Five Things: Issue 250
Still not calling it a comeback
I have two main New Year’s resolutions: don’t Marco Polo while driving, and send out at least 12 issues of Five Things.
Since writing you last, I actually gave myself permission to give up on Five Things, to let it ride off into the sunset, only to be referenced occasionally as a fun phase. But dang it, if I don’t love recommending things unsolicited! And this is my platform to do so! So here I am!
Also when I wrote you last, I had known that I was pregnant for a few weeks. First trimester is not for sissies. It’s exhausting, every food sounds horrible except for foods that are horrible for you. I feel like I know someone who has lost a baby at just about every week of pregnancy, it’s all so precarious. Plus, I’ve spent the whole last decade of my life being annoyed by women who from the second they get pregnant, it’s the only thing they can talk about. I get it now, because it has totally consumed my mind and imagination. I’m annoyed with myself. It is a discipline to talk about anything else. You either die a hero or live long enough to become someone who is asking, “so what are we doing about bassinets?” And complaining about daycare costs.
All of that made it sort of hard to show up here, honestly. But I power walked on the treadmill for 50 minutes yesterday, and baby, I am back and ready to tell you to look into some things.
Three house keeping things:
I have closed the paid tier of Five Things. I am not going to show up in that space this year. I am truly indebted to those of you who have supported the newsletter in that way, thank you.
I am committed to keeping baby-talk to a minimum, a minimum for how much space it takes up in my brain. For today, almost everything baby is in the “bonus” section,” and I want to keep the rest of the newsletter a space place for people who are not in baby zone. There are other newsletters for baby zone, I am sure.
I am going to keep using Amazon affiliate links, but try not to be link city. I have major mixed feelings about it. If Amazon is going to make money, why shouldn’t I? But also shouldn’t I be trying to push back on consumerism? I really do try to keep product links to a minimum, and the most I’ve ever made in a month is $11. So still feeling mixed. Mixed enough to not have like ten links in the first section? Nah.
Number One: Lip Stain and Good Scissors
Morgan brought this lip stain to a “Favorite Things” party in December, and it was one of the most-stolen items. I ended up having Makenzie buy it for me as a Christmas present. I love it as someone who typically doesn’t reach for lip color, but sometimes wants it. Plus it’s fun because it goes on so blue so for 10 minutes you can take on a new personality.
FWIW: my favorite things were this make up bag, jewelry pen, Miss Mouthy’s Stain Eater, and my favorite pens.
I shared these scissors on my Instagram story and had like seven people say, “thank you, needed these.” Having a good pair of scissors really is a difference maker. A pair of scissors that you keep in one special place.
Number Two: “Take the Middle Seat and Be Purified”
I enjoyed this piece about taking the middle seat on a plane mostly for what it had to say about complaining:
In complaining we acknowledge our powerlessness to change our circumstances while insisting on our right to critique them, to assert that though we are impotent in the face of daily life’s insults, we can counterweight that impotence with protest. Complaining is a method of noticing and inventing and winking, a means of paying attention to the complexities of a scene, of creating a scene, exaggerating certain salient qualities and, perhaps, casting yourself as an absurd caricature of a human in that scene.
I’ve thought about it a lot, the insisting on our right to critique our circumstances. Social media and online reviews have given everyone a voice, a place to make themselves heard, and this sense of justice that our complaints are deserved.
Anyway, it makes me want to complain less.
Number Three: I got yet another water bottle for Christmas
Hear me out:
Stanley is for road trips. For when I want just 40 ounces of pure, cold water.
Owala is for every day out and about usage. For throwing in a bag, on the passenger seat, for knocking over at the gym.
And now, now thanks to my sister, I have a BinkMade water bottle which if for at-home water consumption. This water bottle lets the water warm up a little, in the positive. I asked for what I thought was going to be a cutie tangerine color, but is instead a don’t-shoot-me-in-the-woods orange. And guess what, it’s easy to spot.
It is neither spill proof nor does it fit in my car cup holder. In many ways, it is the opposite of the practicality that Owala brings, but I LOVE IT.
This water bottle has ever-so-subtle “time markers” on the side. I ignore those because I am POUNDING water everyday. But if you like that kind of accountability, great.
I didn’t need another water bottle. It’s truly an excess, but it brings me so much joy.
Number Four: When in doubt, Peaceful Piano
I love ambient music, I hate mental clutter, and sometimes “Dancing on the Ceiling” Lionel Richie feat. Rascal Flatts is mental clutter. So I turn to Peaceful Piano on Spotify. It reminds me of being at my grandparents house where they would play classical music on their Bose CD player.
Number Five: Matlock
If you’ve been subjected to a “Whopper Whopper Junior Whopper” or God help us, a State Farm commercial while watching football on CBS, you may have also seen a commercial for Matlock and wondered, “who is watching that?” Me and Chris. We’re watching. It’s tender. I like the stakes. Kathy Bates is a jewel. It’s so corny. They’re trying too hard in some ways, but it’s sweet and compelling, and I hope Mattie takes down Big Pharma in the end!!
Bonus: Expecting Better // From Dude to Dad
I bought Expecting Better like three days after it was a remote possibility that I could be pregnant. I just wanted one source of information so I could ignore Instagram. The book has been super helpful to me in pregnancy. The statistics are quite comforting, and like I said, I’m trying to avoid Instagram. To me, it feels shame-free in ways that other information sources have not. The book is kind of drama because Oster is like “Actually it’s ok to drink alcohol under yada yada circumstances” which is big controversial. Personally, I have just occasionally sipped Chris’s beer with no drama.
When I went to Barnes and Noble to buy Expecting Better, I picked up From Dude to Dad for Chris mostly because I thought it was cute since his friends call him Duder. I skimmed the book, and felt very “no duh” about the information, especially since women LOOOVVVEEE talking about pregnancy. Like I am AWARE that morning sickness can happen any time of the day. But it’s been super helpful for Chris to have a book directed at him and what he can do to participate in this pregnancy; maybe men aren’t sitting around asking, “what are we doing about bassinets?” Plus the book is always telling Chris that my back hurts and I might appreciate if he offered a massage, so I’m grateful.