government agency, but we didn't. I think at one point, The Husband who is generally quite the ranter and raver, particularly about America, said that the guy was just doing his job). It looked like the whole day was going to be ruined for him -- Oliver is not one to let things roll off his back, and I steeled myself for gloom and doom and sturm und drang. But do you know what that boy did after moaning and groaning a bit? He proceeded to help the Epilepsy Foundation give out the lemonade and chocolate chip cookies for free. Here he is being interviewed as a sibling of a person with epilepsy. I'm not sure where this footage will appear, but I'll keep you posted.

I was in tears and so proud of him.

So, all in all, the lemonade stand was a success in that Oliver learned about starting a business and dealing with the inevitable frustrations that come with entrepreneurship. They also made a good amount of money before the shut-down, and hundreds of people enjoyed the best lemonade and cookies in Los Angeles.


Thank you Craig and Carmen, Lisa, Bridgette, Bob, and Maccabee for coming out to support us. And thanks to all of you who donated so generously. We love you!

If you'd like to donate to Team Sophalofa, it's not too late. Here's the link to help us to END EPILEPSY.

Cake, Lemonade Stands, Homeschooling and The Walk to End Epilepsy

That's going on: cake baking. Today's order is for a Red Velvet Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. I have to decorate it, too -- a wacky Coupon Diva logo. Later, I'm making an Hallelujah cake for a friend's birthday party. The Big O is working on his lemonade stand that he'll be manning at this Sunday's End Epilepsy walk and 5K at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. He and The Husband are making it into quite a project -- a homeschool project, actually -- with real food and labor costing, profit margins, etc. Oliver has "hired" two friends to help him out, and the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles is providing a booth, table, chairs, tablecloth and, of course, thousands of patrons. I believe there will be lemonade and cookies (home-made of course) for sale for hundreds and when they're out, they're out. A significant portion of the proceeds will benefit the work to End Epilepsy.

In case you aren't around to have some of the best lemonade in town, you can still contribute to the walk by going to our Team Sophalofa page and making a donation. Any amount is welcome -- our local affiliate -- the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles -- is a terrific one whose director and other employees work incredibly hard in responding to those of us in the community. They even, most recently, have attended informational conferences regarding this whole medical marijuana thing and are organizing efforts to find out more. Given how top heavy many non-profits are, and how so much money goes to schmoozing and administrative costs, it's so refreshing and encouraging that the EFGLA is so responsive to its members. The walk is at the beautiful Rose Bowl in Pasadena, something that we look forward to each year.

Join the Walk to End Epilepsy, Drink Lemonade from Ollie's Lemonade Stand and Eat Cookies!

Scenes from the weekend

There was another lemonade stand put on by The Entrepreneur. One third of the profits will go to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles. Remind me to remind you of our upcoming EndEpilepsy walk. I have a page up on a website, if you'd like to contribute -- more later --

There was another minimal seizure day with some napping (holy crapola, shitola, maloney, baloney!):

There was Resistance-to-Making-One's-Bed:

There was sluggish watching of Seinfeld re-runs and far too many video games (pay no mind to the large extension cord snaking through the house):

Reader, tell me about your own weekend. Oh, and read this.

A Resilient Anatomy

re·sil·ient
riˈzilyənt/
adjective1.
(of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.

synonyms:

flexible, pliable, supple;

1. I'm taking Oliver's lead -- springing back into shape, feeling my supple body, my pliable mind. There are no accidents, as my friend Carrie says, and hope springs eternal, says Alexander P.
   

The Mystery of Boys

The Dyslexic Entrepreneur has been sitting outside in the baking hot sun, selling lemonade and chocolate chip cookies since 10:00 this morning.  He decided against selling cotton candy today, as there were still things to work out. The last time I ventured to the corner to check on things, he had made upwards of $100. I'm not kidding you. While part of the proceeds will go to the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, Oliver is also intent on saving enough money for an off-road go-kart.

O.K.

Henry, on the other hand, slept until noon, woke and ate pancakes, made a few forays to get himself a couple of lemonades, did some homework, and I just walked into his bedroom where he was swinging a bat, practicing. When I expressed alarm at how close he was swinging to the window behind him, he condescendingly told me that when you swing a bat, Mom, it's not BEHIND you. 

These boys mystify me.