Author Archives: mbajane

Pucker Up

Posted on January 10, 2013 by mbajane

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 4,690 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—6,500 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

For this week’s Beginner Level Stitching and Crafting/Spinning Merit Badge, I was excited to try my hand at spinning! Well, actually, my legs. After all, spinning had been all the rage at my local gym for a few years now, right alongside Water Aerobics and Jazzercise, and …

Oh, THAT kind of spinning.

Yes.

(I knew that.)

Okay, off with the sweat band and leg warmers. On with the flannel pajamas and slippers I like to sport while crafting. Now we’re ready!

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Know Your Food, Part II

Posted on January 6, 2013 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

For Step 2 of this beginner Know Your Food Merit Badge, I went to the library and checked out a copy of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbra Kingsolver. Usually, I’m not much of a reader if there isn’t any romance involved, but I was surprised at how much Ms. Kingsolver pulled me in. Talk about a page turner. Maybe I’m having a romance with organic food … don’t tell Mr. Wonderful …

My eyes were opened to things in our food that I never even knew they were closed to. I resolved to stop wasting food, stop buying bad-for-me food (if it can even be logically considered food), and keeping things as local as possible. Perseverance, I think, will be the name of the game with this one. It’s easy enough to do it once while grocery shopping, but to keep it up for a lifetime, well, that’s a whole other kettle of fish, isn’t it?

Speaking of fish, I found a package of frozen fish with the brand name “Fresh From the Sea.” And lo and behold, what did I see in small letters? “Farm raised.” Eh? Whaa? I cry shenanigans, girls, yes I do.

I settled down with a slice of homemade bread and local honey for some more reading. It’s a large tome of information and I didn’t want to miss a thing, so I always keep snacks nearby. Blood sugar can dip, causing the letters to jumble right before my eyes, so I like to be prepared. Plus, when you’re reading about food, you’re going to get munchy. It’s like watching the Food Network without any nourishment, a no-no of epic proportions. I’ve nearly short-circuited the television with my drooling before. Not a pretty sight.

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Know Your Food, Part I

Posted on January 5, 2013 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

With my herb garden coming along nicely, my trellis supporting my roses, and my home cooking skills becoming more and more polished by the day, I decided it was time to try another foodie beginner Merit Badge: Know Your Food. This one involved quite a few steps, not the least being to grow my own sprouts.

Now sprouts are one of those things I tend to forget even exist. They’re just so unassuming and humble, the little sprout, that they are overshadowed by the larger and leafier greens. But have you ever skipped the ol’ iceberg in your sandwich and reached for the sprouts instead? Oh my, heaven on a bun! And in a salad? Did you even know it is entirely possible to make a salad without lettuce? I know. This is mind boggling stuff. So, when I remembered the very existence of the sprout, I was elated. And growing my own? I’m on it.

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Dyeing for Color

Posted on December 24, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Just the name alone gave me warm, fuzzy feelings. After all, my roots were coming in dreadfully and I’d been hoping to find an excuse to go dark chocolate brunette for Christmas Eve (nothing says holidays like dark chocolate, am I right, girls?) But turns out, the Merit Badge gurus were not talking about my tresses. They also weren’t talking about tie-dye parties, of which I’ve had one or two (tenth birthday—it was psychedelic, dudettes) but actual … um, like, dyeing for less trivial reasons? Well, whatever the reason, I got behind this beginner level Dyeing for Color Merit Badge!

I decided to try the ancient art (okay, maybe it’s not ancient, but still) of tea coloring. I mean, it was only logical—I love tea. The smell, the taste, the jolt, and I love the color, although not on my teeth. That brings me back to chocolate. Everything brings me back to chocolate, actually. I think I have a problem.

Is there a 12-step program for chocoholics? No? Never mind. Back to the badge.

You know, badge is very nearly spelled fudge …

Sorry. I’m focused now.

I have a beeyooTEAful lace tablecloth that my Gramma Barbie gave me years ago. I’m always afraid to use it on Christmas day because:

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Homespun Christmas, Part II

Posted on December 23, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

With visions of sugarplums still dancing in my head, I got up early to get a jump on the rest of my Christmas crafting in order to earn my beginner level Homespun Christmas Merit Badge. I had salt dough to make and also a triple batch of dog biscuits (I decided why stop at my own doggie and the other one or two I could think of when the Humane Society had plenty of biscuit-less four-legged friends?)

Since the salt dough ornaments were going to take the longest, I started with them …

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Lend a Hand to Families

Posted on December 2, 2012 by mbajane

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 4,649 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—6,500 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

A much-anticipated opportunity came this week. I was so excited. A girlfriend of mine, a real farm chick, a bosom buddy, one of my besties, had a baby! I could finally earn my Lend a Hand to Families badge! I’d been waiting for pestilence and plague, someone to fall sick or have a tragic injury, anything to give me the chance to help someone out.

I know. Even as a joke, it falls flat. My sacrificial nature and priorities are one of the best things about Yours Truly. Along with my humility, of course.

So, I waited by the phone with bated breath, anticipating the …

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Greatest Generation

Posted on November 27, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Earning this badge was one I was looking forward to, and one I could have earned dozens of times over when I was just a little sprout: spending time with the senior citizens in my life. See, as a youngster, whenever I went through a phase (cheerleading, clarinet, ballet, choir, underwater basket weaving), I would take my new skills to the local retirement home for polishing. I found there to be a good mix of love and support, and tell-it-like-it-is truthfulness, disguised in blue-haired ladies and no-haired gentlemen. It was nice for them, and valuable for me. I made lots of friends of the grandparent variety, and they got a little something to look forward to after school on Fridays. At least I think they looked forward to it …

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Outstepping Merit Badge

Posted on November 17, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

This last weekend was the last weekend I felt good about hiking. After all, winter is coming, and though I have First Aid Kits ready in my car, I have no desire to be eaten by bears (or are they hibernating?) or get stuck in a snow drift, or miss my favorite holiday movie on the Hallmark Channel. So, I dusted off my best flannel shirt, laced up my boots, and set off on an adventure of the hiking and exploring and Merit Badge-ing type!

I was on the lookout for three things for this badge: my state tree, my state flower, and my state bird …

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First Aid, Part II

Posted on November 13, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Now that my first aid kits are put together by yours truly, and installed, I am moving on to Part II of this particular badge. I hadn’t expected the first part to have been so time consuming, but I confess, I may have spent an inordinate amount of time picking out the prettiest boxes and arranging all my things inside. You can always be less fussy; after all, it’s about safety, not color-coordinating your Band-Aids and Q-tips.

Part II seemed easy enough: Check your smoke detectors.

At first, I kinda wanted to skip this part. I mean, trust me: they work. I know this because they like to …

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Make It Pretty

Posted on November 10, 2012 by mbajane

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life …

Art is not something I’ve always excelled at. Let’s just say I’m artfully challenged. Sketching impaired. Watercolorphobic. When art classes came around in school, I was too busy nibbling the erasers and licking the paste to really pay a lot of attention to focal points, shading, and blending. I thought I was art challenged, that is, until I realized Art Class came at 2:30, and I was just hungry.

So, for my Make it Pretty badge, I made sure I had a tummy full of …

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