It's definitely Monday

Today marks the beginning of what promises to be a crazy week.

This coming Sunday my baby brother will be married.  In the meantime, the entire extended family is consumed with wedding details, and tucking the stuff of day to day life in between the wedding details.

I had another weekend full of life curve balls.  As I jokingly pointed out to a friend in an email last night, I could probably make a killing off my blog, in advertising, and readers, if I was only anonymous, and able to share the crazyness that life has been throwing at me lately in a public place.

I've been getting messages in my tea, lately, too.  No, not that kind of message in my tea.  I mean that, with the brand of green tea I've been drinking for my weekday morning "warm me up" beverage has little inspirational messages printed on the paper tag attached to the tea bag.  They've been amusingly hard-hitting to various lessons I've been learning lately.  Today's reminded me "You only give when you love."

I woke up this morning with a brutal head ache.  Thankfully, the drugs I swallowed before I even turned on the lights seem to be making some headway.

I'm wearing my wedding shoes around the office today (and probably several more days this week.)  I'm a little afraid of what will happen if I don't wear them for a whole lot of days, and then I have to wear them for ten or twelve straight hours on Sunday.

I have a list of blog posts planned, but finding time to write them this week will be the challenge.  I want to talk a bit more about Sara Miles' "Jesus Freak" and a bit about the newest book that booksneeze.com sent me to review.  I'm really enjoying this one "I am Hutterite" - it's a fascinating account, and is reviving my hope in Thomas Nelson - a hope that had been rather dented by the slogging necessary for a reading of "A Hole in Our Gospel".  I want to talk again about Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", too.

But this week might be a week for purging my inbox of built-up quotes and various thoughts from Henri Nouwen.  I have a wedding slideshow to tackle, and some wedding errands to do.  A few personal obligations and some church obligations as well.

So, we'll play it by ear.

Which, at this moment, is all I can manage.  Because it definitely feels like a Monday.

Daily 5 - Day 269

Today's Daily 5:

1. A long phone call from my former roommate L, to start the day.  It was so good to laugh and talk and catch up on each other's lives.  I really miss her.
2. Standing in the kitchen, chatting with my dad and chopping vegetables for a veggie tray together, to take to tonight's big family Mother's Day gathering.
3. emails from a few different friends today
4. giving and getting a hug from my mom
5. Making my way through a significant list of tasks this morning.

Roast Beef at Dawn

It was already Sunday when I went to bed.

After the murder-mystery bachelorette party, which was both every bit as awkward as I expected, and not quite as painful as I expected.

I woke again for the first time around 6:30.

Can I just say that the smell of roast beef cooking at 6:30 in the morning is a little incongruous?

I lay there in the dark, trying to figure out why the whole house smelled like roast beef, or if, perhaps, I was still dreaming.

I woke again a few hours later to the buzzing of my phone.

L was calling from England, and we passed about an hour laughing and talking and catching up on each other's lives.

There was something truly lovely about starting the day laughing and talking with a dear friend far away.

Eventually, after getting the laundry started, I ventured upstairs to make breakfast and discovered a leftover roasting pan.

Clearly, Grandma was making roast beef at 6:30 this morning. 

The question of why this was a logical time to make a roast, remains unanswered.

Maybe it's just because she's 80.

There are a lot of things that happen in this house that seem to only happen because she's 80.

Roast beef before dawn is only the most recent installment.

You stop asking after a while.

And with that, I'm off to tackle the rest of the usual Sunday morning chores before heading out to spend the day celebrating my mom.

Blessed

I took the "Poppy Test" this morning, and these were the results, which made me smile.  I'm not totally sure I am that person.  But in some ways (except maybe for being my own best teacher - I rather prefer feedback from others) this is the sort of person I'm aiming to be.  More happy, more thankful, more aware that I really am blessed.

You Are Blessed

You are a naturally grateful person. You believe it's important to be thankful for whatever you have. You've gained the most by traveling down your own path in life. You are a naturally spiritual person. You are your own best teacher. You try to figure out what you need and then give it to yourself. On a good day, you really shine. Luckily, most of your days are good days.

The Poppy Test

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

Daily 5 - Day 268

Today's Daily 5:

1. Lazy morning
2. Taking photos of photos
3. Dinner at Chili's
4. Hanging out with my family
5. Laughter