Happy Thanksgiving, Canadian Friends!

Yes, here in Canada, today is Thanksgiving Day. Many families celebrate it on the Sunday, but today is the actual holiday.

I really do have a lot to be thankful for, and please know that I am thankful to every one of you who takes the time to stop by and read my entries.

This year, my daughter was unable to come home for Thanksgiving, but she'll be here in a couple of weeks, to celebrate her birthday with us. She'll be 22! Even I can't believe it.

My husband works in television, and of course television never sleeps--not even on holidays--so he had to work today. However he does get an extra two weeks of vacation to make up for the fact that he works on holidays, so it's all good.

After a cloudless and sunny weekend, I'm sitting here almost in the dark at not yet 3:30 p.m. observing and listening to a thunderstorm. I don't mind; the rest of the weekend was so much more beautiful than one could have hoped for.

Having spent a record-long amount of time with a terrible bout of PMS (read: grumpiness), my period finally arrived on Friday, but for some reason, I've been feeling a bit weepy. I guess when one is approaching menopause, hormones just don't work in the manner we're used to.

I mentioned on Saturday that I'm looking forward to waist length hair for my 50th birthday next July, and also that I want to lose some weight before then.

I am so far failing at getting more exercise, but I have been cutting down on portions, and after months of being at the same weight, I've finally lost 5 pounds. Ideally, I'd like to lose 20 more pounds, but I can live with losing 15 more pounds.

As any of you over the age of 40 or 45 know, it's not quite as easy to keep the weight off as it was when we were in our 20s, but of course it can be done. I do not think however, that it's realistic to expect to get down to the weight I was at 21. Frankly, I'm not sure I'd want to.

The most important aspect that will decide whether or not I can lose this weight will be getting myself motivated to do regular exercise. I am at this moment committing myself to getting some extra exercise in every day.

I haven't exercised regularly for some time, so I'll have to go in baby steps, but that's okay.

As I've already said, I think it would be nice to have a prettier waist to go with my waist length hair when I turn 50.

I'm still feeling really good about my hair. I have wrapped up my experiment with the lemon juice rinse. I think it was successful in keeping more moisture in my hair.

I'm going to go back to ACV rinsing now, and assess how my hair feels after a month of that, and then decide which method I prefer.

Well, dark and thunderstormy; sounds like a perfect night for a movie.

I have decided that because I have such a passion for movies, I'm going to start a movie blog and discuss films new and old that I have really enjoyed. I'll be talking about classic films, indie films, foreign films and mainstream films if I like them.

I have no interest in writing about movies that I don't like. That's too negative for me, and I like to keep it all positive when possible.

It won't be a daily blog; my plan at this point is to write three times a week. I'll see how that works out. I may change my mind on that. I may have my first entry in tomorrow.

Well that's it for today, folks.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Much love to all.
xo

Hair Is Feeling Good Today

In Thursday's entry, I talked about a weak dilution of lemon juice in water as a final rinse. I mentioned yesterday that I did try it out. Today is day two, and my hair is really feeling good. It's very soft and silky, but not limp and shiny.

I've told you before that I always rinse with a dilution of apple cider vinegar with good results. Today and yesterday, my hair has felt better than it even does with the ACV rinse.

While it's impossible to know at this point if it's the lemon rinse that is making my hair feel so good after just one try, I can safely say that I'll keep it up for three weeks and by then I'll know if the lemon rinse is responsible for making my hair feel so good or whether this is just a happy accident.

I've talked about the many factors that go into a good hair day before. It could be the difference between rinsing one's hair for an extra 30 seconds or using just a tiny bit more conditioner than usual.

In any case, I recommend that if you have curly or wavy hair that is prone to a bit of frizz, this is really worth a shot.

I'm looking forward to seeing whether or not this is just a fluke.

To do the lemon rinse, I put 4 teaspoons of lemon juice in a 2 litre (about 8 cup) plastic juice pitcher. I filled it with water and after I finished rinsing the conditioner out of my hair, I dipped the length of my hair in the pitcher for about 30 second or so. Then I poured it over my hair and scalp. Easy and inexpensive.

I also had one of those happy hair moments today. I was just sitting here and I leaned over to pick up my tea, and I felt my hair touch my arm in a new place. Sometimes it amazes me that we can sometimes feel growth in that way.

So all is well in the hair department today.

This week I shall make a hairstyle video. If I can't do it Monday, I'll be sure to do it by the end of the week.

I hope that you all are enjoying your weekend. I've really been enjoying the milder weather that we've been having lately.

Well, it's movie time for me now. I'm going to watch a ghost story this time.

'Til tomorrow. Love to all, and extra hugs to anyone struggling with heartbreak.
xo

Diluted Lemon Juice Rinse

I was reading this blog entry by ktani the other day. It seems that a recipe of  roughly 1/2 tsp of lemon juice per 500ml (8.5 oz) of water is a gentle rinse that combats frizz. The idea is meant for people with curly hair that tends to frizz rather than curl after washing.

I looked at the photographs in the thread at LHC of Mariika's usual hair compared with her hair after using this recipe. The difference was astounding. Her previously frizzy locks were in perfect curls after using this rinse.

After reading up on how it works, it makes me wonder if it would be beneficial to straight hair as well.

The mixture is so diluted that I wouldn't have to worry about it lightening or drying out my hair.

While my hair is straight, there is occasionally a bit of frizz, especially in some of the silver "halo" hairs.

I'm going to give this a try tomorrow and see if I notice any difference from my usual ACV (apple cider vinegar) rinse.

I'll let you know what the results are for me. It might be something that some of you curly girls might like to try. If you do, let me know what happens.

'Til tomorrow, my friends. Love to all.
xo