Thursday Pick-Me-Up: A Treatise on Sweet and Sour Pork

This might be one of the longest weeks of my life.  I am an educator and if you are, or know anyone in education, I am sure you have heard about how crazy the springtime is.  With a combination of spring weather, state assessments, and middle school hormones, I feel like I am holding on to my classes by the skin of my teeth.

This leads me to the title of the post...

Thursday Pick-Me-Up:  A Treatise on Sweet and Sour Pork 

(yes I looked up MLA formatting on a treatise and you are supposed to italicise )

When faced with the stresses of educating adolescent youth, I find that from time to time my spirits must be lifted from the drudgery of "the grind."  Being a man of large stature and appetite, I find that this is best accomplished through one of God's gifts to mankind...Chinese take-out.

I begin my mornings at 4:30 AM tutoring Chinese students in English via the internet.  In the course of our lessons, meals are often discussed.  This leaves me yearning for the delicacies of the far east.  It is funny because there is this little cartoon clipart picture of a bowl of noodles and I think they look delicious.  This is usually the beginning of the rumblings.

When I arrive at school, many of my colleagues also do these Chinese/English lessons.  Luke and I have been talking about this bowl of noodles for over a week now.  We have put off the urge to order for quite awhile.  Today, however, the will to order was too strong to ignore.

After the decision to order was made, I was filled with excitement and delight.  Our local Chinese establishment has recently moved to online ordering.  Along with Luke, I began to browse the wonderful selections of Eastern delicacies.  After deciding to choose from the lunch menu, (I am always conscious of value)  I chose to go with sweet and sour pork with fried rice and a spring roll.

When the food arrived it was about 10 pounds of food.  As I popped the top on the styrofoam container, my nose was hit with was savory smells of pork fried in sesame oil and smooth, sultry scents of pork fried rice.  The delayed gratification multiplied my senses to the point of super-human proportions.

Yes, there are three trays.  Yes, there are only two of us.  Yes, we ate it all.  

After popping the top on one of my newest discoveries...it was on.  Seriously these are really good!

The eating process consisted of two different sessions.  One right when I received my food at 11:00 AM and once during my regular lunch period.  Both sessions were met with the envious stares of colleagues.  I could feel their cold stares contrast the warmth of deep fried pork in my stomach.  After eating to the point of gluttony, I felt I must call it quits, lest I spend the remainder of my day in the small room in the office.

The aftermath

Once completing my Oriental feast, I enjoyed the obligatory fortune cookie.  While I do enjoy the taste of the cookie, it was soon overshadowed by a fortune that is difficult for me to understand.  My confusion could be contributed to the mass amounts of MSG that are coursing through my veins.  

I am now finishing writing this in the short-breathed stupor of post chow-down.  I hope you enjoyed this small adventure that I embarked on while trying to brighten up, what has so far been, the gloomiest day of my week.   Thank you and God Bless!