Arkansas or Bust!

Funny things that happened in Arkansas:

1. My Uncle Warren challenged my cousin Jeff and my dad to see who could drink the most beer. (My dad got a kegerator for his birthday, so the beer was flowing freely. He offered Todd and me our first beer at 10:30 am, but we thought we should at least wait until lunch.)

2. I was reminded not to take baby advice from my relatives. My cousin Jeff and my brother Patrick both kept telling me to give Emiko rice cereal so she would sleep through the night. I don't want to give my preemie baby (who is just four months old!) rice cereal. She's not getting any solid food until she's six months old. But I was thinking I could consider the idea, until my sister Heather told me that she was talking to Patrick's wife about baby sleep problems, and she told Heather that she never gave her kids breast milk or formula. She fed her babies unpasteurized cow's milk mixed with Karo syrup to keep it down. And they got rice cereal from the beginning. So they slept the whole night, but it's a wonder they woke up! These are farm kids, so they aren't going to be fat, but I am concerned about their future health.

3. My brother Patrick is a chicken farmer, and he's really a great guy. But he's country, there's no question about it. It's funny, because although we grew up in South Arkansas in the Mississippi River Delta (Gillett, home of 900 people and the Coon Supper -- that's another post), we didn't grow up on a farm. My dad's a pharmacist. So how Patrick got to be so country we aren't sure. Anyway, Pat called Emiko Meeky, which was really sweet. He kept saying that I was going to have to send Meeky to stay at the farm in the summers. Which will happen, but not for awhile. A few weeks ago my sister left her 15 month old son with my parents -- they took him out to Patrick's farm. So Pat put him to work! He had to walk out to the chicken house and and collect dead chickens! To celebrate all his hard work, Patrick gave him a Pepsi! My sister was a little annoyed by that part. But Aaron loved it -- he had the best time. I'm not ready for my baby girl to collect dead chickens. I don't think I'll ever be ready for that.

4. My friend Shawn G knows nothing about babies. I believe the picture at the top of this post illustrates that point beautifully.

Arkansas or Bust!

Our trip down South was a great success. Emiko handled the car ride like a champ. My family did not drive me crazy. I got to eat some fantastic fried food. So here, for your entertainment, is a rundown of our trip to Springdale, Arkansas, the Poultry Capital of the World!!! This is pretty long, so if you just want the funny moments, check out my other post on the trip. It's much shorter.

We left Friday afternoon to drive to St. Louis for the first leg of our trip. It took us TWO HOURS to get out of Chicagoland. Which is just crazy. I did get to see the cicadas, however. Turns out they are not mythical. They are real and they are annoying.

Once we got to STL, we went straight to Ted Drewes, for world famous frozen custard. But we couldn't go straight there, because according to www.teddrewes.com, you take the Jamieson exit to get to the place. There is no Jamieson exit. Which we should know by now, because the same thing happened last time we drove down to AR and wanted Ted Drewes. We are not fast learners.

But we got there and it was awesome, and then on our way to our hotel we passed an Imo's Pizza, so we picked that up for dinner. Mmmm. Cracker crust, Provel cheese. And an order of toasted ravioli, of course. What a great start to our trip!

We got up early Saturday morning and made our way to Arkansas. We didn't find any breakfast places on our way out of town, so we stopped in Sullivan, MO, at the Flying J Travel Plaza. My sister and I love the Flying J. They have all that you need. It was at the Flying J that I saw the spectacle pictured at the top of this entry. Apparently in Missouri, even chihuahuas can drive big rigs. I had no idea.

We got to Springdale around 3, and went to my dad's drugstore to introduce him to Emiko. He was, of course, very excited. Then my sister threw a party for us, and I saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in years. That was so fun.

Sunday was Father's Day, and my yankee husband got to meet lots of my family. My Aunt Carol, Uncle Warren, cousin Jeff and his wife Sherry and their son Andy, and cousin Kent all made the drive up from North Little Rock. My brother Patrick and his wife Heather were there with their kids, and my sister Heather (it's confusing having two Heathers in the family) was there with her two little boys.

We were on the deck eating brisket sandwiches, which were really good, but the brisket came from Sam's Club. My stepmother buys all her food from Sam's. I hate Walmart, so this annoys me. Plus my dad has a smoker that he used to use all the time. But now they just feed us Sam's Club delicacies.

Anyway, my dad got a Kegerator for his birthday, so the beer was flowing freely. He offered Todd and me a beer at 10:00 am, but we thought we'd at least wait til noon. During lunch, my Uncle Warren challenged my dad to drink more, and a discussion was held about who could drink more amongst the men on the deck. I'm not sure who won. But it made me laugh -- no one ever has such contests at Todd's parents' house!

Several times during the afternoon, my relatives would ask if Emiko was sleeping through the night, and when I'd say not quite, they would suggest ways to encourage her to do so. Everyone said to give her rice cereal. My brother (whom I adore, but he is a big ol redneck) suggested that calves get up because they are hungry. I reminded him that Emiko was not a calf, but a human baby. He said -- give her rice cereal. Cousin Jeff said the same thing.

Then my sister told me that she was discussing her kids' sleep habits (or lack thereof) with Pat's wife, and she mentioned that she not only gave her babies rice cereal from day one, but she never used baby formula. She fed her babies whole unpasteurized cow's milk mixed with Karo syrup. I have no idea why she did that. But hell, her babies slept through the night from day one. It's a wonder they woke up.

Monday we hung out with my sister, and had some fabulous Arkansas barbecue at Penguin Ed's. The ribs are huge and meaty and so smoky. Ummm. And that night for dinner we ate at AQ Chicken House, which has the best fried chicken anywhere. I had fried chicken over the coals, fried catfish, hushpuppies, sweet potato casserole, fried okra. Oh, and Pickle-Os -- deep fried dill pickles. I was so stuffed -- I really wanted to eat more chicken, but just ran out of room. I hate that!

I did not get to eat any cheese dip, nor did we make it to Chik-fil-A. We did eat Sonic on our way out of town. So that was something.

On our way back to Chicago, we stayed the night in Collinsville, IL, just up from St. Louis. We had dinner at the Cracker Barrel there with my friend Travis' parents -- Sue and Ed. They are such a sweet couple and I knew they wanted to meet Emiko. It was great seeing them, but after eating such great food in AR, Cracker Barrel was a pale imitation. But we weren't there for the food.

We got home around 3:00 pm the next day. I was really glad to get home. But we had a great time and I'm ready to go back.

Lament for Veronica Mars.

It can't be over. I love this show too much. CW, why would you do this to me? It is so hard to find intelligent, kick ass women on network TV. The series finale (which they kept calling the "season finale" to torture me, left so many unanswered questions. What's the deal with Weevil? Can't Veronica and Logan work it out? Does Veronica really like Piz or is she just trying to deal with Logan? Who will win the election for sheriff? What will I watch instead????

Sigh...

ARKANSAS!

We are leaving this weekend to take Emiko to meet my family back home. I can't wait. I haven't been to Springdale (the poultry capital of the world!) since last August. That is just too long.

I mostly look forward to the trip for my sister and for the food. I adore my sister and wish I could see her more often. She is the person I miss the most from back home. And I miss the food.

I miss the fried chicken and Pickle-Os (deep fried dill pickles) from AQ Chicken House.

I miss the fried catfish and hush puppies from the Catfish Hole.

I miss cheese dip -- especially the cheese dip from Casa Taco. Jose's has great cheese dip, too, and they have swirl margaritas. I am dying for a swirl margarita. Uncle Julio's here in Chicago has them, but I rarely have a reason for going there. But it works in a pinch.

I miss Sonic Drive-In and Chik-Fil-A. Todd is a believer in Chik-Fil-A, so we'll definitely get to stop there on the way.

I used to miss the barbeque, but now that Honey1 is here, I don't miss that as much. Although I wish Honey1 had fried pies.

We're driving down south, so we're going to break the drive into two parts. We'll drive to St. Louis Friday afternoon and finish the drive Saturday morning. I am looking forward to getting some frozen custard from Ted Drewes while in St. Louis.

So while I look forward to introducing Emiko to the redneck side of the family, I'm also ready to eat! That will totally make up for spending two days in the car with a four month old baby!

Things I've done this weekend:

1. I bought a button maker! So I've now made three awesome buttons. If you are in need of a button, do let me know. I bought the least expensive button maker, so I can only make one button at a time. But I know it's going to bring me hours of joy and entertainment!

2. We took Emiko to the Hideout to see the Northside Southpaws Friday afternoon. It was a 6:00 pm show, so we thought it would be ok. And the Southpaws play old timey acoustic country and ragtime music, so it wasn't too loud. The front of the Hideout is smoke free, so that was nice, too. Our friend Matt is one of the Southpaws - he played the guitar at our wedding and is the boyfriend of Lizzie from Even in Blackouts. She was at the show, so we got to visit with her. The Southpaws sounded fantastic. It's amazing to see finger picking like that. You should check them out: http://www.myspace.com/northsidesouthpaws.

3. Today we went to Northcenter's Ribfest with our friend Melissa. I enjoyed the desserts I ate more than the ribs. There's really no reason to go anywhere other than Honey1 for ribs and tips and hot links. But the weather was beautiful and it was nice to get out. I thoroughly enjoyed a Black Cow. I also enjoyed the free cupcake I got at the Lagniappe booth, since they were out of crawfish boil. And Mother Murphy and Sons had an excellent lemon trifle.

4. Oh, and yesterday morning I went to my high school's graduation ceremony. It was quite different from my own graduation. The class president -- who I had as a student last year and who I love to death -- was sitting on stage wearing shorts and gym shoes beneath his robe. This is the same kid who rented a Bentley and driver for prom. I don't understand.

The guest speaker was a minister, but his speech was short and thankfully free of proselytizing. The valedictorian, also a former student of mine, giggled throughout her speech. And of the 23 seniors in my division who graduated, only four are going to college. Two are joining the military. That makes me sad. I had some great kids in that division. I don't know how they are going to make a living.

OK, on that happy note, I think I'll make one more button and then go to bed.

Breastfeeding sucks!

I know that is a bad pun. But anyway, this is one of the things I've learned from motherhood -- things that are supposed to be natural and beautiful rarely are. Nursing, especially. It's not easy.

Emiko was six weeks early, so I had to pump to get my milk started, and she was fed through a bottle. Then once we were home with her (after two agonizing weeks in the NICU), we found out she has a weak suck. Which we hope will not impact her later in life!

So she's all kinds of confused. I try to nurse her each time she's hungry, and then if she's still hungry, I give her a bottle of either pumped milk or formula. And then I try to pump as much as possible. Fun!

Many people would have given up by now, but I'm determined to keep with it. It's become somewhat obsessive. And people judge you by whether or not you breastfeed. I shouldn't care, but I do.

Todd and I took Emiko to church a couple of weeks ago and while there, Emiko was hungry. So I made her a bottle. I was so worried someone would notice that I was mixing up formula and not giving her breast milk. How crazy is that?

But I do it too. I take Emiko to our clinic fairly regularly, because on Mondays and Wednesdays you can bring your baby in and they will weigh her and answer any questions, help with nursing, etc. It's really nice, because Emiko had trouble gaining weight at first (when I was exclusively breastfeeding -- we found out we have to supplement with formula).

So a couple of weeks ago I'm there waiting for our turn, and another mom I'd met before was there, too. She is from Wisconsin, and seems a little trashy. But not in the Southern white trash tradition. Wisconsin white trash seems far less entertaining.

At any rate, this mom had her baby in an infant carrier, and had him drinking formula from a bottle that was just propped up against the side of the carrier. We discusses nursing some and she said she was having trouble, blah blah.

I was totally thinking that it was awful that she was not only not nursing, but not even actually feeding her baby -- just letting the baby feed himself, basically.

Then this dad comes by with his baby in his Baby Bjorn, and he starts talking to us. He asks us about nursing and goes on and on about how important it is to breastfeed. And we're looking at him like -- what do you know about it? If you can't lactate, you can't give me a hard time!

I've heard that having children can make you realize how selfish you are. I don't think that's true. For me, it's made me realize how inadequate I am!

But when Emiko finally latches on and looks so content, then I get it. It just takes awhile to get there.

The Horseshoe BBQ is back open! And it's just like old times. We ate there a few months ago, when things were near the end, and the food was not so good. But we went last night, and the food tasted just like it did when the place first opened. It was such a relief! I had a half rack of ribs -- fantastic! Todd had his beloved shredded brisket sandwich. The mac and cheese -- excellent! The steak fries were just right. It was so great to be back!

Remey is back behind the bar on Wednesdays. Yay!

We took baby Emiko -- so we got there early before it was too crowded or smoky. They have flattened out the floorboards (finally!). And they installed a ceiling fan, which really helped with the smokiness (who knew?).

So check it out! Remey is worried that people won't give them another shot. Give them another shot!

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