Who Knew?

Hi. My name is Ami, and I'm addicted. Addicted to lip balm. Carmex to be exact. But Chap Stick will do in a pinch.

Living in Texas humidity for the first 22 years of my life, there wasn't a need for lip balm, unless I had a cold requiring me to take every breath through my mouth. I moved to Colorado after I finished college, and that is when I began to spiral down the long, dark tunnel of lip balm addiction. Colorado air is so dry that it sucked every ounce of moisture from my body, beginning with my lips. Within 24 hours of living in Colorado, I realized that I could not live without applying a greasy tube of relief to my lips at least every hour. On the hour. Seriously, I bought one of those Chap Stick key holder dealies so that my Chap Stick could always be found.

Fast forward ten years, and I'm still addicted, even though I've returned to the land of humidity. I have cut myself back to maybe three applications per day, but I still have one tube in the car, one in the bathroom, one in my nightstand drawer, one in my purse, one in the diaper bag, three in the kitchen junk drawer, and one upstairs in the boys' bathroom. Truly. I never wonder where or when I can get my next fix. What's even worse is that Garrett asks for "chack stick" every time he sees me applying it.

But I haven't been ready to admit that I have a problem until today.

Today, I saw an article on Yahoo about a website for those afflicted with this addiction. (Now, here's a warning about this website: it's often sarcastic and contains some foul language. But if you need to see for yourself, here is the link for Lip Balm Anonymous.) Did you know such a site existed?

LBA makes me think that I really need to join a twelve-step program and cut lip balm out of my life. Are you addicted? The first step is to admit it!