Learning to be flexible

It’s been another whirlwind of a week. Lots of work, some time with friends mixed in, homework, plus dealing with car stuff made for a decent amount of stress but overall things seemed to go alright.

Bouncing between different tutoring centers is definitely something that will take some getting used to. Instead of showing up at one place every day at a specific time my schedule changes depending on the day (and the week). Beyond that, one day I’m in Pittsford another I’m in Greece. And half the time I’m coming from another job to get there. It’s a continual reminder to be flexible and be thankful for what I have. I really do enjoy the job itself, don’t get me wrong! The schedule is just a little crazy!

I was reminded how different some of the students I work with are from the ones I have at the high school. I work with kids in an inner city elementary school that have a lot to deal with at a young age. I work with the third grade reading level group, I have five students and they range from third through fifth grade. One of them was in a fight recently and was suspended from school; she’s only in fifth grade! It just made me pause and reflect on the fact that I can’t truly comprehend what these kids are dealing with and that most of the kids I’ve taught up to this point haven’t been in situations like this. They are good kids and most of the time they seem to want to learn. I just hope that they continue to learn beyond elementary school.They keep me on my toes for sure. Trying to teach reading and talk about ocean creatures with kids who have never seen the ocean before makes for a lot of quick thinking and adapting of lesson. It's wonderful experience for me and I'm learning a lot, I just hope that they are able to get something out of it as well. 

My headaches have been hit or miss lately which is more annoying that I'd like it to be. I can handle the constant pain, but when one day isn't bad and the next is excruciating pain, I'd prefer a constant of some sort instead of back and forth. I know a lot of it is tied to my stress level, and to the amount of sleep I'm getting (or the lack of it). Plus the random changes in weather are not helping either. School break will hopefully help with the sleep aspect. I'm still in less pain than I was before trying this medication so I shouldn't be complaining, but some days are still really hard to get through, especially with a smile on my face, pretending everything is fine. 

Even though I wasn’t working at night this weekend, I ended up having a pretty lame weekend. Friday night I just did some reading for school and then tried to relax. It was probably something I needed and was healthy in the long run. Saturday I just did homework. I had to work early Sunday morning and didn’t hear about plans so I spent the night writing a paper. I had the attention span of a small child which made it very difficult to get through but eventually I got a rough draft done.

Sunday I was quite productive. I had to work at Old Navy 7-11, and after driving home slowly in the snow I got through my massive to do list! I ate lunch, did my laundry, made beef stew for my friends for dinner (recipe below), made brownies for dessert and for grad class on Tuesday, finished proof reading my paper for class, and started to clean my room. A few friends came over for dinner and then to play games and we just hung out. It was a nice night.

This week I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but February break (for high school) is next week so then I’ll have time to relax and recuperate then.

Hearty Beef Stew – Modified from Women’s Day Magazine January 16^th 1990

Ingredients:

½ cup all-purpose flour (If gluten free use rice flour and it works just as well)
2 teaspoons salt

4 pounds well-trimmed boneless beef chuck or round roast cut in 1” pieces (I just used stew meat)

¼ cup vegetable oil

5 cups beef broth

1 cup dry red wine or water

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 large bay leaves

2 teaspoons dried marjoram leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves

1 ½ pounds carrot peeled and cut into bite size chunks

1 ¼ pounds parsnips peeled and cut into bite size chunks

1 pound onions cut into wedges

1 pound small mushrooms, halved

1 pound frozen cut green beans

3 large russet potatoes peeled and cut into ½ to ¾” cubes

Directions:

Mix flour and salt. Coat meat, shaking off excess.

Heat oil in a 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven over medium high heat until it looks thin and rippling but not smoking. Add and brown the meat in two or more batches being careful not to crowd the pot. Remove the meat to a bowl with a slotted spoon. When all the beef is browned, pour off any drippings remaining in the pot.

Return the meat to the pot. Stir in beef broth, wine, tomato paste, garlic and herbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer one-two hours ( I went about an hour and a half and the meat turned out to be very tender.)

Add carrots, parsnips, and onions. Simmer covered 45 minutes until the carrots are almost tender.

At this point we add the potatoes and simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Sir in mushrooms and green beans, cover and simmer 45 minutes more until vegetables and meat are tender, stirring occasionally.

Make 10 to 12 good sized portions- This recipe fed 6 people with lots of left overs to share. My family would make a half batch at it would feed all 4 of us with a little bit of left overs.