Patience

Last week was a bit trying for me in the realm of my job. I have a class of fifth graders that I've been with for four weeks, and they are chatty to the extreme. Don't get me wrong -- they are an awesome crew. I just love them -- they are super sweet, completely fun, very bright, and totally spunky. It just gets exhausting because they want to talk all the time, and it's hard to always be reminding and asking them to "please be quiet". So needless to say, as days went by, my patience with their chatter was sloooowly going away. Luckily, something my hubby and I have been doing for Lent provided an awesome suggestion -- one that I'm surprised I hadn't considered previously.

We're doing this little devotional book (individually) every day during Lent. Each night, we each take our own time to spend with God. And it is awesome. Anyway, last week, one of the topics was patience. It suggested asking God for patience when we have difficulty finding it. So I've been trying it. Before I speak, if I'm beginning to feel a little frustrated with the lack of listening/excess of chatting, I send up a little prayer. And things have been 250% better. I'm not sure that the chatting has improved, but I just feel so much more patient when it's not going as well as I'd been hoping. And I've found I've been using those little prayers more and more all around, for lots of different aspects.

Amazing how God answers the teensiest tiniest prayers.

At least the dems provide some comic relief...

Exhibit A:



BAHAHA! Keep that guy locked up... he makes more guffaws than Sarah Palin on a bad day.

As if that wasn't enough of a laugh for one day, I thought I'd throw in another hilarious moment from St. Patrick's Day -- fast forward to 0:50 for the goods...



Exhibit B:

Nancy Pelosi has an 11% approval rating. Yes, you read that correctly: eleven percent. What's more is that Harry Reid has an EIGHT percent approval rating! Bahahahahaha! Oh, that's funny. Peace out in November!

You know I'm politically unhappy when...

I've begun to watch Fox News.

Yes, indeed. It's probably been on for at least two hours this evening.

My dad mentioned he's so put off by what's going on that he may begin donating to the GOP. Apparently when I'm put off by the dems, I watch Fox News.

Because seriously, has anyone even looked at the poll numbers? On msn.com today, it has consistently been around 70% of people saying they are "angry" with the passing of last night's healthcare bill. Seventy percent. And msn.com is no slanted poll done by Fox News, so no one can blame it on that.

It would be nice if our elected leaders would listen to the people, though. What happened to "of the people, by the people, for the people"?

I guess the majority should enjoy having the majority while it lasts. They can kiss it goodbye in eight months.

Dear Mr. Obama, Ms. Pelosi, and the rest of the dems...

I am horribly, horribly dissatisfied. Not only have you not listened to a word of what the majority of what Americans have said about your terrible healthcare reform bill, but you knew it was something people didn't want so you found a sneaky, underhanded way to pass it because you knew you wouldn't have enough votes to pass it the fair way.

Basically Mr. Obama, you lie. You always were a wolf in sheep's clothing, and you always will be.

Although I do thank you for your current "executive order" on not allowing federal funds for abortions, I am skeptical that it will stick. Rumor has it, you can take it back if you like.

This is a scary day for Americans.

Excuse me, while I cry myself to sleep.

You are good

My past post was relatively complainey. Actually, I take that back. It was immensely complainey. Do I dislike the rain? Yes. Do I hate it? No. It's something God has made, and what He makes is good.

Why the change of heart?

One of my favorite CDs right now is "Sing Over Me: Worship Songs and Lullabies" -- a beautiful compilation of soothing, calming praise and worship songs. And this evening while driving back to my apartment after being gone for the weekend, a song by Nichole Nordeman called "You Are Good" came on. The whole song touched me (as most of the songs on this album do), but one of the last verses felt especially directed toward me because it said,

"When it's dark and it's cold
And I can't feel my soul,
You are so good.
When the world is gone gray
And the rain's here to stay,
You are still good.

So with every breath I take in,
I'll tell You I am grateful again.
And the storm may swell
Even then, it's well
and You are good."

I need to remember to be grateful, even if I'm not getting my way -- even when it comes to the weather! And that no matter what, God is still so good. He has blessed me so, so, so much -- and no matter what happens, he is still good.

This last piece of the song is also so pertinent right now as my city heads into a week where everyone is on-edge, fearful of 500-year flood, round dos. Because even if the river swells and the city doesn't get its sandbags and levies placed or packed well enough to hold, God will still be good. No matter what, He will always provide.

Cranky post

So this is my cranky post.

It is raining. Not just sprinkles; I can handle sprinkles. I'm talking, rain. Which is, first of all, the last thing this flood-prone city needs. Second of all, for those of you who know me even a little bit at all, you know that there is nothing more that I hate [hate] than rain. I hate how the bottoms of my pants get all wet and look anything but professional. I hate how my carefully straightened bob turns into a frizzy, not-in-a-good-way wavy mop when it gets even a little wet. I hate how my students' tests that I take home with me to grade get wet and crinkle up afterward, no matter how hard I try to shield them from the rain. And I just generally hate how everything is just wet. Blah. Even if someone told me I won a million dollar shopping spree to Banana Republic but I had to go out in the rain at this exact second, I would refuse.

Okay, so maybe I wouldn't refuse.

But I would think about it.

Post about shopping/fashion, part II

So for lent, I gave up shopping (or browsing, rather) online. With one stipulation: unless there's some super amazing coupon that is e-mailed out to me.

Lo and behold, today there was. For my all-time, favorite, favorite store: Banana Republic.

How much?

FORTY PERCENT!

That's nearly as good as my employee discount. Wowzas.

So I browsed. And put a few things in my bag. But have now (or at least, for the next five minutes) decided that I will stay strong and not buy anything with that coupon code. Mostly because I'm thinking they'll probably come out with some new, super cute spring/summer stuff within the coming month. So why not save my shopping fund for that? I'm being practical.

So for today (or, at least the next five minutes. Hopefully I don't cave. No, I won't cave.): Megan, 1. Banana Republic, zero!

Some trends, I can do without...

For example, this one:

Stylish? Fashionable? Puh-lease. I even saw shoes similar to this the other day on another blog, only in a shiny gold color. Yes, you heard me -- gold! And the author was going mad over them.

I guess I just won't be in style this season. Meh, at least I won't be wearing these atrocities.

I'm waiting...

So I mentioned a couple weeks back that I was just feeling... bored. Amazingly enough, just a few days after I said that, I got to see my niece and nephews and the sun came out, warming up the arctic-esque temperatures we've had for the past quarter of the year! And, amazingly enough, my "dissatisfied" (for a lack of a better word) feeling went away!

Unfortunately, it only lasted a couple of days and it's been a few weeks since then.

But don't think that means I'm back to being a big crab-apple! Instead, I'm feeling so grateful and so blessed that the end of winter completely snuck up on me... woohoo! And all of the puddles on the ground that resulted from the melting snow even make me excited! Hubby and I went home to visit our families over the weekend and I snagged the multi-colored polka dot rain boots my mother dear got me last year... and I've been able to wear them anytime I go outside (and, of course, changing into some more "appropriate" shoes when I arrive at school. But seriously, what kid wouldn't love a teacher that wears rain boots with her dress pants?). Naturally, the first thing I did when I slipped on my rain boots when we arrived back in Fargo was walk through the squishy, mushy grass and watch all the water that filled in where I took each step... and then enjoy the fact that my feet weren't getting the least bit wet : ) Nor were any of my shoes being wrecked!

However, I don't think the novelty of wearing my rubber rain boots and the excitement of the idea that spring is coming sometime will last a whole lot longer if all we have are cloudy, dreary, rainy days. Hopefully the forecasters in the area are right, though... they're forecasting yucky days just until the end of this week. After that... pure sunshine!

Maybe it'll even be time to break out the cute springy skirts and shirts and show some skin (and by skin, I mean calves and forearms... maybe biceps. Maybe. I'm an elementary school teacher, folks!). Whee spring!

Crockpot, two. Megan, one!

Although my pretty red Crockpot and I had a disagreement a few weeks ago, I found a potentially delicious recipe online and decided to pull it out one more time and give it one more chance to redeem itself.

And redeem itself, it did! No burning, no messy clean up, no disappointing food. Just the opposite, in fact! It was fantastic. I blended up a sauce last night, thawed my pork shoulder roast over night, and threw both in the Crockpot this morning on low and let it go for eight and a half hours. I had pilates at 4:00 this afternoon and couldn't make it home between work and that, so hubby turned the Crockpot to "warm" before he attended a meeting at 3:45. When I got home a bit after 5:00, it was all set to go! I just had to shred it, make some hash browns to go alongside and cut some nummy buns from Wal-Mart (have you ever had their bulliolo buns before? They are incredible!). We were ready to eat by 5:15, which is a God-send because hubby has to leave for work on Monday nights around 5:50.

So please, go easy on yourself some night and throw this together in your Crockpot. It's pretty similar to Chipotle's pork, so be a little forewarned: it is spicy. So if you don't like spicy, don't add the whole can of chipotle peppers. However, take note: I am not one to like my food spicy, and I thought it was spicy, but not terrible spicy.

Enjoy!

Oh, and psst... this recipe is thanks to the Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen website. Browse it -- there's lots of nummy looking things on it!

Ingredient

• 3 pounds Top Roast (or any type of roast -- I used a pork shoulder roast)
• 2 whole Onions
• 3 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 8 cloves Minced Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1-½ Tablespoon Oregano
• 1 can Small Can Of Chipotle In Adobo Sauce
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 1 cup Water
• 1 Tablespoon Bay Leaves
• 2 Tablespoons White Or Rice Vinegar

Preparation Instructions

Take everything but the roast and put it in a blender. Blend until onion is all ground up.

Add some of the sauce to bottom of crock pot. Place roast in crock pot and pour the rest of the sauce over meat.

Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low.

Use fork or tongs to shred the meat once cooked.

Shame on me!

For being such a lazy blogger lately! And the laziness will continue for this evening, as I have to pick up my hubby from an evening meeting and dash over to my brother and sister-in-law's house for our weekly LOST event (on DVR... which means no commercials, woohoo!).

However. Two things:

1. Sorry for the lack of posts, for those few people who read this (if any at all, really).

2. I think I've been watching too much Grey's Anatomy lately. I know what you're thinking: one can NEVER have too much Grey's Anatomy in their life! It's true, certainly. But my hubby and I just started watching about a month ago and have become superfast junkies. Like, we bought all five seasons quickly after we started watching the first season. And I don't believe I've mentioned that we're midway through the fourth season... yikes! Anyway, here's how I know it might be becoming a problem: I'm a huge Mer-Der advocate, and cannot HANDLE the relationship Dr. McDreamy currently has with Rose because it's wrong on so many levels. Apparently I've become too wrapped up in this fictional off-again, on-again romance between Mer-Der, because I totally dreamt about it last night. And I definitely had a heart-to-heart with both Meredith and Derek. Yeah, it was weird. Kind of creepy, really.

For today, that is all. But I promise I will be back sooner than before :o)