Big and little Goals

I've made it a habit of mine to post my yearly goals when autumn comes along - it feels a lot more natural than January 1st, in the midst of frost and cold and the dismantling of Christmas decorations. Eeesh *shivers*.

So I'm thinking that instead of approaching it like a wishlist, as in 'I hope somehow next year I'll have somehow managed to do this' I'll post my annual goal and then follow it up with what I'm doing this month to follow it up. See if it's realistic or not by taking little steps first. I've been massively inspired by Shelli's fitness achievements - her dedication is amazing and inspiring and, even better, totally achievable. 10 minutes a day? Let's do this!

Hair

Big Goal: Get to Bra Strap Length/Have 15 inches of hair all round by October 2014
Little goal(s) for October: Moisturise my twists regularly with rose water.
Continue caring for hair as necessary (washing and conditioning etc).
Keep up with my fitness goals.

Fitness

Source

Big Goal: Be able to do a handstand
Little goals for October: Continue focusing on general core and upper body fitness (I want to join a yoga class later on and am trying to give myself a little head start!).

Big Goal: Be able to keep up with the Wonder Thing. I'm feeling sluggish and lethargic, which isn't great going into the colder seasons. I want to look after myself so I have more energy and don't need afternoon naps any more!
Little goals for October: Exercise three times a week, to get re-used to it . Includes joining a dance class or sports team!
Drink 2 litres of water daily.
Start adding more vegetables and fruits back into my daily life - 5-a-day.

Life

Big Goal: Save £1500
Little goals for October: Start working again, even if it means joining new agencies.
Reclaim money from agencies and banks that is owed to me.
If I am working at least times three a week, create a realistic budget.

Big Goal: Have a welcoming home.
Little goals for October: Get some sofas.
Devise a laundry system of some sort.
Clear out recycling packaging from the back.

Big Goal: To feel more put together as a person
Little goal for October:: Take an hour off from my to do list and chores every week to have some pampering time.

Big Goal: To be able to do my own face in simple, flattering make up
Little goal for October: Buy some make up and experiment

Tweet

Hey There!

I have, in the past 6 months, moved between 3 countries, 5 cities, over 10 towns and many, many houses.

There have been cards, presents, far too much packing and an obscene excess of goodbyes to people I desperately want to see again. Many shenanigans, not always of my own making *glares at computer*

I have moved house twice, celebrated the birthdays of 6 family members', not including the birth of a new one) and gotten married (just once. Or maybe twice, depending on who you ask).

In short, I’m utterly knackered. 

As you might have guessed, looking after my hair (and myself in general) has taken a long back seat and hasn’t really been a priority of mine, despite its appearance being a looming focus for myself and many an aunt (more on that later).

I feel like I've completely fallen off the bandwagon of feeling bothered with my appearance and, after finally purchasing a mirror and taking a look at my ghastly reflection within, I'm more than desperate to climb back on.

Starting with the basics of course...

Tweet

Not really a wash day & March Targets

More like two instances in the past week where I've spent more than 5 minutes in the shower.


Firstly, decided to lay off the shampoo for a week, because of my overzealous rinsing and repeating last wek, so this week, I just massaged some apple cider vinegar into my scalp reeeeally gently, as though I were trying to lull it to sleep. Rinsed and conditioned for five minutes, then rinsed the conditioner out. Applied Aloe Vera Juice on top of that, and then some shea butter, since I had the time to make some more up, last week.

That's it really, and it doesn't feel like a real post, so I thought I'd add some goals I'm trying to keep up for the month of March. I've noticed a lot of baby splits, which is probably a combination of the manipulation for the Curlformer set, then the constant manipulation putting mini twists in, combined with lack of any strengthening treatment since before Christmas or something like that. Plus the hair scissors I brought with me (£5 from Superdrug, because I lost my pair from -Sally's) are nul, so I'm not over eager to use them. Looks like I'll need a trim when I go back to England in May though! Until then, I'm minimising the damage as much as I can with buns and other protective styles.

 March goals

Exercise 3 times a week

Remember to bun to keep my ends preotected

Oil ends of hair twice a week with..argan oil?

Moisturise daily.

I already do all the other stuff, like eating well and drinking loads of water, so need to worry about that, and I spray my hair morning and night with a mixture of rosewater and aloe vera juice...It's mainly the exercise that I'm concerned about!

Tweet

Plan of Action - 3 Challenges for Winter

Concerning my latest hair woes, I wasn't sure what to do. I considered heat treating my hair (but if it's already weak enough to be breaking, this won't help), switching out my usual products to try some newer things (but it's not the products, it's the techniques, no?).

After a little bit of research (over two days ), I've decided that my main problem is not being diligent enough with my hair care.

My new goal is simple : Break the APL plateau some time this winter by gaining an inch all around:

I've taken up two challenges, as well as (or working with) my own personal one: Loo's 1in3 rules and Shelly's Hairscapades Bunning challenge. Although one seems to defy (bunning, instead of wearing twists) the other, Alice's in-depth comment really got me thinking about lots of specific manipulations one time versus more regular, more general manipulation during styling.
That doesn't make sense right now, but I'm still thinking on about it! 

The Routine

• I'll wash every weekend as normal.
• I'll also make Cassia treatments something that happen at least monthly. At least. I may try and switch in some yoghurt treatments too.
• Not de-tangling unless it's wash day. I have a bad habit of finger de-tangling through the week. Despite the fact finger de-tangling may be gentler, it's still manipulation. 
• Moisturise hair daily. My hair really seems to like that.
• Make sure my satin scarf stays on overnight. I'll be keeping it secure with a slightly stretched headband.
• I'm going to try applying some heavier oils on my ends to preserve them better. I've got some brazil nut oil and I'll see how that works out. Doing fine so far, but man does it attract the dust! If not too great, I'm looking forward to trying hemp seed oil. Hellooo ceramides!
• No cutting. Just search and destroys. 
• Keep taking my supplements. They're nothing special but I've got them so I might as well use them. They're from Hollands and Barretts and have sugar and sweetener in them-  not that you can tell *ick face*

That's it! I don't want to tie myself down too strenuously - I've just got to be diligent and consistent. 

Just gotta hop to it!

Tweet

Panic! At the APL Plateau

A couple of weeks ago, two weeks ago, I flew into a panic and a glum mood because I realised something was wrong.  I even wrote a post about it but I started using words like 'y'all' halfway through, which means I was really upset.

Extract:

If there's anything more depressing that comparing your progress against other, it's comparing your progress against yourself and finding yourself wanting. My ponytail in mini-twists in October was the exact same length as in January/February.
I have pieces in the front of my head that I'm still pinning up because they won't reach into my ponytail. Two years later and they still won't reach into the blasted ponytail!
...
This is not a setback. It's something that I've been ignorant of but it's been happening for a while.
When it comes to giving myself reasons why I'm not making leaps and bounds in all my hair-related incidents, please trust that I am always the person in the front of the queue.
I've told myself that:

• I'm tall (5' 11.5"), so it'll take me longer than other people to hit certain points.
• My fine hair means that splits and trims are inevitable.
• Half an inch isn't that big! Patience, grasshopper.
• Health over length, after all. 
• Shrinkage is so deceiving.
• You dyed your hair and it all broke off, so if that's not a major setback....
• Maybe I'm a slow grower, eh? It happens!

But I know I'm not a slow grower. My hair colour from last year has near enough completely grown out. If the ends of my hair had made the same progress, I would not be writing this (extremely whiny) post. My hair is growing - it just bloody well isn't staying there. 

I don't sound right when I say 'y'all' and 'ain't' and 'in this game' (yeah, I didn't include those bits...)

You see, I'd taken out one of my twists out and tugged at my hair and it ended waaaay earlier than it should have been.

So I went out and searched for a measuring tape, came home and confirmed it.

8 inches. 

This is a problem. Mainly because that nape section always retained length well, even back in the beginning when I had no idea what to do with the rest of my hair. But now I think it's breaking the most, because at the rate it retained back in the day, it should steadily be on its way to BSL.

It's not even APL. Heck, it's barely shoulder length reaching my collar bone!

Look familiar? This is me 17/10/2012.
And this is me 31/12/2011.
Aaand on the 1/1/2011.

8 inches. After 3 years. Somehow, 10 inches of hair has gone walkies. Other sections are around 10/11 inches.
I don't know what's happening but when I started this blog, it was not after just having cut off all my hair. And that was more than two years ago. 2 years = around 12 inches, no? I'm not even there!!

I know some people think length checks are stupid and unhelpful but when you realise that in two years, you have retained -1 inches (not even an exaggeration), would you say that hair was healthy? That everything's okay? And that's with me only length checking every year, which may be why it's taken me so long to establish a pattern and realise there is a problem.

In my panic, I started googling furiously, but the only thing that seemed to come up was that other ladies with fine hair like me who weren't plateauing were using henna.
I actually looked into it, remembered the mess (rented apartment, y'all), time and faff...eurgh.

Nope. But it does mean that as of now, I'm back on the Cassia. Part of my game plan and all that.

Tweet

Best Laid Plans of A Simple Thing

I had a plan! That for one week, all the hairs on my head would be in a sock bun...

But it was only supposed to be for a week.
Knowing that I was going to be really busy for the next few months I decided to lay out a plan, of sorts, about what I was going to do with my hair during this quite hectic time.

My initial plan was this:

Week 1 - Sock Bun
Weeks 2, 3, 4, 5 - Smallish Twists
Week 6 - Twistout (kinda - my twistouts are, at best, strange looking. At worst, plain offensive)
Weeks 7 and 8 - Chunky Twists

Ideally, my twists were supposed to be small, dinky and flattering, but hard wearing enough to last for four weeks. Easy, no?

I'll be lucky if I can get away with two weeks.

Now, it's looking more like this:

Week 1 and 2 - The Untouchable bun
Week 3 and 4 - The Half-baked Hairstyle/Chunky Twists
Week 5 and 6 - Fitness that couldn't be witnessed.
Week 7 - Daydreaming hair [finally!] and a twistout
Week 8 - A highly anti-climatic bun. 

At least it's all protective....and I'm certainly keeping it interesting.

Tweet

4 weeks + ... a moment

Last week Monday, there came a moment. I was approaching the 4 week mark for my sister twists. I removed some fluff from the roots. Somehow, despite regular and extremely valiant attempts at expelling all traces, there always seemed to be some near invisible smatter of fluff nestling in my hair.
Usually, by this point, I'm being driven mad by the simultaneous thoughts of having to keep my hair up and away for a single blasted second longer or having to deal with the inevitable torturous take down.

By this point, my roots were already incredibly fluffy and growing out, my parts as much a part of ancient history as the Romans and the ends have got more curls and knots in them than a ride at Alton Towers.

So early last week, did I feel the pangs of removal-itis?

Nope.

And today?

Nope again. This is my fifth week and I'm considering doing a full 6 weeks, simply because it's so convenient. I like the way it looks the more aged it gets. They haven't even considered unravelling in all that time (which shows how tangled my hair has the potential to be). I've converted a few into bigger twists but that's all the twiddling that's gone on up there.

Yeah, I know that eventually I'll have to take these twists down.

I'm also really aware that when I do finally get around to it, I'll suffer. Oh ho ho, how I'll suffer. However, for now, that's not my main concern.
I'm going to enjoy every second and get the most out of this two day twist install.

Tweet

Last Length Check of 2011

To be honest, I didn't think much had happened with my hair (I think that's the problem with interim length checks). I've been dealing with a lot of split ends, which has meant a lot of snipping out, and pulling out (don't ask, it's a really horrible habit I have). But my family were convinced that my hair was longer than it had been before, at some undefined point in the past.

Mum: You know, I never thought you'd get this far with your hair you know!
The Rebel Sis: Although I know you never would, if you did relax your hair, it would be quite long actually if you did.
Mum: She can't relax her hair. She's the reason all of us have given it up! If she relaxes her hair now, she'll have to deal with all of us!

Whoo! Inspiring to the very end! Though it's probably because I wear my hair stretched a lot more now, so they can see the length, rather than any real action on my part.

Last year I was here:

and here

And one year, various cuts, trims and chops later, I'm here...

and here.

Honestly, I can't see much difference from August's update! >.< I've had a lot of breakage, and gung ho chopping due to split ends so the lack of length retention isn't surprising.

I think I'll have to restrict my scissor activity this year...or increase it? Maybe the difference is that I'm actually dealing with the split ends now and noticing them, whereas before I was blissfully ignorant of the state my hair was in.

Let's not end on such a nebulous note though - let's look at my fringe (bangs). Around this time last year, it was a bright brassy blonde, dry and breaking off. This year, I think I've grown out the worst dyed bits. All I have left is the colour that was put on top of my undyed hair.

Now they're nearly too long to be called a valid fringe, since they nestle right between my nose and lip.

This year Arm Pit Length (APL)/Shoulder Length (SL). Who knows, I may actually hit Bra Strap Length (BSL)/ Collar Bone Length (CBL) next year (yeah right!).
Next Length Check: December 2012

Tweet

Ṣẹ you speak my language?

Hi everyone.

My name is A Simple Thing.

I'm currently learning French at an advanced level and Japanese at an intermediate level, and I occasionally dabble in Korean and Mandarin.

But I have another confession to make (trying to get the Best Of You).

I don't actually speak Yoruba.

That's my embarrassment at my Nigerian fail, and my lacklustre MS Paint picture skills...

It's not that I've never wanted to - my parents never bothered to teach me. I've literally been bugging them since I can remember - "Mummy, teeeach me! Daddy! Please!"

I mean, I can understand it pretty well, and I worked out how to read the tones when I was seven and had to read letters to my grandma, but the writing? The speaking? These other essential parts of communication are severely lacking in my life.

And  when I first started looking a while ago, it seemed that the resources for a comprehensive (and free) guide to learning Yoruba were..well, non-existent.

Although it's recognised nationally as a language in Nigeria, it's not an official language of the country. A distinct lack of famous nature reserves and an unfortunate non lack of political issues means it's not exactly a tourist hotspot. So outside of Nigeria, it's really difficult to learn to speak any Yoruba.

Of course, lack of resources hasn't stopped me from trying to learn it. A year later, I'm still trying.

My biggest inspiration has been a  girl called Cara Titilayo. Here's one of her videos:

Isn't she amazing? My mum watched that video five times, because she was flabbergasted.

I've found some decent resources and I'm combining what is written with the knowledge buried inside the minds of my parents.

My mum actually never studied Yoruba, thanks to the golden education system of her time, but speaks it fluently and far more often than my dad.

I phone her when she's not busy so I can test my pronunciation on her.

She likes it because it's one way of getting her daily laugh.

 My dad studied it and speaks it fluently, so he's a gold mine when I want to ask a question about the technical difficulties, like the alphabet rhymes (a for ajá, b for bàtà etc). 


Again, he gets his fair share of laughs as well (and tells me that my younger cousins would call me 'Mama London' if they heard my accent, which I'm cool with that - it's not like it's a complete fiction).


Sugabelly currently has a language challenge going on where Nigerians post up them talking in their native language with a transcript, but I'm not brave enough to do it.


Instead, what I'm trying to do is stay committed to working me way through one form of internet Yoruba course. Although this one is more detailed, I find the way it's written very confusing, since it uses letter that are not present in the Yoruba dictionary (c, q, x, z) to replace the extra vowels.


Er. No thanks.


So I'm trying to stick to this one instead for this summer whilst waiting for my knee to decide whether or not it wants to stick with me or not.


But doing stuff like this makes me wonder if I'm the only person who is as obsessed with learning languages like this like this - most kids are know are either multilingual thanks to their upbringing or have no interest in another language, which I think is sad. 


I'm fascinated by the constructs of different languages and it blows my mind that people with the resources to learn to communicate and ultimately learn from people from other countries, other cultures, and other places simply don't care.


Then again, I've also been told by many that I'm a nutter for being so obsessed, so I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

Tweet

*Insert Superhero Music Here* My mission is...

..or rather, what the flip is this blog all about?

Well, it was originally to be called 'Sane, Silly, Serious' and I would post within those categories. But then I had too many 'Random' post ideas that didn't really fit neatly within any of them, so that idea was scrapped.

The theme of this is almost the same as my friends 21st birthday, which was "Help me find morals and an agenda" and included 10 bars/pubs/clubs.

Ah. The Youth of today. We give you hope :)

So it's called 'A Bountiful Thing' because I do a lot, and...um....I have a bountifulness of social activites.

I do so much running about I should really have some sort of collective, overall activities scholarship. (I like to play sports)

I work my hook and needles like there's no yarn tomorrow! (I also knit and crochet)

My fro is cool. 'Tis official. (I am an advocate of 'natural', non-relaxed hair)

My cornbread brings all my friend to my yard! (I like to bake. And cook).

I eat and love and and try and be green and I think (therefore my brain hurteth) and draw and talk others to insanity.

Don't be deluded into thinking I actually do any of this well.

I just do them.

Thing I don't do include fashion and make up, as I literally cannot afford to be that trendy, and heavy metal rock music.

What? I have sensitive ears!

I'm A Simple Thing because...well....I'm a bit on the simple side. This is a fact pointed out to me by my very own mother who, I think, despairs at what she thinks is my lack of ambition.

I have ambition. Just not a lot, okay?

Then again, I'm simple according to the meaning of the word according to the original Latin word 'Simplex', meaning 'straightforward'.

So, uh, what exactly are you trying to get at? T_T What's the point of this blog?

Ah. If only it were that simple. There are many points and purposes: A sanctuary for my incessant rambling, to ease the burden on my beleaguered friends; Somewhere I can look over my past (non-)achievements and hopefully see an improvement of some sort.

Also, when I am old and grey, I will give my grandkids this link, in order to be able to say "Yo! Look, your Grandma was hip and cool! I was down widdit!" And possibly do the hand cracking thing, depending on how bad my arthritis/osteoporosis is.

So I will hopefully be getting a camera of some sort and adding pictures (because if a blog has no pictures...you may be forced....possibly....to read! Perish the very thought! Also, I have a short attention span, so I will get bored halfway through writing it and that just smacks of irony).

Ahem. So. Yes.

Tweet