Dr. Ray received Starkville High Schools "Certified Non-Teacher" of the year award for this year! Basically what this means is that they picked him from all of the administrators, librarians, counselors, etc... It was a proud moment!
Yesterday was April Fools day, and for the first time in my teaching career one of my students FOOLED me! Brayden went to use the restroom, and when he came out he said, "Ms. Curington, the toilet is clogged." He was so serious! I asked him if it was bad and he said yes mam...APRIL FOOLS! I laughed for a while about this one. I couldn't believe I actually fell for it.
Today has been one of those days in teaching where you scratch your head and ask yourself if you can take another 25 years of this controlled chaos. With the sun shining outside, the flowers blooming, and spring fever in the air, my students are just unable to control themselves. We have lost both our snack and recess today and will be working smooth up until 3:00. *Sigh*
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Just lose it
Michael and I have been on a low carb clean eating diet for the last two weeks. So far he has lost nine pounds and I have lost eight! We are pretty proud. It was difficult at first to completely change our way of grocery shopping, cooking, and eating, but we have adjusted. We are both feeling healthier and sleeping better now. I hope the weight loss continues!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Just a new year
2014 is here in full force! So much has changed over these few short years. I am teaching kindergarten in Winona for the second year and I am dating an amazing guy from French Camp, Michael Ray. I can't wait it see what this year has in store for us! One thing I know for sure is felisha is going to be a mommy! I can't wait!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Just be thankful
Throughout my life I have learned one important truth. You can never fully understand how rapidly things can change. Just in this past year, so many things have happened that I will never understand. First of all, I finally got that Kindergarten position in Winona. Over the past year, I have experienced one giant heartache, four broken ribs, two lost grandparents, and one best friend with cancer. I have learned to never take anything for granted.
-CC
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Just be classic
Words are beautiful. They are the one thing that mankind can truly take full responsibility for. We have created this language that used to be eloquent and lovely and morphed it into a slaughterhouse of nasty slang and drab adverbial usage. 200 years ago, words were beautifully used in great works of literature. Now, we are lazy, slovenly speakers and writers save for a few genius minds those of which hold the power to bend and mold our language into something that will remain classic and elegant.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Just A Smile and Sequins
Here are some ideas to help kick a rotten day to kingdom come…
Do something good for someone else, even though you may not want to. Do a favour, help them find something, give them an item which will help them in some way. Start the flow of positive energy.
Eat the best chocolate you can get your hands on. In bed. Or in the bath.
Turn up music you really love. Play it so loudly that it soaks in through your skin. Dance in your pyjamas. Feel the pain lift.
Have a romance in your head.
Volunteer.
Buy a remote control for your camera & dip your toes into the pool of narcissism.
Call a friend & ask them if they want to have a slumber party.
Throw yourself head-first into a creative project. Something that you’re excited about but which feels a little too big for you. You’ll be so consumed by it that it will fuel you for ages.
Do the splits. Or at least try. (Be gentle though!)
Sing. Loudly. Badly. Off-key. Whatever you like. It works. The last time I was on my way somewhere really nerve-wracking, I was in a cab. The radio was playing & I was so anxious that the only way I could distract myself was by singing along. Loudly. The driver probably thought I was a total nut but I didn’t care & it did the trick!
Cover your entire body in cocoa butter & fall asleep.
Drink 2 litres of fizzy drink (pop, soda, you know) & stay up until sunrise.
Write a list of things that you appreciate right now, in the present moment. Focus on each of them & let the love inside you well up. Even when things appear to be going really, really badly, there are always things to be happy about. (That’s one of the reasons why we do Things I Love Thursday — to help bring your attention back to the positive.)
Indulge in your “guilty pleasures”, whatever they are. (Old episodes of America’s Next Top Model, ginger ale, chocolate cake, romantic comedies, etc.)
Send a text message to one of the most interesting people you know — maybe someone you don’t know that well, just to say hello.
Order delivery food, just to bask in the glory of the fact that if you pay people, they will come to your door. With food. Warm, good food. What an age we live in, huh?
Look through old photos. With a friend if possible. If it’s an old friend, you can reminisce (“Oh my god, do you remember when we did that?!”), & if it’s a new friend, you can tell grand stories (“Well, let me tell you about this guy…”).
Listen to old Motown hits. Come up with dance moves. Wear something sparkly & work it out. (DJ Z-Trip’s Motown Breakdown is an excellent time, too.)
Write a gruellingly personal entry for your blog dissecting every aspect of the situation which has upset you so much. Post it, don’t post it, whatever, just get it out of your system.
Plan a holiday.
Write a ridiculous online dating profile & marvel at the people who come out of the woodwork. (“Oh, a threesome with you & your wife in New Jersey? Sign me up!”)
Spend an hour in your variety store of choice, set yourself a budget ($20?) & buy some junk. Lip treatments, candy, maybe an exfoliating scrub… Then go home & play with your new purchases. There’s a reason it’s called retail therapy, you know (though of course, it doesn’t last).
Wear a fake moustache all day.
Think up nicknames for all your friends, then send them each postcards to alert them.
Think back on the last really good sex you had. Think about it for an hour. Then do something else.
Go out for a milkshake.
Appreciate the dinosaur bones at your favourite museum.
Grab a friend, dress up like tourists & go & do all the really schlocky things on offer in your city. Take LOTS of photos, & be sure to flash the peace sign in 70% of them.
Stick little crystals on something you use every day. (Wallet, light-switch, key-ring, boots?)
Buy a new pair of sunglasses or non-prescription frames. It’s a super-easy (& often relatively cheap) way to evolve your look. Plus sunglasses make for excellent on-the-fly disguises.
Go to a yoga class. Surrender & breathe deep.
Put on your favourite pair of high heels & walk up & down your bedroom/hallway doing your best Miss J impersonation. Have a friend or neighbour who is willing to humour you offer critique. “Girl, you walk like a busted-down freight-train.”
Write multiple lists of everything you want. Material possessions, relationships, work, lifestyle, everything. Pin them up by your door so you see them all the time.
Go through Urban Dictionary & find some fun/ridiculous new words to add to your vocabulary.
Make yourself the biggest ice-cream sundae you’ve ever seen. Decorate it with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles, nonpareils, whatever you like. Take a photo. Give it a name (“Jane’s Orgasmatron Cardiac Arrest Sundae”). Devour. Maybe without using your hands. Take a photo of that too.
Get your eyebrows shaped.
Spend an hour in a department store sniffing perfume samples. When you find something you like, spray it on a card & drop it in your purse.
Try break-dancing.
Watch videos of flamboyant, successful people like Elton John or Michael Jackson & marvel.
Eat animal crackers.
Drink through a straw all day. If you get your hands on a straw which matches your outfit, so much the better.
Plan a party with a theme that makes you feel really, really happy.
Write a letter to yourself in the future. Then hide it. Maybe in the pocket of a coat you never, ever wear.
Leave the house wearing just fabulous lingerie underneath a coat. With heels. (Note: if you are a man you may get accused of being a flasher if you do this. The world is cruel sometimes.)
Pull a Kid CuDi & announce your retirement from the world of something. Like cooking, or vocal communication. Announce your unretirement whenever you feel like it.
Buy a harmonica & annoy the hell out of everyone while you learn how to play it.
Go wig shopping.
Choose a festival (SXSW? Burning Man? Coachella? Wave-Gotik-Treffen?) to go to, invite some friends, & start making plans.
Add diamantes to your manicure.
Hula hoop.
Buy some really good art for your walls. Posters, prints, original artwork or other. If you’re feeling impoverished, go to the library, check out some art books, then take huge, great quality photocopies at a copy shop.
Listen to Never Better by P.O.S. from start to finish & revel in what a great album it really is.
Load up your ipod & go for a walk through your favourite park.
Visit a cool toy store & make your friend a surprise package.
Reach out to the people who inspire you but who don’t know you exist.
Write the birthdays of your personal heroes in your planner & work out a way to honour them on that day.
Pie.
Colour your hair. (You can always dye it back.)
Notice where you hold tension in your body, & let it go.
Visit some kind of religious institution & observe a service.
Bake heart- or bunny-shaped cookies. Give them away.
Be graceful.
Be graceless.
Make a video diary.
Answer questions with questions.
Try on a pair of really, really expensive shoes & act like you’ll be back tomorrow, but you’re just going to go home & think about it. (Bonus points: take a photo of you in them. Often you will need to be stealthy about this but it’s worth doing.)
Record yourself trying to recite the alphabet while vigorously brushing your teeth.
Flirt with entirely inappropriate people.
Sing into your friend’s answering machine. (If you’re in the USA & use Slydial, it will take you straight to their voicemail.)
Pour pancakes in the shape of your initials. Eat them while watching aerobics on television.
Make friends with your neighbours.
Think about how great it would be to name a shaggy dog “Toupee”.
Go to an audition just for the experience.
Tell someone cute, “You’re cute”.
Sit in a sauna with a stack of fashion magazines & sweat it out.
Find a secret place with a great view. Like a tree, or a rooftop, or a hill.
Go & see a musical (or just rent one).
Be optimistic.
Buy ridiculous slippers.
Make a list of the things you want to do to celebrate the upcoming season.
Lie down in the sunshine.
Pretend to be a dancer in a music video as you perform mundane tasks. Jiggle your way from the bathroom to the kitchen, shake it while you wait for your toast to pop, booty bump while you pick an outfit.
Go to an aquarium & take photos of the jellyfish.
Watch movies you used to love as a child.
Book a karaoke room with friends & sing your heart out.
Make a list of practical, actionable ways you can improve your situation.
Start keeping a dream journal & write down their supposed meanings, too.
See if you can develop an appreciation for a band or a style of music you’ve never liked before.
Write a play.
Go to vintage stores looking for fabulous old typewriters.
Write the stuff you like about your body on your body with a marker.
Change your ring-tone to the sound of one of your friends laughing hysterically.
Watch videos of Robin Williams or Eddie Murphy.
Listen to Divine Harvest by The Mae Shi. Don’t be worried, everything will turn out fine. Don’t be worried, friend just put your hand in mine.
Take a nap with your head at the other end of the bed.
Walk around a garden centre & buy a colourful plant. Give it a name.
Go somewhere that people walk their dogs & make friends with some fluffy creatures.
Hug your friends.
Tell someone everything.
Believe that everything is always getting better.
Do something good for someone else, even though you may not want to. Do a favour, help them find something, give them an item which will help them in some way. Start the flow of positive energy.
Eat the best chocolate you can get your hands on. In bed. Or in the bath.
Turn up music you really love. Play it so loudly that it soaks in through your skin. Dance in your pyjamas. Feel the pain lift.
Have a romance in your head.
Volunteer.
Buy a remote control for your camera & dip your toes into the pool of narcissism.
Call a friend & ask them if they want to have a slumber party.
Throw yourself head-first into a creative project. Something that you’re excited about but which feels a little too big for you. You’ll be so consumed by it that it will fuel you for ages.
Do the splits. Or at least try. (Be gentle though!)
Sing. Loudly. Badly. Off-key. Whatever you like. It works. The last time I was on my way somewhere really nerve-wracking, I was in a cab. The radio was playing & I was so anxious that the only way I could distract myself was by singing along. Loudly. The driver probably thought I was a total nut but I didn’t care & it did the trick!
Cover your entire body in cocoa butter & fall asleep.
Drink 2 litres of fizzy drink (pop, soda, you know) & stay up until sunrise.
Write a list of things that you appreciate right now, in the present moment. Focus on each of them & let the love inside you well up. Even when things appear to be going really, really badly, there are always things to be happy about. (That’s one of the reasons why we do Things I Love Thursday — to help bring your attention back to the positive.)
Indulge in your “guilty pleasures”, whatever they are. (Old episodes of America’s Next Top Model, ginger ale, chocolate cake, romantic comedies, etc.)
Send a text message to one of the most interesting people you know — maybe someone you don’t know that well, just to say hello.
Order delivery food, just to bask in the glory of the fact that if you pay people, they will come to your door. With food. Warm, good food. What an age we live in, huh?
Look through old photos. With a friend if possible. If it’s an old friend, you can reminisce (“Oh my god, do you remember when we did that?!”), & if it’s a new friend, you can tell grand stories (“Well, let me tell you about this guy…”).
Listen to old Motown hits. Come up with dance moves. Wear something sparkly & work it out. (DJ Z-Trip’s Motown Breakdown is an excellent time, too.)
Write a gruellingly personal entry for your blog dissecting every aspect of the situation which has upset you so much. Post it, don’t post it, whatever, just get it out of your system.
Plan a holiday.
Write a ridiculous online dating profile & marvel at the people who come out of the woodwork. (“Oh, a threesome with you & your wife in New Jersey? Sign me up!”)
Spend an hour in your variety store of choice, set yourself a budget ($20?) & buy some junk. Lip treatments, candy, maybe an exfoliating scrub… Then go home & play with your new purchases. There’s a reason it’s called retail therapy, you know (though of course, it doesn’t last).
Wear a fake moustache all day.
Think up nicknames for all your friends, then send them each postcards to alert them.
Think back on the last really good sex you had. Think about it for an hour. Then do something else.
Go out for a milkshake.
Appreciate the dinosaur bones at your favourite museum.
Grab a friend, dress up like tourists & go & do all the really schlocky things on offer in your city. Take LOTS of photos, & be sure to flash the peace sign in 70% of them.
Stick little crystals on something you use every day. (Wallet, light-switch, key-ring, boots?)
Buy a new pair of sunglasses or non-prescription frames. It’s a super-easy (& often relatively cheap) way to evolve your look. Plus sunglasses make for excellent on-the-fly disguises.
Go to a yoga class. Surrender & breathe deep.
Put on your favourite pair of high heels & walk up & down your bedroom/hallway doing your best Miss J impersonation. Have a friend or neighbour who is willing to humour you offer critique. “Girl, you walk like a busted-down freight-train.”
Write multiple lists of everything you want. Material possessions, relationships, work, lifestyle, everything. Pin them up by your door so you see them all the time.
Go through Urban Dictionary & find some fun/ridiculous new words to add to your vocabulary.
Make yourself the biggest ice-cream sundae you’ve ever seen. Decorate it with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles, nonpareils, whatever you like. Take a photo. Give it a name (“Jane’s Orgasmatron Cardiac Arrest Sundae”). Devour. Maybe without using your hands. Take a photo of that too.
Get your eyebrows shaped.
Spend an hour in a department store sniffing perfume samples. When you find something you like, spray it on a card & drop it in your purse.
Try break-dancing.
Watch videos of flamboyant, successful people like Elton John or Michael Jackson & marvel.
Eat animal crackers.
Drink through a straw all day. If you get your hands on a straw which matches your outfit, so much the better.
Plan a party with a theme that makes you feel really, really happy.
Write a letter to yourself in the future. Then hide it. Maybe in the pocket of a coat you never, ever wear.
Leave the house wearing just fabulous lingerie underneath a coat. With heels. (Note: if you are a man you may get accused of being a flasher if you do this. The world is cruel sometimes.)
Pull a Kid CuDi & announce your retirement from the world of something. Like cooking, or vocal communication. Announce your unretirement whenever you feel like it.
Buy a harmonica & annoy the hell out of everyone while you learn how to play it.
Go wig shopping.
Choose a festival (SXSW? Burning Man? Coachella? Wave-Gotik-Treffen?) to go to, invite some friends, & start making plans.
Add diamantes to your manicure.
Hula hoop.
Buy some really good art for your walls. Posters, prints, original artwork or other. If you’re feeling impoverished, go to the library, check out some art books, then take huge, great quality photocopies at a copy shop.
Listen to Never Better by P.O.S. from start to finish & revel in what a great album it really is.
Load up your ipod & go for a walk through your favourite park.
Visit a cool toy store & make your friend a surprise package.
Reach out to the people who inspire you but who don’t know you exist.
Write the birthdays of your personal heroes in your planner & work out a way to honour them on that day.
Pie.
Colour your hair. (You can always dye it back.)
Notice where you hold tension in your body, & let it go.
Visit some kind of religious institution & observe a service.
Bake heart- or bunny-shaped cookies. Give them away.
Be graceful.
Be graceless.
Make a video diary.
Answer questions with questions.
Try on a pair of really, really expensive shoes & act like you’ll be back tomorrow, but you’re just going to go home & think about it. (Bonus points: take a photo of you in them. Often you will need to be stealthy about this but it’s worth doing.)
Record yourself trying to recite the alphabet while vigorously brushing your teeth.
Flirt with entirely inappropriate people.
Sing into your friend’s answering machine. (If you’re in the USA & use Slydial, it will take you straight to their voicemail.)
Pour pancakes in the shape of your initials. Eat them while watching aerobics on television.
Make friends with your neighbours.
Think about how great it would be to name a shaggy dog “Toupee”.
Go to an audition just for the experience.
Tell someone cute, “You’re cute”.
Sit in a sauna with a stack of fashion magazines & sweat it out.
Find a secret place with a great view. Like a tree, or a rooftop, or a hill.
Go & see a musical (or just rent one).
Be optimistic.
Buy ridiculous slippers.
Make a list of the things you want to do to celebrate the upcoming season.
Lie down in the sunshine.
Pretend to be a dancer in a music video as you perform mundane tasks. Jiggle your way from the bathroom to the kitchen, shake it while you wait for your toast to pop, booty bump while you pick an outfit.
Go to an aquarium & take photos of the jellyfish.
Watch movies you used to love as a child.
Book a karaoke room with friends & sing your heart out.
Make a list of practical, actionable ways you can improve your situation.
Start keeping a dream journal & write down their supposed meanings, too.
See if you can develop an appreciation for a band or a style of music you’ve never liked before.
Write a play.
Go to vintage stores looking for fabulous old typewriters.
Write the stuff you like about your body on your body with a marker.
Change your ring-tone to the sound of one of your friends laughing hysterically.
Watch videos of Robin Williams or Eddie Murphy.
Listen to Divine Harvest by The Mae Shi. Don’t be worried, everything will turn out fine. Don’t be worried, friend just put your hand in mine.
Take a nap with your head at the other end of the bed.
Walk around a garden centre & buy a colourful plant. Give it a name.
Go somewhere that people walk their dogs & make friends with some fluffy creatures.
Hug your friends.
Tell someone everything.
Believe that everything is always getting better.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Just Ignore Everything
Just ignore everything they tell you in any undergraduate elementary education course would be the advice I would give anyone wanting to become a teacher in Mississippi. Things are nothing like they seem to be, and everything changes once you actually get your very own classroom with your very own living breathing children. Scary. No. Terrifying is the word I would use to describe my first few days as an elementary educator in the world of public school systems. Nothing that any teacher ever told me could have prepared me for the moment that those kids walked through my door. I would describe these first few weeks, however, as rewarding. I can't imagine doing anything for the rest of my life that could be any less fullfilling, exciting, and absolutely action packed. Everyday is different, and I am enjoying my new found life. However stressful it may be. Stick around for more updates! This could get interesting!
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