7 Quick Takes Friday - 3rd Edition

Another Friday, another opportunity to explore/discuss/consider seven things. 7 Quick Takes Friday is a meme hosted by The Conversion Diary and I love it because it gives me a reason to write about things that I could only otherwise call "7 Random Blips From My Brain', and I try to avoid using the word 'random' in association with anything I write at all costs, if only to give myself the (false) assurance that I am contributing something more significant than 'random' (read: irrelevant) thoughts. Oh, the lengths I'll go to prop myself up...But I digress. So, here are my important and oh-so-enthralling 7 Quick Takes!

1. Fridays are challenge days over at The Inspired Scrapper. Here is my 'Earth Day Challenge' contribution:



Thank you. Thank you very much (said in my best 'Elvis' voice). If you're a scrapper, go visit The Inspired Scrapper and play along. If you're not a scrapper, well - what are you waiting for?! It's a darn gratifying little hobby...

2. One of my favorite, and most useful, websites of all times is http://dictionary.reference.com/. They feature a Word Of The Day, which I love, and they also have a Question Of The Day, which I find really interesting. For instance, some of the questions posed have been:

What is the difference between blatant and flagrant?
What is the difference between a monologue and a soliloquy?
What is the difference between affect and effect?

Oh, I just love it! It gets me all silly and excited...I'm a self-confessed (and proud!) word nerd. Sites like this just thrill me to no end.

3. Miracle hair product alert!! Ok...I really don't like to acknowledge this, but I was not blessed in the hair department. My hair is very fine, very thin...very disappointing. Always has been. Granted, I was born a redhead and that makes up for a LOT, but I truly believe in my heart of hearts that I was meant to be born with the kind of hair that bad girls in rock videos toss around and shake and tousle. Seriously. That is my true hair personality. But alas, this was not meant to be so for years and years and years, I have been trying to work magic with all kinds of hair products that promise to volumize and thicken and add bounce and shine...some do better than others. I have also invested a small fortune in hair tools - i.e. straighteners, curlers, crimpers, hot irons, cold steamers, various combs, picks, brushes...and again, some do help more than others, but there's just never been a day in my teen to adult life that I've ever just had a good hair day as a given, as a default setting, as something to take for granted, as some people I know do. And truly, if one more person says to me, "Well you know, having hair this thick is actually a real problem! It's just TOO much for me to do anything with!"...I'm going to knock their dumb and grinning front teeth out. Is that too harsh? So anyway, it comes in a tiny red plastic bottle - it's made by Schwarzkopf and I think it's proper name is 'OSIS+ Dust It Mattifying Powder'. This stuff is amazing, I'm telling you! Right off the bat, I have to say that less is more and if you overdo it, you will HATE it. It takes a bit of getting used to. Once your hair is dry, lift it at the roots and tap just a tiny bit of the powder out onto the very base of your roots. Then, put your hair down, work your fingertips in at the roots where you've placed the powder, and just give it a bit of a rub. It creates a lot of 'grip' and you can then work your hair up to amazing height/volume. You have to know when to quit, though. It's a bit of a tricky dance between application and then fiddling with it, but once you get the hang of it, KA-BAM!! Big hair. Volume. Height. The best part? It lasts!! Give a little shot of hairspray and girlfriend, you are good to go! Hair starts to settle down a little over the course of the day? Just get your fingertips in there and give another little bit of a rub! I am telling you - it is bloody revolutionary! I could weep, truly, I could. Finally...I can let my inner hair goddess out to take her righteous and deserved place in the sun. The downside of this though, is that I now live in fear of this product being discontinued or some such horror...as soon as I've got me a little bit of extra pocket money, I'm going back to that salon and I am stocking up!!

4. I've said this before, and I feel the need to say it again - I LOVE the library!! Hooray for the public library system! Nothing says happiness to me like a tall, diverse stack of reading material on the end table in my living room or my bedside table at night. In approximately one month, we are moving from my beloved hometown of Vancouver to a city 'next door' called Surrey. One of the first things this made me realize is - new library card! New library system! Numerous new library branches to explore! Be still my beating heart...I did mention I'm a word nerd, right? Confession time...I've already been to my new neighbourhood's local branch and signed myself up for a shiny new library card! Love it! Unfortunately, the policy for new Surrey Public Library patrons is that for the first three months, there is a limit of 10 items per card. TEN! That's it! I am telling you, it was SO hard to limit myself to just 10 books on that first visit...but - on the upside, I am officially three days into the first three months. It will go by quickly!

5. I talk to myself. All the time in my head, but also a lot outside of my head, as in 'out loud'. To myself, when I'm in the house or the car or alone, but also, I find myself doing it a lot of other times too. As in, when there are other people around. It was particularly worrisome when I'd catch myself doing it when I worked in a Geriatric Psychiatric ward. Think about it. I'm sure I resembled a patient more than an employee. The worst part was when I would realize I was talking out loud to myself and look up to make sure nobody had caught me, and inevitably, who would be standing there but one of the Department Psychiatrists. Oh joy. I found that with them, and in fact, with anybody, the best thing I could do was cheerfully acknowledge that I was doing it, via a perky "Oh hello! There I go getting caught talking to myself again!" The doctors would always smile and say something reassuring back, like, "Oh - I do it all the time myself!", but really, I was fully expecting any one of them at any time to slip in a subtle..."So...tell me about your childhood", or something equally shrink-like on me...It didn't help that I sat in an open, shared space area at a desk that faced the back wall so that I really didn't know who was standing behind me at any given time. I took to looking over my shoulder rather frequently...a habit that probably wasn't lost on all those psychiatrists milling about...I'm sure that, not only did they have me diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, but they'd probably already placed me on a short-list/short-cut track to the in-patient unit - never mind that I didn't really qualify as 'Geriatric'..."close enough!", they probably thought. Do I sound paranoid yet?! I'm not quite, I don't think...at least, not all the time...but I do have to say that since leaving that position, I find I'm feeling much less self-conscious and hyper-vigilant...

6. What is up with all the yogurt commercials?! Print ads, radio ads, TV ads...it's all about the gosh-darn yogurt! Has anybody else noticed this? What is going on?!Whatever the big push/trend for yogurt is right now, what it is succeeding in doing is turning me OFF of yogurt! I'm so sick of hearing about it every ten seconds that in lieu of boycotting the TV and/or radio, I have decided to boycott yogurt. But not for the kids. Just for me. Heaven knows I wouldn't know what to do without yogurt as an option for the kids! Does this make me weak?! For myself though, I can sacrifice! It truly is driving me mad and making me cringe at any mention of yogurt. I complain to my husband about this and declare my newfound hate (yes, hate!!) for all things yogurt, and I declare that these ad campaigns have therefore failed miserably, and he says back to me (and I'm paraphrasing a bit...) - "Well, I would say that these ad campaigns have been successful because they've got you talking about it!". Aargh!! The nerve of that guy! Sure, he's got a degree in Marketing, but still...I know what I'm talking about by gosh, by golly!

7. This meme is called '7 Quick Takes Friday'. I often struggle with the quick part - so, having said that, I will end this post here! Besides, I've told my husband that I can't have a glass of wine until after I post this and we're both more than ready and done with waiting! Happy weekend to one and all!