{"id":53400,"date":"2014-12-08T00:09:14","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T08:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=53400"},"modified":"2014-12-08T00:09:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T08:09:14","slug":"light-the-way-merit-badge-expert-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/53400","title":{"rendered":"Light the Way Merit Badge, Expert 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\u00a06,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20148,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my<\/span> former life<\/a> \u2026\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s Make It Easy\/Light the Way Expert Level Merit Badge<\/a>, I rolled up my flannel sleeves, channeled my inner lumberjack, sharpened my ax (Yes, I have an ax! Farmgirl here, dontcha know?) and got to chopping. Yes, I know, mid-winter isn\u2019t exactly the time of year to be thinking of this chore, but to be honest, I underestimated how much lumber I would need and, truthfully, I can only store so much at one time, right? I mean, I need room on my back porch for craft projects, too. Like my Automatic Needle Threading Machine 3000 (it takes a lot of space).<\/p>\n

But now, I\u2019m about to break my own Wood Chopping and Stacking record, all in the name of Merit Badges! And a little in the name of Warm Toes, if we\u2019re honest. Just like Honest Abe.<\/p>\n

\"503px-Abraham_Lincoln_1909\"

The Railsplitter. Abraham Lincoln here despicted as a young man chopping wood, 1909, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

First\u2014since I\u2019m not a young whippersnapper anymore\u2014I stretched. Yes siree, I recommend a good loosening up of the ol\u2019 pectorals, biceps, triceps, and uh \u2026 elbowceps? Is there a badge for learning anatomy?<\/p>\n

After my short but sweet warm-up session, I did a quick jog around the house a few times to keep my adrenaline pumping and my metabolism working. And by “a quick jog around the house a few times,” I naturally mean, a quick tour of the fridge and the contents therein. Nourishment found and hunger abated, I resolved to get started for real this time.<\/p>\n

After a quick cuppa tea.<\/p>\n

A girl needs her strength, okay?<\/p>\n

Okay, seriously now, I\u2019m down to two pieces of kindling and a demolished chair someone left out by their curb. I really need some firewood, stat.<\/p>\n

Stop distracting me, already!<\/p>\n

I settled into my chopping with reckless abandon. (That\u2019s just a literary term. Don\u2019t chop wood with reckless abandon, peeps\u2014that would be \u2026 well, reckless).<\/p>\n

\"800px-Buchenholz_gehackt\"

Photo by Kreuzschnabel via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

After laying down a good foundation, I started getting fancy with my stacking skillz. That\u2019s right, folks, you\u2019re looking at a Lincoln Log Queen, so don\u2019t think I\u2019m just going to stack the regular way. Leave that to the amateurs! I won\u2019t settle for anything less than a high-quality, awe-inspiring, Taj Mahal of pine. The Eiffel Tower of ponderosa. The Buckingham Palace of fir.<\/p>\n

Buckingham Palace? Now I need a tea break.<\/p>\n

\"Afternoon_Tea_Isidore_Verheyden\"

Isidore Verheyden – Afternoon Tea, 1905 via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

*several hours later*<\/p>\n

It\u2019s starting to shape up. My pectoids and my trapezius cuffs (??) are burning, but my masterpiece is looking aMAYzing. A little crooked, but that\u2019s alright. Esthetics aren\u2019t everything in this art form. There\u2019s also form, shape, size, weight, imagination, and creativity. And the little dance you do when you get too much bark in your socks. Or when a rogue squirrel flies outta nowhere.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t going to stop, by golly, until a neighbor wandered over to say the magical words. You fellow choppers know the ones I\u2019m talking about:<\/p>\n

Nice stack you got there, Jane. <\/em><\/p>\n

\"800px-Firewood_stacked_up\"

Photo by Feci1024 via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

Any time now. They\u2019re coming. I can feel it.<\/p>\n

Any time.<\/p>\n

Squirrel!\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with\u00a06,129 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u20148,751 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! MJ\u00a0 Wondering who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}