Curly hair Haven!

Hello world-wide-web,

      Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing Olgita to tell me about this wonderful salon!

      To all my naturally curly-haired friends and readers, I need to shamelessly give a plug to this FAB place.

     The owner, Claudia, cut my hair yesterday.

      But before I go into greater detail about The Styling Hutch, I must tell you, if you are curly headed and don't know about and use the products of a woman in NYC named Ouidad, then you are truly missing out on some great hair goods! I mention Ouidad products because Ouidad also designed a way to cut curly hair - the way it is meant to be cut!

     Claudia, right here in our sweet Plano, Tx, has been taught by Ouidad's professionals and uses her techniques when cutting curly hair. Claudia told me as she clipped away, "I am a great hair stylist, but when I first learned how to cut curly hair I wanted to go back to all my curly-headed clients and apologize. Curly hair is supposed to be cut differently from straight-haired people and I didn't know that! I do now, though, and have been cutting it properly going on six years!"

     I know the basics of curly hair: don't wash often - once a week, if not longer - use a shampoo that doesn't have sulfate in it, Ever. Deep condition at least once a week. Sometimes I just use Conditioner and don't shampoo at all. Use a leave-in conditioner. Condition, condition, condition, as curly hair is often dry, not to mention coarse, but don't despair, as there are products to make curly hair softer. Check out Oudad's products for yourself at http://www.ouidad.com/  and/or google "Naturally curly hair," to learn more about your hair.

     Since I did know 'a little something' about  my hair, Claudia mentioned to me, "All you need is a good hair cut." I felt like I was getting a hair cut for the very first time! I am in recovery from receiving hair cuts for straight hair, lol. I am not blaming hair stylists for not cutting my hair properly; they may not know there IS a way to cut curly hair, or don't have the money for the training, etc. I'm just glad I found Claudia. If you do go to her shop, please tell her I sent you.

Here's the info:

The Styling Hutch

3948 Legacy Dr. #105

Plano, Tx 75023

972-943-0732

website: http://www.stylinghutch.com/

I had Claudia take pictures of my cut:

Wow, what a dif a great haircut can make!

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Theresa

God's plans

Hello world-wide-web,
     Prayers for everyone I said I'd pray for, especially with regard to health. Strengthen all marriages, Lord, and for all singles. Prayers for teachers everywhere: may they be blessed with plenty of patience, compassion and a sense of humor. Heavenly Father, thank you for changes in our lives. May we always remember to rely on You and Your will, and to seek Your will when we are unsure of what the future holds for us. Thank you for being with us throughout our lives; our journey is bearable because of You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
     We think we know God's plans for us, but we don't. :) I certainly thought I did with regard to this school year. Already having two weeks of team teaching under my belt, I was settling into a groove, happy where I was planted.
     Then came Thursday afternoon. I was done with car pool duty (3:15ish) when my principal and assistant principal asked me into their office. I didn't think anything about this, since, hey, this is how things went when I was told I was going to team teach. I jokingly mentioned to the two administrators, "Haven't we already done something like this? More goodness to come, I suspect?"
     My principal responded, "It depends on how you look at it."
     Still, I'm an optimist, so no worries.
     Turns out the school district decided that since I only had six students in fourth grade, my talents were better served if I moved to another school and helped with eleven third-grade students there.
     Wow. Shocker. I wasn't expecting yet another move! I went into denial for the first couple of hours. Then later of course there was acceptance. Now I am completely on-board with the decision and happy to move. Yes, I am anxious about teaching a different grade level, meeting a new team, and being at a school where I don't know anyone, but I am a flexible professional and will do my best to help my student's be successful, while enjoying the change of scenery along the way. I went from thinking, "Wow, no one knows me," to "Wow, no one knows me!" he he. Brand new start.
     We told the students Friday afternoon about the changes. We were all sad, of course, but I assured them I will call and see how they are doing, as well as send emails to ask about their progress.
     My current team has been really sweet in saying good-bye: they bought me a gift card to Starbucks, a deliciously scented candle, some pretty paisley sticky pads, and bagels for our last meeting together. I will miss them. We spent six years (this would have been my seventh) together, but we are friends on FB, so we'll keep in touch.
     The priest at mass yesterday said that God wants us to keep Him #1 in our lives. "Without Jesus as the center of our lives, who knows what can happen to us? But with Jesus at our center, we can rest assured we are being taken care of."
     Check this out: my new school's name is Christie! I think of it this way: "Christ - ie," or "Christ, that Is." :)
     As the great Winston Churchill once said, "For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else." My thoughts exactly!
    
"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Theresa