Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 121

Today's Daily 5:

1. Watching the season finale of The Amazing Race (and having my favorite team win!)
2. That the word of God truly is living and active
3. the security and rhythm of catching the bus at the same time each day
4. anticipation of coming days and forthcoming plans
5. learning how to make pretty snowflakes for the first time ever
6. being ready to go for tomorrow's shop opening at work
7. the Christmas lights on Stephen Avenue
8. Subway for supper
9. Zoolights with a friend
10. Caramel apple spice from starbucks
11. crawling into my pajamas early

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 106

Today's Daily 5:

1. A productive morning
2. eating yummy leftovers for lunch
3. our boss stopping by with a dessert treat for us
4. starting work early means finishing work early
5. a leisurely hot shower
6. quiet evening
7. finishing up the Jesse Tree ornaments and hanging the first one
8. watching the latest episode of The Amazing Race

Sunday Morning Again

The last Sunday morning that I was laying in bed with my laptop on top of me, blogging, I was in California.

I'm having, in some ways, at least, another of those early mornings. 

This time I'm in bed at mom and dad's (I stayed here last night.).

I've been awake since 6.  My body seems to refuse to be asleep for longer than 4-6 hours at a time, and since I made the effort to go to bed earlier last night than I have been, I woke early.

And then laid here, wishing I was still sleeping.  Knowing my body could really use those extra couple of hours of sleep.

It's another of those (relatively rare in my life) Sunday's where I'm actually going to go to church.

To be honest, I'll probably go to church and, when the time comes where I'm supposed to be paying attention to the sermon, I'll likely pull out my journal so it looks like I'm taking notes, and just spend some time writing.  Is that horrible?  I've been using that ruse at a whole variety of churches for years.

I have an hour and a half or so to roll out of bed, dress for the day, eat something, and join mom on the way out the door.

I'm having early morning pondering and moments of frustration.

I'm reflecting on the irony of the fact that after a week in which I saw more close friends in person than I have in ages (and even managed to talk on the phone or skype with three of the closest who are far away), I'm feeling lonely.

I'm thinking about the things that the week to come will hold.

Time with family from out of town.

Hopefully connecting with a friend to get some important information I've been waiting on.

Is it shallow that one of the things I'm really looking forward to is catching the newest episode of The Amazing Race?

The week needs to hold time spent sending off some resumes.

And time spent quiet, and alone, writing and reading and praying.

It will hold one of my favorite house church events - the week that happens every month or two where we gather and cook and eat together, setting aside any agenda for the evening other than sharing food and enjoying each other's company.

So I lay here in bed, with a TV by internet show playing quietly in the background, and I'm working to shake off the early morning fears and melancholy.  I'll get up and smile and laugh.  I'll make the choice to enjoy the people I'm spending the day with.  I'll go to church and worship.

(And I'll wish, just for a second, that I was still laying in bed in California, and that when I got to church I was going to be greeted by a dear friend, and that there would be palm trees outdoors along the way!)

Daily 5 - Day 222

Today's Daily 5:

1. 222 days of this.  Mostly just because 222 is a fun number.
2. Got a treatment at Mom's tonight.  It helped my aching neck and shoulders.
3. Actually finished a chapter in the book I'm reading for review.  (It's like the never-ending book, so I'm pleased when I finish a chapter.)
4. Bought groceries for the week and carted them home via transit (and via a stop at Mom and Dad's).  Found everything I needed, got great service from a clerk in the vegetable department, and managed to fit it all in my backpack for the train trip to Mom and Dad's.
5. Supper at Mom and Dad's - handmade BBQ'd bratwurst (in buns) from the tiny German butcher shop in the town Mom grew up in, and roasted vegetables.
6. The feeling of a hot shower at the end of a kind of rough day
7. Checked my aeroplan miles tonight.  I have with 100 miles of enough for a trip either East or West later this year, depending on which destination I decide that I prefer.  This is a totally exciting prospect to me - free (or almost anyway) flights!
8. Still loving Anis Mojgani's "Shake the Dust"
9. Got caught up again on The Amazing Race tonight.  My favorites are still the cowboys, but I'm liking the police detectives too.
10. Mom had a blow dryer, with a diffuser to lend me for a bit.  This is fantastic news since basement living in the (very) early spring has made it a bit less of an option to let my hair air dry, and because my blow dryer quite literally sparked and nearly blew up while I was using it last night.  At least with a borrowed option, I don't have to rush out to buy one, and can wait until my next pay cheque.  I was thankful, too, that when sparks quite literally flew last night, neither my hair, nor the carpet was even singed.

Daily 5 - Day 209

To be honest, the last thing I feel like doing right now is coming up with 5 or more things that made me smile or that I'm thankful for tonight.  Mostly what I want to do is bawl my eyes out, and wallow.  Deeply and miserably.  Since that doesn't seem like a productive option, may I present, 

Today's Daily 5:

1. Blackberries and raspberries as part of my supper
2. Skype chat with A. tonight.  Was so good to catch up a bit. To share what's going on in our lives, the fun stuff and the challenges.  We know the questions to ask, and since our time is precious, we talk about the important stuff, celebrating the good and promising to pray for each other through the challenges.  (Definitely having one of those, all the people I love and who love me live way too far away moments, though.)
3. Managed to arrange a ride to house church for Thursday night - doesn't seem like much, but in my current carless state, that ride is a lifeline, because it lets me be at the house church gathering that I've come to appreciate so much.
4. Got through the day without melting down, even without my supplements.  That's a pretty big victory.  (It also helps to know that part of how I'm feeling right now is because I had a third of what I normally take in the supplement that deals particularly with anxiety and mood regulation.)
5. It felt so good to shower tonight.
6. Sort of managed to keep the obsessing about a particular, hard situation/conversation at bay.  Sort of managing that is a victory for me.
7. using the pillows my roommate left me.  hers are much nicer than the ones I had been using.
8. Caught up on "The Amazing Race" online tonight.  Totally cheering on the cowboys - loved the line from one of them in the episode I watched tonight where they found themselves outside some strip clubs in Germany, looking for a clue, and one said to the other, "We ain't in the bible belt no more."  Made me laugh.  Plus, I couldn't believe his cowboy hat stayed on when he bungee jumped.  Now that's a tight fitting hat!
9. still really enjoying the audio book I've been listening to, though it's challenged me a bit at points.  I'm nearly done now (will likely finish it up tomorrow) and then I'll post about it.
10. Got a chapter read in the book I'll eventually be reviewing here.  I'm slogging through this one, and it always feels like an accomplishment to mark another chapter off the list as I count down towards being done.  Let's just say that I'll be picking a shorter book for my next free review, just in case I manage to pick another, um, "challenging" read.
11. Oh, and bonus - Banana cream pie.  So good.