Confessions Of A Fruit Stand: Part 7 August 23, 2011

What’s hard and green on the outside, mushy and red on the inside, and sometimes has seeds?

A watermelon!!!

People say time flies, but I would disagree in this case.  Now we can almost see the finish line: still a distance away, still with hurdles and a mud pit and probably a high jump, but it’s still somewhere sooner than later.  I would put on some spiky track shoes and attempt to run the course a little faster, but the only shoes I prefer right now are the type without shoestrings to lean over and tie.

Everyone wants to know if we’re ready.  The logistical side of me says yep, look at everything we have prepared!  We have a name (and no, we’re not telling)… we have a finished nursery… we have diapers and wipes and bottles… we have a birth plan.  At the same time, the realistic side of me says “Who is ever truly ready to become completely responsible for a tiny, living being???”  YIKES!

For those who may be interested, Todd & I are planning a “Bradley” birth.  We attended 12-weeks worth of classes training ourselves on how labor and delivery progresses and how to birth our baby without any drugs or other interventions.  Now now, don’t judge!  I don’t judge anyone for a second who chooses other options; this is simply the option we agreed works for us.  And we’re so excited to take the course’s “final exam”!

What is the Bradley Method?  In a nutshell, it’s a method of childbirth that focuses on being drug-free for both mom and baby.  Obviously there’s more to it also.  The 12-week course teaches couples to have good health and nutrition to maintain a low-risk pregnancy, trains the couples to work together to achieve relaxation, prepares for husband-coached childbirth with the husband and wife making up the perfect team with Dad as coach, and educates couples on the stages of labor and delivery so that they can make knowledgeable decisions on how their birth progresses and be able to recognize when problems do occur.  The Cesarean Section rate in the United States is climbing near 40%; the Bradley Method brags “Of over 1,000,000 couples trained in The Bradley Method^® nationwide, over 86% of them have had spontaneous, unmedicated vaginal births.”

My Bradley-Mom Idol: not only was her daughter a VBAC, she was also delivered about 3 hours after arriving at the hospital AND was a completely natural birth. We CAN do this!

No, childbirth won’t be easy.  But we’re prepared in many, many ways.  I like the analogy that achieving an unmedicated birth is like running a marathon; you don’t show up at the hospital on the day of the race and say “Hmmm, let’s try doing this drug-free” and expect to succeed.  You train your body and brain; you stay healthy; you learn everything you need to know about the race’s course.  And while it will be hard and it will be scary, we’ll succeed and receive the best prize: a healthy baby boy who will come out swinging!

I know there’s tons of women out there who are certain this can’t be done, but it is done and with great success.  So rather than hoping we have to take a different route and prove to those women that it “can’t be done”, please pray for us that our labor and delivery will be as normal and unremarkable as the entire pregnancy has been blessed.  Pray for us that we receive the support from the hospital staff to stick to our birth plan.

So here we are, with less than a month to go.  Will the time fly?  Will time stand still counting days instead of weeks?  Will we drive ourselves absolutely bonkers trying to play the role of the Heavenly Father and predict when our baby will decide to make his appearance?

This whole pregnancy thing has been quite the wild and less-than-predictable ride.  I shouldn’t expect the final month to be any more predictable!  While I’d like to lace-up my track spikes and rush to see how the next chapter begins, I know there’s a reason we must wait for the right time.  Bring on the hurdles, the mud pit, the high jump…. and that finish line.

Illinois State Fair: Friend Of Farmers August 18, 2011

There is certainly something for everybody at the Illinois State Fair.  A variety of attractions bring in quite the variety of people: concerts like Jason Aldean and MC Hammer, carnival rides, tractor pulls, souvenirs galore, and health screenings.  At the Illinois State Fair you can start off the day with a free glucose/blood pressure/cholesterol screening and then wander off on a day full of lemon shake-ups, corn dogs, and fried cheesecake on a stick.  Or a fried brownie, fried Twinkie, fried Snickers, or chocolate-covered bacon.

I love going to the Illinois State Fair once a year.  Part of the excitement is the Agri Quiz Bowl and kids’ pedal tractor pull we do through the Farm Bureau, part is actually lemon shake-ups and corn dogs, and part is seeing cattle in the barns.  The state fair is a great place for city-folk to get a dose of agriculture and ask burning questions to those exhibiting livestock, who hopefully use the state fair audience as an opportune time to shed a positive light on the entire agricultural industry.

What I noticed this year is that promotion of agriculture has increased– in a fantastic way.  It seems the city-folk attending the fair have more and more visual reminders that agriculture is an important industry: important to our state, our economy, and our families.  The Illinois State Fair has always been the place to go and check out the butter cow, participate in the Milk-A-Cow booth, and see fancy horses in the coliseum.  But this year, signage across the fairgrounds portrayed pictures of farmers along with positive quotes aimed at settling some of the uneasiness about today’s agricultural practices that oftentimes seem to be brought upon us by false ideas presented by the media, odd trends that capture the public’s attention (rice milk?  really?), and the waves created by extremist groups that are big enough to cause skepticism in the Average Joe.

Farmers love their livestock.  Yes, the hard truth is that beef and pigs and sheep usually end up on the grill, but that’s a truth that those raised on a farm grow up understanding.  It doesn’t mean that those animals aren’t loved: the farmer names his animals, knows their mannerisms, notices when they’re sick just by walking into the pen, and gives them the best care possible.  When they’re hungry, he feeds them.  When they’re dirty, he cleans them.  When they’re sick, he nurses them back to health.  And when he walks into their pen, they run to greet him!

The media loves to provide the public with endless stories to cause skepticism in the safety of the food we eat.  Remember that what the farmer is selling to you has first been consumed by his own family.  No one would feed their own family meat or milk that could be dangerous– and they would never feed that to the rest of the population either.  Rest assured that farmers take enormous pride in their products, and that means safety is always #1.

This banner takes us back to the safety of the foods we eat.  Healthy cattle provide us with safe beef.  Why does the farmer want his cattle (or sheep, or pigs, or corn) to be healthy?  Again: he loves them and wants them to be healthy and happy, plus he takes pride in his product.  Just like kids get sick every now and then, so do livestock.  And just like kids, livestock can be nursed back to health in caring ways that don’t jeopardize their (or your) safety.

It doesn’t take a statistical genius to know that 94% is a huge percentage– if you drove by 100 farms on a road trip, 94 of them are family farms.  The idea of family farms is as old as dirt (literally!) and it’s an idea that runs in the “blood” of farming.  Farms started off as family endeavors that involved the whole homestead, from kids to parents to grandparents, and that idea still runs deep.  Selling farms is a gut-wrenching idea that people involved in family farms have nightmares about.  Think of the farms in your area: have you seen Grandpa putzing around on the old tractor?  Seen the kids carrying buckets outside?  A day of baling hay that seems to involve everybody?  You probably have.  Farming is a family affair because it always has been– and for a huge majority of farms, it always will be.

I repeat: farmers take pride in the product, love their crops and animals, and will always do everything in their power to provide the rest of us with safe food.  Got the picture yet?

Yep, farming is a family activity.  Farmers do it because they love it, it provides income for their families and lifestyle, allows them to raise their families in a traditional fashion, and because it also provides for your family.  Love makes the world go ’round!

Ever been tempted to contribute to those commercials of sick cats and dogs, who look so sad and pitiful that 40 cents a day seems like a great way to save the world a little at a time?  Well, when a farmer goes out to do the daily chores and sees a sick cow/pig/sheep/chicken, it’s also a sad sight and he will waste no time beginning to make her feel better.  And when the farmer spends time with his animals every single day, the majority of health issues are obvious to him right away and the problems can oftentimes be “nipped in the bud.”  If he can’t fix her up himself, he’ll call the vet to make a special trip to the farm to help out.  That attention to health and happiness makes for a good farm!

Even though the background of the family farm is old as dirt, that doesn’t mean farms aren’t progressive.  There’s new technology that is ever-changing, just as in other industries.  Farmers take their passion for farming and become quite knowledgable about the advancements the industry is constantly making.  All of this means tons of good for you, the consumer– such as less use of pesticides and other chemicals.

As you admire that butter cow, be amazed at the creature she represents; be awed at the talent of the artist who created her likeness; be thankful for the farmers who work 365 days a year to keep the agriculture industry alive and moving forward.

Get your kids excited about agriculture with books about farm machinery, trips to see animals at the local (or state!) fair, appreciation for the food on their plate and chocolate milk in their glass, and the friendly competition of a pedal tractor pull!

Finally, when you hear conflicting reports on the safety of the food you’re feeding your family or how farm animals are treated, consult your common sense before jumping on the “rice milk” bandwagon.  There is no man more gentle, more caring, more educated, more open to your concerns than the farmer.

The Illinois State Fair did a wonderful job spreading that message.  And check out www.watchusgrow.org for endless information on Illinois farms!

Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night August 11, 2011

The Black Eyed Peas said it best:

I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night.

Sometimes you just know that you’re gonna have a blast.  And I don’t mean like the high-school-prom-so-excited-then-letdown-’cause-completely-lame type of anticipation.  I mean the everyone-will-be-there-and-we’re-all-psyched-to-have-fun type of anticipation.

The latter describes the build-up to our friends’ Zack & Heather’s wedding and reception.  I’m absolutely certain that fun is contagious, and as soon as a few friends decided they were going to have a crazy fun night, everyone else did too.  Some people were crazy+alcohol=fun and some were just plain crazy=fun.  I was more of an observer of fun=fun, because I just could not keep up and was quite fine with that!

Someone mentioned to me that they hoped Todd didn’t have to work the next day (he did).  I said no worries, all he’s had to drink is Ski– but the response to that was “No, I mean he’ll be sore!”  Any normal person would be sore after jumping around on the dance floor for 3 hours, but I’m not certain Todd is “normal.”

In order to avoid any pictures that may be too incriminating, here they are in slideshow format.  Heather & Zack’s wedding started off at a romantic winery setting, paused for some awesome photography (some with the fire engine!), and ended at the reception that was filled with people who absolutely knew before they even got there:

Tonight’s gonna be a good night!

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Danger Zone! August 5, 2011

About an hour ago, I discovered something new.  Something delicious.  Something crave-worthy.  Something very, very dangerous.

Orange Leaf.

While watching a History channel show on the history of ice cream in America with a couple coworkers, I was having a mild craving for ice cream.  Yeah, I could blame it as a “pregnancy craving” but anyone who knows me recognizes that craving ice cream is my normal state of being.  After commenting that maybe it was time to go get some ice cream (the following segment was on hot dogs, and it was ruining my built-up appetite), one coworker suggested a new-ish place in O’Fallon– Orange Leaf.

He gave us a brief description, labeled it as a “gold mine”, and the other 2 of us took off to discover this gold mine for ourselves.

If I could get a cheap divorce and marry Orange Leaf, I would.

I will be dreaming of Orange Leaf tonight.

Someone desperately needs to franchise an Orange Leaf for Highland so my danger zone could be that much more dangerous.

 

 

We walked in amidst an enormous amount of other patrons.  I chose between two sizes of buckets (and let it be known, I chose the smaller one!), then walked along two walls of self-serve yogurt in a dozen different flavors.  That’s right– they leave it up to ME to fill my dish.  Whichever flavors, however much, any mixture.  The owners of this joint are painfully aware of America’s problems with a little thing called portion control and they are benefitting greatly from it!

Cheesecake– brownie batter– chocolate mint– classic tart– cookies & cream– wedding cake.  Those are just some of the flavors I remember.  And it’s yogurt, so it’s a “healthier” option to ice cream.  That is, until you dish out an extra-large serving and cover it in more yummyness.

After the 2 walls of decadent yogurt flavors comes the toppings bar.  Every topping.  I could list some, but honestly, every.thing.is.there.  Again, it’s self-serve, so a little of this and a little of that is completely subjective.  And again, have any of us truly mastered “when to say when”???  Personally, not at all.

At the end of the road is a feller at a cash register with a little scale, ready to charge 44 cents per ounce.  That sounds cheap, but apparently yogurt and toppings are heavy because these Orange Leaf people are making a killing based on the checkouts I witnessed!  Of course, that also goes back to the general inability to choose one’s own portion within reason, leading to an overflowing bucket of five flavors of yogurt and dash of every chocolately topping.  Worth a cool $8.

The spoons are even designed with a flat paddle-like end– that much easier to navigate every last drop from the corners of the bucket.  Brilliant.

I grew up with the good ole’ Dairy Queen, and feel a little cultural to hit up a Cold Stone.  And now, I’ll be making absurd road trips in the wrong direction to swing by the O’Fallon Orange Leaf.

Also known as the Orange Danger Zone.