Five Simple Things (May 23)

Hello.

Here are five things this week.

1. These tulips.

Tulips always lift my mood and they never let me down.

2. This box.

Birchbox came this week and I cannot wait to use the Palmer's Coconut Oil Deep Conditioner and the Acure Under Eye Hydrogels. This entire box was a hit for me.

3. These fans.

These have saved us on many occasions and they got a workout this week. We have been spending a lot more time outside and keeping the flying bugs away has previously been a challenge. These bug repelling fans came in clutch all week. By the way, having breakfast outside in the morning is something I highly recommend. We found these two at Costco, but I also ordered these this week, so that we will have four total.

4. This setup.

I purchased a new laptop this week. I went with the 17 inch HP touchscreen. My other one, after seven years, finally gave out. I normally keep things for a long time before I replace them. We live in such a throw-away society that replacing electronics seems silly to me. If more people stopped keeping up with trends and just used what they had, there would be less waste in the world, and the price of things would come down. Manufacturers are only keeping up with demand. Making the demand less, causes a lot more good in the long run than people realize. I look forward to learning how this new laptop works and transferring all of my information over. It's a learning process for me, because it has been seven years.

5. This machine.

Every time we shop at Costco we always get water bottles from the machine. We love getting cold water before leaving the store and the Kirkland's brand isn't bad water. But mostly, we enjoy watching the machine dispense the bottles. When the door opens, Skylar likes to pretend he has Jedi powers. Plus, the water machine is one place that there aren't any people at most of the time, too. ☺

One last thing:

This Brass Dragonfly desk ornament and these Brass Dice, which are a set of two, are now in the shop. Both are made of solid brass and make a great addition to a desk or bookshelf display. The dice have the same configuration of numbers as regular dice and can actually be used to place games that require rolling of dice. The brass dragonfly has legs that it can sit on, or even hang if needed to display. Both of these items are under $15 in the shop right now and make great officer gifts for coworkers, or for yourself. You can check out the rest of the Five Simple Things shop here.

Positive affirmations this week:

Sometimes, adults forget their role in treating others with respect and kindness. Mean girls appear to turn into mean women. It took me many years to realize that the way others treated me had nothing to do with me. I sincerely feel sorry for them. I removed myself from these situations to avoid subjecting myself to their self-sabotage, yet I still wonder if they are happy, or if they are still treating someone else the same way. Unfortunately, many of these people never change. They go through life feeling sad, pathetic, and jealous, and often on the brink of failure. If you are experiencing behavior from people that fall into this category, you are not alone. Kindness within these people is a choice, but so is meanness. They are making a poor choice by treating people unkindly because they do not even have kindness for themselves. This treatment isn't your fault; it's all theirs. Keep reminding yourself of these things each and every time they cause you to second-guess yourself or wonder why they are acting that way. Being a mean girl after high school is a deplorable trait. Let's hope that one day they see how self-destructive it really is to themselves.

You can do this!🌈