Daily 5 - Year 3, Day 129

Today's Daily 5:

1. The best kind of day for an introvert - quiet, alone, and then a few close friends
2. playing Apples to Apples (one of the few games I somewhat tolerate) with the kind of friends who actually make it funny and totally worth playing
3. learning some fascinating facts about how chocolate is actually made
4. dark chocolate (NEVER something I buy) that was actually quite brilliantly good
5. an event where the proceeds of our tickets went to a charity I care about, and the purpose was to be educated about the process of chocolate making, sample all sorts of artisanal chocolate, and then experience chocolate and wine pairings.  Oh my goodness!  Such a great girls night out!

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 226

Today's Daily 5:

1. I woke up this morning to discover that sometime in the middle of the night, my modem had decided it didn't want to support my wireless internet.  NOT good for someone who relies on internet to keep in touch with most of her closest friends.  I made an early morning call to tech support from my internet provider, and was pleasantly surprised when I got through almost immediately, was able to work with (and understand the English of!) the guy on the other end, and get it fixed, without an onsite visit (which would be, umm, challenging given the crazy living situation at Grandma's).  Hooray for good tech support!
2. Brightly colored toe nails - just a goofy thing, but catching a glimpse of my brightly painted toes did make me smile
3. I was in a drugstore to pick up dental floss before going to my yoga class tonight, and spotted Almond Joy pieces.  Almond Joy is my favorite chocolate bar, and unavailable in Canada, so the "pieces" were a shock, which I promptly purchased to go with that dental floss.  They're nowhere near as good as the actual chocolate bars, but were tasty, and did make me smile
4. I totally dragged myself to yoga tonight.  It hadn't been the easiest day, and I wasn't feeling great.  BUT, that feeling after yoga, the relaxed, I could melt and fall asleep right here on my mat on the hard floor feeling?  Totally worth it.
5. Aiming for an earlyish bedtime tonight - basically I'm shooting for lights out before midnight for the second night in a row!  That's a big deal for me!

Daily 5 - Day 310

Today's daily 5:

1. actually made the progress I was hoping for in anatomy.  stats is a slightly different matter, but I'm so thankful that anatomy is now getting less boring, and is becoming easier to retain.  I was fascinated by some of what I studied today, and it was just a chapter on skin.  
2. studying anatomy (even the boring bits) is reminding me of the passages that talk about God knitting us together in our mother's womb, and about being "fearfully and wonderfully made".
3. chocolate at just the right moments
4. there was finally some sunshine, and I even managed to sit in it for a little while and read a novel.
5. girl talk, and things that made me laugh on a day where I felt very internally discombobulated and was struggling with some of the stuff God is doing in my life.
6. good news from a dear friend about a forthcoming little person - can't wait to see and hug the momma to be in person next week!

Chocolate and Depression

This article made me chuckle.  Seems they've finally done research that confirms that depressed people (both men and women) eat more chocolate than people who aren't depressed, but the jury is still out on why.

Daily 5 - Day 243

Today's Daily 5:

1. Crossed the first hurdle in the process of insuring the car I bought, and the rates are actually quite reasonable for the moment.
2. Egg rolls for supper.
3. Chocolate cream pie.
4. Did payroll on my own, without my boss, at work today.  Proud of that.
5. painted my fingernails and toenails.

Daily 5 - Day 239

Today's Daily 5:

1. Thankful that mom came with me to the work conference, and that she did the driving.  We're having a blizzard and that was a bit of a scary drive for the four hours or so that it took.
2. Liking this being the conference organizer bit when it comes with a martini glass in my room full of strawberries and fancy chocolate
3. Thankful for free internet in the hotel room
4. Really just grateful to have made it safely here.  Glad we left when we did.  Apparently I was the only one on staff who made it up tonight. They eventually closed the road.
5. The day went well, details came together, and right now it seems like we're going to actually pull this thing off!

Daily 5 - Day 232

Today's Daily 5:

1. House Church tonight
2. Chocolate
3. Praying friends
4. Remembering Maundy Thursday
5. Watching television for free online

Daily 5 - Day 231

Today's Daily 5:

1. An apologetic enmax employee on the phone - still didn't resolve the issues that have been going on for nine months, but at least she felt bad for how they had been handling the situation and was polite to me instead of rude like several of their employees have been.
2. Health treatment tonight (hoping it helps me sleep tonight too)
3. Chocolate
4. Laughing at a bad joke this morning.  (What do you call eight rabbits walking backwards in a row?  A receding hareline!)
5. Tray baked pork chops and roasted vegetables with apple for dinner tonight at Mom and Dad's

Daily 5 - Day 230

Today's Daily 5:

1. 230 days of making these lists
2. Started the newest book by Sara Miles on the bus ride home tonight
3. Took the bus home again - so nice to have that quiet space.  Tonight I read, and dozed, and listened to an audio book for a while.
4. Updated my budget - love that this is still working so well for me.  And love seeing the results as my debt slowly decreases and my savings slowly grow.
5. Got a phone call from my bank checking on if I had any questions about my accounts - that was great, because I did have a question about my line of credit but definitely haven't been able to find time to call them
6. Productive day at work
7. Got through several "to do's" at home tonight as well
8. Made some tentative Easter weekend plans with my family
9. Have been denying myself chocolate all evening, and promising myself a piece as a treat before bed - totally anticipating that.
10. Think I'll actually be in bed kind of early tonight.  Hopefully that'll give me a better chance at actually getting a bit of rest.

Daily 5 - Day 226

Today's Daily 5:

1. Jeans at work
2. Friday
3. ordered shoes online for the bridesmaid dress
4. have a friend who is willing to do my taxes for me
5. getting a tax refund this year (even if it does seem little after all those years of tuition carryforwards)
6. T's choir concert tonight was good
7. got my money back for the shoes that won't work
8. An almond joy bar - much needed solace after a long cry tonight
9. plans I think I'll enjoy for tomorrow
10. Nelly - my longest standing "friend" - a teddy bear that has been with me since birth, and gives great hugs on the really rough days.

Daily 5 - Day 220

Today's Daily 5:

1. 220 days of showing up to make a list like this.
2. Pie Jesu performed at the classical voice recital of a friend that I attended tonight
3. Lunch and a movie with a friend I've known since 10th grade
4. Wore a purple scarf all day.  I'm starting to feel like wearing scarves again lately, and that's definitely a reassuring sign that someday I will feel like "me" again, that I'll adapt to these latest curve balls of life and be me - just a me with even more ability to cope and face tough stuff under my belt.
5. chocolate.

Daily 5 - Day 211

Today's Daily 5:

1. iphone shopping!  Just debating contracts and plans and providers.  But will definitel become the owner of one sometime in the next year (pending a contract that doesn't expire for 7 months yet if I decide I do indeed want to change providers.)
2. It was house church night.  And the night once a month where we all contribute and have a meal together.  There was so much food.  And it was GOOD!
3. Got a hug, too, from a girl there.  I'll have to tell her sometime how much I appreciate those hugs goodbye once a week as I head out the door.  With so many of the friends from whom I collect hugs far away, and being one who appreciates touch, it means a lot to get that hug every week or two.
4. Had a full sized "Kit Kat" bar today - haven't done that in ages.  Still one of my all-time favorites.
5. Had a productive day at work.  I'm up to my neck in details for the conference we have coming up just after Easter, and today was a day full of details, but I feel like I made some headway on them, even if my "to do" list didn't necessarily get as many checkmarks as I would have liked.

Daily 5 - Day 112

Today's Daily "5":

1. A full (or nearly full, not quite certain) moon peeking at me as I drove through the dark, to and from work, bookending the day and stirring emotions
2. Romans 8
3. Philippians 1
4. Realizing that in working on memorizing portions of scripture I'm hearing them so many times that my heart cannot help but meditate on them, and begin to hear God speaking clearly within them to the things I'm pondering or wrestling with
5. Frittata for dinner - and not having to cook
6. Getting the last renewal for the year out the door at work
7. the prayers of Walter Bruggemann in "Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth"
8. enjoying the writing on some of my favorite blogs
9. clean water. I love drinking water. I think I forget sometimes to be grateful to live in a place with fresh and drinkable water. A place where the water from the tap is perfectly fine and won't make me sick.
10. peanut m&m's - a handful or two a day really is making me smile lately.
    

Daily 5 - Day 104

Today's Daily "5":

1. Going over and over the scripture I'm working on memorizing using an audio bible in the translation I'm memorizing from, while I was driving to work this morning
2. Fighting through, and actually managing to have a good day
3. A phone message I left actually being returned (and resulting in booking a massage at a new and highly recommended massage therapist for a few weeks from now)
4. Dinner with a friend - chatting and catching up (penne giardiniera con pollo... mmm... so good too!)
   
5. Pondering Proverbs 25:29 in the New Living Translation (I'm still loving Proverbs)
6. Finding out I made the list of trusted babysitters - You really should take me up on it - I'd love to do it :)
7. a handful of peanut m&m's
8. getting out of the office for a bit of a walk at lunch
9. a mostly smooth day at work
10. wearing one of my current favorite tops to work - at least I'm warm and feel pretty in it all at once!
    

Daily 5 - Day 101

Image by Lumiago via Flickr

Today's Daily 5 (or so), plus a picture I liked:

1. chocolate cake for breakfast
2. errands that went well (plus, I like doing errands and crossing things off of lists)
   
3. bonus points at Sobeys (they become aeroplan points, and the more bonus points there are, the more miles there are, and the closer I am to being able to get on a plane to somewhere)
4. Grocery shopping with mom
5. Making these very tasty pumpkin cream sandwich cookies
6. a day that was mostly good after a bit of a rough start
7. reading for a while from the book I'm currently enjoying
8. spending time with my family
9. being successful in not trying to "buy" joy today
10. reminders in various forms that I am loved.
    

Daily 5 - Day 99

Today is day 99, and I can't quite believe I've been doing this for that long. Without further ado, here are today's daily "5":

1. I'm thankful, today, on a day with 9s for the friend who started pushing me towards changing thought patterns to more positive ones in the first place, who has pushed me to choose life and joy. (It was her pushing that led to the eventual idea to make these lists every day.)
2. I had an unexpectedly decent evening - some good conversations. I think I'll go back to this house group.
3. I found joy tonight both in the feeling of wearing makeup and looking pretty, and in the freshly washed feeling of taking it off several hours later.
4. Smoked Gouda, homemade pita chips, and hummus for a quick, simple, on-the-fly dinner
5. laughter - in various moments through a crazy day
   
6. the pleasure of praying with other believers
7. chocolate cake in bed to finish up the night
8. a constant refrain that is slowly bringing peace, and hope
9. Tomorrow is Friday! (a little anticipating the joys to come!)
10. feeling welcomed in the midst of a situation that could have been incredibly awkward
    

Daily 5 - Day 85

Today's daily 5 (and bonuses as discussed yesterday!):

1. Lovely sunset driving home
2. A billboard that I noticed for the first time today that made me laugh in delight at God's blatant "hidden" messages to me. It read, "Joy is always in the forecast."
3. I'm thankful for a lunch meeting that was far less challenging and awkward than I anticipated, and that has perhaps opened possible doors for slowly reconnecting with a community of believers
4. Getting the major project that absolutely had to be finished today done at work. And even getting set up for next week's major project.
5. Managing to get the exercise I was trying for in, for four days in a row as suggested.
6. Pork and mango tacos for dinner, with a glass of wine
7. J providing chocolate fondue for dessert - fresh fruit dipped in rich, creamy chocolate with a bit of Baileys mixed in.
   
8. Laughter and girl talk as the three who lived together last year of us caught up on life
9. Being in bed by 9:00, even if I'm still reading and finishing up some emails
10. I'm grateful to be feeling today that, even though in a number of ways it's been a very challenging week, I feel hopeful again. Like maybe I can kick some of the things I've been struggling with. And maybe it really is worth it to take the advice my dear friend gave me and really fight for that healing.
    

Daily 5 - Day 82

Today's Daily 5:

1. Getting tickets to a U2 concert next summer
2. Korean food (first time ever!) with a friend - surprisingly tasty, and fun to catch up.
   
3. A relatively smooth, if quite tiring, day at work
4. Laughing because my world now contains conversations about things like amino acids and neuro transmitters, and natural ways to promote brain health (If you haven't known me long, I was always a "just give me the drugs already" kind of girl, but these days I'm as surprised as anyone to find myself driven to check out natural alternatives wherever possible, and that totally makes me laugh!)
5. Laughing at the huge chocolate supply for our office that one of my coworkers picked up at great post-halloween sale prices. (seriously, the staff gets really upset if the chocolate bowl isn't kept full) There's a huge tub of candy hidden away at reception, just waiting to keep that bowl stocked for several months to come.
   

Daily 5 - Day 23

Image by Scott Kinmartin via Flickr

Today's Daily 5 (in no particular order):

1. Betty Crocker Chocolate whipped icing - used this for the first time on a birthday cake I made for someone at work, and it was really good.
2. days off confirmed at our office, booking flights and the buzz of excitement as L and I begin to figure out what we want to do and see while we're away (Niagara Falls is on our list...)
   
3. 20% off members bonus day at the body shop - let me get some stuff I really needed, at double the usual discount
4. help from my dad to assemble a little end table that has been sitting in pieces in our living room for several weeks, since the assembly of that particular piece had me stymied.
   
5. the smell of a clean towel after my shower, and freshly washed pjs and sheets on my bed to crawl into tonight.
   

Daily 5 - Day 2

Image via Wikipedia

Here are today's five moments of laughter, joy, smiling, success etc. The moments I'm celebrating and finding life in today:

1. A friend of mine had the following as her facebook status this morning, loosely paraphrased by me, "My daughter peed on the kitchen floor. She was trying to be a good girl and clean it up. Unfortunately, she used a broom." I laughed off and on all day as I pictured her rather precocious, curious daughter (who must be around 3 or so now) trying to fix her mistake and be "good" by helping to clean up the mess she'd made, but going about it in a less than helpful way!
2. Peanut M&M's are high on my list of things that satisfied and brought smiles today
   
3. A glass of red wine from a bottle left for me by a dear friend
4. A realization that certain things I've been struggling with don't have to make me a victim - that I have a certain degree of choice in that.
5. Finding a book that I am really enjoying reading, and feeling inspired to learn again, even if it was something as little as looking up the definition of protean (see my post earlier today) and reveling in the knowledge of a new word, rolling it around within me and letting the joy that came from a bit of a revival of a love of learning (I haven't felt that in a while) roll around inside me for a bit.

And, with that list of five, I'm off to finish up a few emails, and then curl up in bed with my journal and book, and then hopefully sleep deeply and well tonight.