Five Things: Issue 254
well if it isn’t ole Five Things
Nothing will inspire you to write like your mom forwarding you your cousin’s Substack.
Thank you, Alana.
I am currently in the liminal space that is the 39th week of pregnancy. I am still at work, but maternity leave could start any minute, or next Sunday. I don’t have a great attitude about the waiting of it all. God will need my entire lifetime to teach me to wait well. And even then, well, we’ll see.
I feel lame for not writing in this newsletter as often as I would have liked to. Not to blame the baby, but my best excuse is that my personal brand pivoted from “someone who reads and listens to interesting things” to “someone who is googling freezer meal hacks” so quickly, and my writing, and pride, hasn’t been able to keep up.
Freezer meal hacks ARE interesting though, ok? Do you need to pre-bake the ziti or can it wait? Are we baking covered or uncovered? I’m still not sure. I do know you can pre-make Kodiak waffles and then pop them in the toaster straight from the freezer, so there’s a hack for you.
This week I’m talking mostly about things I’ve found helpful in pregnancy. And maybe one day I will read interesting things again and have nuanced political takes and be less interested in eating hot dogs once a week. I will report back in a few months with how the ziti turned out.
I am regularly saying to myself, “you try being my size,” and then back to myself, “there’s stuff you CAN do.” And then I go on a little walk. I paid my bills, my bills are paid.
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It’s all a gift. It really is, to know that your life will change for the better, but not yet know what day it will all happen.
I hope today is beautiful for you!
Number One: Prenatal Yoga
My friend Heather recommended Full Circle Yoga way back at the beginning on my pregnancy, but I was a committed Pilates girl, so I ignored her wisdom for too long. Then I got to the point where I was truly modifying every single move at Pilates, worrying about coning abs, and just not having a good time at an expensive exercise class.
So in the throws of my sciatic pain, I signed up for a prenatal yoga class. I love it so much. I truly love being in a room full of pregnant girls. It’s 70% stretches I was already doing a la Spinning Babies and Body Ready, but with the major added bonus of community. Every class, everyone goes around and says their name, how far along they are, and then answers a prompt. It’s humbling to hear other women talk about the challenges of their current or past pregnancies and be reminded that my road has been relatively easy.
Easy or not, because I’ve become a curmudgeonly late third trimester lady. Last week, this girl was like “I’m 19 weeks, so I’m basically halfway there,” and in my head I was like, “listen, honey, you have YEARS left, you think the sciatic pain is bad now?” But out loud was like, “that’s such a fun part! Good for you girl!”
Also one day my sciatic pain just stopped, and other than finding Chris more hilarious than usual, that’s been one of my favorite parts of pregnancy.
Number Two: This Old Navy Shirt and Amazon Biker Shorts and Gap Skort
This Old Navy shirt haunted my Instagram ads for months before I finally gave in. I now own it in three colors, and one color in two sizes. My normal size fits me at 8 years pregnant, and one size up gives me a nice tented look. It is so soft and comfy, and I might buy in more colors.
If I am not wearing a dress, I am either wearing these biker shorts from Amazon or this skort from the Gap. If all are dirty, I am doing laundry.
Number Three: Heavyweight is coming back, and I loved this catch-up episode
Heavyweight has long been a favorite podcast of mine. I loved the recent Heavyweight short “Returns and Reformers.” I resonated both with Stevie talking about the power of being a person who calls customer service, and with Kalila’s hatred of the Pacer and newfound love of Pilates.
Number Four: Deluxe Pedicures
One time, freshman year at Baylor, I was standing in the Einstein Bagel line at the SUB and Cole Woolsey, the only other kid from my high school at Baylor joined me. And then when I ordered a small latte, he was like, “small, you know you can get a bigger coffee?” And that’s when I realized I was legally allowed to get treats in sizes other than the smallest one available. My mom, bless her heart, used to do this thing where she would get like the mini at Dairy Queen, and go “wow, this was just the right size,” while the rest of us secretly wanted more ice cream.
Anyway, I don’t know what happened to Cole, but I recently got a medium at Dairy Queen, and it was too much ice cream.
Sometimes, I still feel like I’m only allowed to get the smallest or cheapest option, and if that’s you, may I tell you about getting the upgraded pedicure? It’s worth the extra $10. You want the clay mask. What does it do? Couldn’t tell ya. Just go ahead and pay for the extra time in the massage chair, it is worth it.
Number Five: Baskets!
I just love baskets right now. I keep acquiring them and then rearranging what goes in each basket. Any basket, any size, I’ve got stuff to put in it.
The inspiration goes both ways!! 🫡🫡😝