Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 44

Today's Daily 5:

1. the sights and smells of my favorite tea shop in Kensington.  the smell of incense mixed with tea and other aromas, and lots of hippies.  totally tells me I'm in Kensington.
2. browsing for a few minutes in a bookshop that carries unique stuff, and adding several titles to check for at the library or on Amazon to my list
3. laughing over tea with a friend
4. going to my favorite bakery in Chinatown (Jing Jing Bakery on Centre Street if you're wondering)
5. getting home just in time to miss the surprise rain storm that came out of nowhere
6. walking through downtown on a relatively warm Indian summer day
7. spotting a "palm tree" growing outside downtown
8. getting a big hug from mom after surprising her with a coconut tart from the Chinese bakery
9. the little bit of happiness in my mouth after that first bite of the pork bun I detoured to the Chinatown bakery especially to purchase
10. the smell of a bakery
11. macdonalds comfort food for supper
12. skype and conversation and laughter with a friend tonight

Your Type Not Wanted

I loved this cartoon when it appeared on ASBO Jesus recently.

I'm a pastor's kid and I spent years as one of those question marks.  I also spent years working to conceal that I was one of those question marks.  I'll never forget some of the faces as I shared my testimony when I was baptised (by my dad) just weeks before my eighteenth birthday.  For the first time (and maybe the only time in that church), I talked about the fact that for the past six years I'd been asking major questions about my faith.  That I'd spent a lot of years pretty convinced that I didn't even want anything to do with this Christian thing.   That a church split that happened when I was ten had left me pretty convinced that most Christians were hypocrites and not people I wanted to know.  That I hated being a pastor's kid. And (though I'm not sure I actually said this in my testimony) that the only reason my butt was in a seat week after week for a lot of those years was that the rule in our house was that as long as we were under legal age (which is 18 here in Alberta) and living in mom and dad's house, on Sunday morning we would be in church.  There were a few pretty shocked faces as I shared.

Looking back I wonder if they would have been gracious about the questions.  But at the time, all I knew to do was hide them.  I hid them other places too, but mostly in church.  And these days, I meet people all the time who know what it's like to be "that type".  And I count it a privilege to stand up and tell them "me too" and I still love Jesus, and I know He loves me and welcomes me - questions and all.

Disneyland (California Part 5)

For nearly as long as I've known Lisa, I've known that she escapes to Disneyland in the same way that I escape to the Calgary Zoo to sit and visit with the gorillas.  She's also been telling me as long as we've been talking that Disneyland would be a must if I ever came to visit, and, once I actually booked plane tickets, I got a few emails telling me which specific day we would spend at Disneyland, based on her perusal of the Disney website and which rides would be open when.

I knew I'd absolutely enjoy spending a day at Lisa's favorite escape, but I'll admit here (and I admitted to her) that I was skeptical that a place known for people and crowds could actually be an escape for a more introverted, need time away from people, kind of person.  I just couldn't figure out how that would be an escape! 

It was!  It was a fantastic day, made all the more fun by Lisa's vast collection of knowledge about the park and how the "magic" actually happens.  I couldn't believe how time slid by, tried things I would have never tried if I wasn't with a friend I trusted, and generally had a great time.  I'll admit that when I closed my eyes that night, my dreams were spinning a little - as a first time experience it was perhaps almost overstimulating, but I'm eager to visit again and work past that feeling of overstimulation!

 The two of us together at the other Lisa's favorite escape.

 Hidden Mickey!

 Because the weather was - and the weather at home in Calgary that day involved snow!

 I was assured that one could not come to Disneyland for the first time and not meet Mickey.

 Because this cracked me up, and the sign somehow felt apropos for the state of my life lately!

 Mini Palm Tree, next to the miniature Agraba - Alladin's city.

This cracked me up, too.  This is a bird, in miniature London.  It gives a great sense of scale, no?

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 43

Today's Daily 5:

1. thankful for a friend who was praying through some harder moments
2. honest conversation
3. a pear for breakfast at home
4. arriving at mom and dad's in time to get a fruit smoothie and a plate of their nicely cooked late Monday morning (their day off) breakfast to eat for my lunch
5. watching the season premiere of "The Amazing Race"  (I don't think I'd ever go on the show, but I love watching it, and that's saying something for someone who generally avoids reality television)
6. finding some unexpected things to giggle about
7. retail therapy at the dollar store.  a $15 spending spree that included purchases such as a neck pillow for traveling, a couple chocolate bars, and a kids art project.
8. getting lots of exercise walking to and from a few planned (and one unexpected) errands
9. an unexpected phone call that brought a smile
10. a friendly and helpful sales man at London Drugs tonight when my laptop power adapter gave up the ghost unexpectedly, rendering my laptop useless until it was replaced.  this gentleman made a couple of calls to confirm that though they didn't have the exact item I badly needed, an item they did have in stock was interchangeable.  he also helped me with the extended warranty - a good deal since it will cover the adapter for three years, and this is already the third adapter I've had in the life of this particular laptop.  clearly the power adapter construction is the one flaw in the Mac design.

San Diego de Alacala Mission (California Part 4)

One of my favorite stops was the first Franciscan mission established in Southern California.  I'm a sucker for history, and for places that have been dedicated to prayer for years and years.  There is a peace in those sorts of places that is striking to me and always moves me deeply.  That this particular mission was Franciscan and had images of Claire and Francis of Assisi, both saints that are a dear part of my heart, made it a particularly lovely place to walk through.  If I ever move south, as Lisa is campaigning for me to do, (and as I'm considering anyway!), this would definitely be a place that I'd be going to to pray.