7 Quick Takes Friday, #41

1. So. Those boots I bought? I tried them on for my husband the other night, trying to explain my dilemma and why I felt so un-confident in them. You know what he said? What he did?

He laughed. He rolled. Tears streaming, breath catching, hee-hawing laughter at my attempted entrance into the fashionable world. To be fair to him, I was laughing just as hard.

Him: *laughing* Wait...wait...tuck them in again! *snorting*

Me: *wheezing* Here...I got it...let me peg the jeans first...There! *hooting*

Him: *knee-slapping* *doubling over*

Me: *crying from laughter* I feel like an old man...going out to get his newspaper...wearing his long-johns...tucked into work boots! *squealing*

Him: *hyperventilating*

We're a rollicking good time.

2. While washing dishes yesterday, I looked out the window over the sink and saw three deer sneaking through my front yard. We live right next to a small wooded area and see deer fairly often this time of year, but having them in the front yard doesn't happen much. The girls and I stood silently at the windows, watching them in their timid search for food. Well, we weren't exactly silent, but I was impressed with how well my rambunctious girls tried to be quiet.

After the girls got bored with having to stand still and silent, I snuck out the door and hid behind a hanging flower basket to take some pictures.

But those big-eared deer noticed me anyway. Not that I was doing too good of a job blending into the surroundings with my orange shirt.

Even after they saw me, they still wandered around the yard for quite awhile. Long enough for me to get a bit too friendly and push my luck with proximity. They finally darted off down the road towards the next stand of trees and brush, their hooves clacking on the asphalt.

3. Yesterday while running errands, I took the girls into a pet store to see the animals. Apparently our close encounter with the deer wasn't quite close enough. All the usual pet choices were represented: kittens, puppies, fish, birds, hamsters, lizards. We admired them all, but apparently one made a bigger impression than any others.

Mia's now decided that she wants a white dove for her birthday. Fluffy and white and soft like snow, she said.

Whoo, buddy.

4. I'm currently reading one of the biggest, longest, wordiest books I've ever held in my own two hands. In fact, I may never again see the light of day after starting this book, it's that huge. It's The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George, and so far it's pretty good. But then again, I'm only about 1/20th of the way through it. Check back in a few years, and maybe I'll be able to tell you how the middle of the book is.

I do love long books, though I loved them much more when I had tons of free time on my hands. Now that those same hands are usually full of wispy brown hair, apple slices, My Little Ponies, or pipe cleaners, I find myself with far less time to pick up a hefty novel. I'll do what I can, though.

5. Since we're speaking of books, I think I'm going to go ahead and open up our favorite library findings posts into a full-fledged linky carnival for anyone to participate in. I always write about our favorite children's books, but I'm thinking it would be fun to also see what library books people are enjoying in other categories as well. Novels, cooking, crafting, history, poetry, homeschooling -- whatever you've recently gotten from the library that was fantastic, that you'd want to recommend to your readers.

But I need some help. If you wanted to, how often would you be willing to participate? Every other week usually works well for me. We don't get to the library on a weekly basis, and I'm not sure any of us would want to feel tied into (another) weekly carnival. Bi-monthly seems more do-able, but also a little harder to remember than just weekly. What do you think?

Also, would this need some kind of logo or button? Because I have no earthly idea how to accomplish that. Maybe I could check out a library book on the subject...

6. If you haven't noticed, I tend to over-think things.

7. I wrote a gripe-laden post earlier this week about an encounter with a terribly forceful and disdainful bookstore cashier. While discussing it with my husband, he said he thinks he's dealt with her antics on one of his few trips to that store as well. Our descriptions matched, and I was amazed that this lady hadn't lost her job yet from her poor customer service techniques. Then another friend compared notes with me, and she also said she'd been harassed by what seems to be the same cashier. Either this store trains cashiers to sell discount cards above all else -- even above making a customer want to return at any time in the future -- and all of them follow their rules so well as to seem like the same person, or this one rude salesperson goes way overboard and works tons of hours. I'm hoping it's the latter.

Maybe I'll have to wear my laughter-inducing boots next time I visit the store. Break the tension, y'know? Maybe she'll take pity on my lack of style, or just not be able to look directly at me for fear of going blind, and cut short her discount card pitch. Like, she'll only tell me thrice how she can't understand why I'm not purchasing the card.

Okay, okay. That's enough bitterness for now. I'm a cheerful gal, I promise.

Be sure to check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary -- Jen's never forceful or disdainful. She'd make a wonderful bookstore cashier, I'm sure of it.

Didn't I say enough bitterness? I'm truly done now. Have a beautiful weekend!