Patience is a virtue (that I'm not quite blessed with)

Well, my 2nd year of teaching is underway! We are actually on our third week of school, and so far, so good! This group of 8th graders seems to be a little smarter and a little better behaved than my last group. I'm very optimistic about this year, and I hope that my students will continue to live up to these high expectations!

I think the challenge that has been set before me this year is patience. There are already two situations forming this year in which my patience (what little of it there is) has already be tested. One involves a student, and one involves a co-worker. I pray every morning on the way to school that I will show God's love to everyone I come in contact with, but that is so hard to do with the little patience that I have, especially with these two! The student is one that continually asks questions after every statement I make, and the co-worker and I haven't fully fleshed out our co-teaching relationship together.

At church on Sunday, we read Romans 12 as a handbook for healthy relationships. There were 5 things that this Scripture says about forming healthy relationships:

1. Bring God into your relationships (Romans 12:1-2)

2. Let go of yourself (Romans 12:3-5)

3. Accept the worth of others (Romans 12:6-8)

4. Show REAL love (Romans 12:9-16)

5. Don't seek revenge (Romans 12:17-21)

In order to on my patience with these 2 patience-tryers, I think that I need to work on each of these steps in my teacher-student, co-worker-co-worker relationships. I especially need to focus on accepting the worth of these two people. We are each given gifts, and being inquisitive and being able to work with certain students' personalities are both things that have value to society. I just need to realize that value and how these gifts can enhance my classroom.

I hope all of y'all are having a good start to the school year/continuing to succeed in your jobs. Keep these 5 steps in mind when forming relationships with others as I try to do the same, especially in these already patience-trying relationships I'm building!

Tigger

A lot of people claim they aren't cat people or that they hate cats because they aren't social. My cat, Tigger, was the exact opposite. Sure, she didn't like strangers, but she would warm up to you eventually. And once she did, she was the most affectionate, obedient, loving, and loyal cat I've ever met.

I'm writing this post because on Thursday night, my family had to put Tigger down. The vet discovered that she had a heart condition where she formed clots that would impede function of her legs. The condition could be treated, but the vet said it was very hard on the cats. He had treated one cat with this condition and said that he probably wouldn't do it again because of the pain the cat goes through. My dad, mom, and brother were all there with her and they said she died quickly.

I loved Tigger so much, and some people may think it's ridiculous that I'm so upset over her passing. I felt like she was my cat, though, and I wish I had been there to say goodbye to her.

We got Tigger when I was in 2nd grade. A classmate of mine had a broken arm, and I wrote things down for him during that time. He asked me one day if I wanted a kitten (his cat had just had 5 kittens) as a way to say thanks for how I'd helped him. I asked my mom, she said yes, and we went over the next day to pick Tigger out. When we sat down to name her, we were focusing on her stripes. After the suggestion of "Rainbow" by my then-4 yr old brother, we decided on "Tiger." Apparently, my parents both kept calling her "Tigger", so we changed the name.

I will miss the way Tigger would come sit on you when you were lying on the couch. She would always let you pet her and purr so loudly. She bit a little bit as a kitten, but as she grew up she wouldn't really get aggressive unless you provoked her. She was a great cat, and I enjoyed every moment of her 16 years with us. Rest in Peace, Tigger!

Yummy dinner turned delicious lunch!

It's time to toot my own domestic horn about the dinner I made last night! While I've always been very innovative with baking, I tend to only cook the same things over and over. Last night, I used one of my usual recipes, added to it, and made a very delicious dinner! On the menu: Italian baked chicken, rice, and green beans

I've regularly baked a boneless, skinless chicken breast in Italian dressing using a glass casserole dish. It makes a very tender, tasty piece of chicken. I decided last night to add basil to the Italian dressing before I baked the chicken. I lined the bottom of the dish with Italian dressing, sprinkled basil, placed the chicken breasts in the pan, then covered it with more Italian dressing and more sprinkled basil. Then, I baked it at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes (two chicken breasts) and flipped the chicken every 12-15 minutes. When I put the chicken on the plate, I sprinkled shredded parmesan cheese on top and spooned some of the extra Italian dressing over that. So good!

I made basic white rice, so that wasn't anything special, but the green beans were so good! I used fresh organic green beans, which tasted very fresh to begin with. While cooking the beans in water, I added 2 tbsps of butter and about a second-long pour of extra virgin olive oil. I left them in that mixture for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, and they wound up tasting delicious! I will without a doubt make these again.

To make this meal even better, I had leftover chicken, which I cut up to put in a salad for lunch today. I put the chicken in the fridge over night, then added romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, carrots, cucumber, and turkey bacon and mixed everything together. SUCH a good lunch! The chilled Italian chicken was soft, sweet, and very tasty. Perfect addition to a salad!

Just wanted to share this with anyone who reads this. Baking the chicken took quite a while, but it was definitely worth the wait!