{"id":44515,"date":"2013-10-18T00:08:31","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T07:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=44515"},"modified":"2013-10-18T00:08:31","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T07:08:31","slug":"pay-it-forward-merit-badge-beginner-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/44515","title":{"rendered":"Pay It Forward Merit Badge, Beginner Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/a>, now with 5,518 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20147,653 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/a> \u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s Farm Kitchen\/Pay it Forward Merit Badge<\/a>, I had to channel my inner camel. What\u2019s that, you say? You know, that humpy, lumpy, dumpy animal that can go for days without food? Or is that water? Well, whatevs, my dears\u2014I\u2019m no zoologist. I just know to earn my badge this week, I was going to do a little math and do a little fast. (See what I did there? Made a poem.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, the math came in when I did a rough calculation of about how much it costs to feed Yours Truly on a weekly daily <\/span>hourly (ahem) basis. It takes a lot of fuel to keep this much cuteness going, in my defense. Then from there, I got to take that amount (from one meal) and donate it to my local food bank, and\u2014get this\u2014<\/i>skip that meal myself.<\/p>\n

Gulp.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not very good with skipping meals, I confess. I get a little shaky, a little grouchy, a little panicky.<\/p>\n

In short, it\u2019s a good thing it\u2019s Halloween season, cuz if I find a broom, I may be riding it around my house shortly.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s just one meal, Janie my girl, I tell myself,\u00a0you can do this. I am woman, hear me roar.<\/p>\n

Or whisper for a cracker, whatever the case may be.<\/p>\n

But to my surprise, that didn\u2019t happen at all. Fasting for a cause was nothing<\/i> like forgetting to eat breakfast! Maybe it was because I was doing it for a reason, maybe it was because I wasn\u2019t focused on myself so much, maybe it was because I had the Trucker\u2019s Omelet Special that morning \u2026 but I didn\u2019t even miss it. It was a miracle! I felt really good (except for the gravy-smothered hash browns, which were totally not loving me back).<\/p>\n

Each time I got a little hungry, a little tummy-growling action, a little persnickety, I stopped and thought: Too many people go through this feeling (times a hundred) every day. I patted my stomach and told it to simmer down, and it did. Obedient little belly have I.<\/p>\n

By dinner time I was, of course, slightly on the famished side, and I wouldn\u2019t say I was at my best<\/i>, personality wise, but still, I had gone without and learned something in the process:<\/p>\n