The Color of Paint

Paint Colors

Ask me what my favorite color is and the answer will depend on who is out at the time. I usually answer that I like all colors. I say that it would be like choosing a favorite child or a favorite book. When pressed, I will say green or red – again it depends on who is out.

My husband and I struggle to agree on paint colors. He would like the entire house to be the same color throughout. I, on the other hand, would like to decorate each room to please the alter who is present most often in that room.

He doesn’t understand this. He thinks having each room a different color makes the house look cheap. I said, “Remember, you are dealing with someone who is not always the same person.” He still doesn’t get it, but I love him anyway.

I painted the guest room a couple of years ago – a lovely gold color. He didn’t like it at first but it grew on him. When we moved the office into the bedroom next door to the guest room, he painted the office the same color only one shade lighter. While I like the color in the guest room because it looks rich, I hate in the office because Laura – the writer – the alter who is out when I am in the office doesn’t like it. She would like this room to be a lovely shade of robin egg blue. I know he is not going to go for that. I may have to paint it when he is out of town and ask for forgiveness when he gets back.

I love the paint in the toy room. It is called pecan. It is tan with a hint of red. I think it is warm and cozy, and it makes me feel safe. My husband hates it – with a passion. He wants to paint over it. I am holding out because it appeals to Cat – her safe place is a house in a tree with all the colors of nature. My 3D children also love the color, so for now it will stay.

Our 3D child who still lives at home has his room painted his favorite color. I let him choose because I think that is the right thing to do. My husband said, “Every room is a different color; we can’t keep doing this.” So we picked a color we can agree on for the rest of the house. I went to the paint store and found several lighter colors (he likes light colors) that I could live with. He chose the one that is the same color as the toy room only about four or five shades lighter. I don’t like it as much as the toy room, but I can live with it, he can live with it, and it matches the toy room, so we may not have to paint over it.

However, I still want to repaint the office robin egg blue. I also want my scrap room to be peach – the color of a peach that is bright and warm from the sun and drips juice when you bite into it. I want the accents in the room to be a deep blue. My husband may strangle me for making the house look cheap. Certainly if he accepts the fact that he married a person with alters, he can accept the fact that each alter has her own favorite color - or not.

Chicken Fajitas and Rhubarb Pie

Chicken Fajitas and Rhubarb Pie

I don’t know that these two things go together, but it is what we had for dinner. They both taste pretty awesome.

Chicken Fajitas

Marinade
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon chicken soup mix (bullion)
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cut into thin strips.

Combine all the dry ingredients for the marinade in a large zip-lock bag.

Add the wet ingredients and mix well.

Cut the chicken:

 Put the chicken in  bag. Pour marinade over the chicken. Refrigerate for several hours.

Filling
Marinated chicken breast strips
2 green or red bell peppers - cut into thin strips
1 large onion - cut into thin strips


For cooking:
2 tablespoons olive or grape seed oil
Heat the oil in frying pan. Add chicken, and cook for 5 minutes - stirring constantly.

Add the marinade, the onion and the peppers. Cook until vegetables are crisp, yet tender.


6 to 12 flour tortillas - any size
Salsa - fresh is best but canned will do
Sour Cream

Remove from heat and spoon into tortillas. Top with sour cream and salsa, roll and serve.

I didn't get pictures of the finished product because I forgot to do so before dinner, and our dinner guests practically inhaled the finished product - there was nothing left.

Rhubarb Pie

2 crust pastry for a nine inch pie
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca
6 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups rhubarb, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350
Wash and cut the rhubarb:

Put into a large bowl.

Mix sugar, tapioca, flour, and salt and stir into the rhubarb.

Spread mixture onto pastry in pie tin. Dot with butter.

Top with pastry. Crimp edges. Cut vents in top dough for steam to escape.

Bake for 55 minutes (or more – crust will be golden and the filling will bubble when it is done). Serve warm – with vanilla ice cream.

I Finished My First Year!

I survived my first year of teaching school. It has been a hard yet rewarding experience. I learned a lot about teaching, about students, and about myself.

I learned how to design assignments that take less time to grade but that more fully measure the objective I want the students to grasp.

I learned that I have to find ways to keep my system balanced. I have to make time on the weekends for other alters to have time on the outside.

I learned that while I can manage my classroom well, I struggle if I am in the halls during passing time, and being in a dance with over 1,000 students is beyond my limits – there is simply too much information for my system to handle with that many students.

I learned that the copy room is usually really busy the first thing Monday morning, but if I get there early enough, I can still get my copies made before the bell rings.

I learned that IEP meetings and questionnaires take a lot of time, but they help me understand my students better.

I learned that my system can handle teaching. I am thankful for a system that works well together. I am thankful we have become more and more co-conscious as time goes by.

One of our teachers had a melt-down this year – in front of a class full of students. The teacher was fired because of this mental break. It makes me sad that the medical community has not yet learned enough about the human brain to understand the mechanism behind mental illnesses and conditions. Someday I hope the brain will be better understood so that instead of being fired, people with mental illnesses can be treated and get well in a world that doesn’t brand them as crazy. I understand why this teacher was let go. I understand that this teacher could not be trusted in a room of students again. I wouldn’t want my child to be in a room with this teacher in his/her state of mind, but it still makes me sad because I know that there but for the grace of God go I. I am thankful for a system that functions well. They do their job so that I always appear “normal”. It is too bad this teacher didn’t have alters – sometimes I feel like it is a super power.