Daily 5 - Day 151

A palindrome daily 5 day on a fun palindrome date. 

Today's Daily 5:

1. Slow morning.  Emphasis on slow.  Think I crawled out of bed and headed for the shower maybe around 9:30 or so.
2. A fun moment this morning in which I inadvertently got to see a dear friend do some unplanned sharing at her church on the other side of the country.  I hadn't planned to tune into the webcast, she hadn't planned to share her heart, but I tuned in just in time to see, and I was thankful to get to share that moment.
3. House church gathering this afternoon.  I'm glad I went, though I can't say I picked up information I didn't already know about the issue of human trafficking.  It was a challenge, since almost no one from the house group I've been attending was there, meaning I spent several hours interacting almost entirely with people I'd never met before.  That was exhausting, but I'm glad I went if for no other reason than that I know the next monthly gathering will be that much easier to attend because I've braved it once already.
4. Found a new cookbook of 30 minutes suppers from America's Test Kitchen at the health food store today.  I bought one of their books of 30 minutes suppers in the spring, and we've really liked almost everything in it that we've cooked, so when I saw a new one today for only $9, I of course had to buy it - especially given my goal of trying new recipes at least twice a month this year.
5. feeling really pretty today in a new top and jeans purchased yesterday.
6. my hair actually behaved and was beautifully curly today!  I love it when that happens
7. I actually really have enjoyed reading the free monthly magazine from the local organic/vitamin store where I stock up on all my supplements.  Never thought I'd be excited about a magazine dealing with natural health, but I've become rather interested in the quest to get healthy again.  Plus, it's had some good recipes in it that I want to try.  In any case, I was thrilled to find a new issue while I was there today.
8. I got kind of lost driving home from the house church gathering (I had good directions to get me there, but got a bit turned around leaving in the dark, especially since the neighborhood is one that is particularly unfamiliar to me.)  Getting lost wasn't a big deal tonight, though, since I was singing rather loudly along with a Jesus Culture worship CD.  It was nice to be driving alone in George and just unashamedly worship as I drove myself home from a time of being with other believers.
9. Fresh baked banana bread ready for tomorrow
10. Loving some skin care products from the Body Shop that I've been using for a while now.  My skin looks better than it has in a long time.
    

Interesting Article on the Olympic Torch Relay

I found this article on the Olympic torch relay to be fascinating.

A Teachable Moment in Hutterite Country

Quickly

I started the morning slowly, and now I'm running around, trying to do a couple of things before I need to head out.

Seems the network of house churches I'm a part of gathers all of the house churches together once a month on a Sunday, and today is that day.  Apparently the theme for the afternoon is human trafficking.  Should be quite a unique experience I'd think.

Then home, maybe some cookbook browsing, hopefully some baking of banana bread, and just resting for the remainder of the evening.

Sunday's are unique days, and even though I'm not particularly attending "traditional" church these days, I still try to keep them pretty low key and sabbath rest-like.  I've found that makes for a better Monday, and ultimately for a better week at work.

Daily 5 - Day 150

After a couple of mentally very messy days, I'm reminded again of the fact that I started making smile lists in the first place because I heard somewhere that making a list of things you're grateful for (in my case things that make me smile) on a regular basis has the same effect on your brain chemistry as a mild dose of anti-depressants.  After some particularly challenging moments in the summer, I decided to make it an official daily habit, and 150 days ago the daily 5 was born out of the desire to simply choose to be more thankful and joyful in the day to day moments of life.  A month or two after that, I realized that it was becoming commonplace to list five things, and that there was tending to be quite a bit of repetition from day to day in my list of five, and I started challenging myself to write 10 (while still calling this experiment the "Daily 5").  These days I write some version of 5 or 10, depending on the day, how tired I am, and how much of a challenge it is to reach whatever number I've chosen.

I need to push myself for 10 again for a few days.  These rough days have had a decided impact on my mental landscape, and I need to shift focus, and deliberately choose again to find the "joyful, make me smile and oh so grateful" moments in my life.

Daily 5 - Day 150!

1. Some great new jeans - so comfy, and discovering that a store that I'd long thought didn't make jeans in a short length, does.  Love the cut of the new jeans too - GAP, curvy flare.  Kinda like the name of the cut too, for that matter.
2. Some great new tops to go with the jeans, or to be dressed up quite easily for work.
3. Being caught off guard by an almost sick feeling at the excess I experienced today while shopping at the new mega mall.  I like that a trip to the mall became a chance for God to really challenge my heart again, and remind me that one of my goals for the year is to purge and simplify, to be less of a consumer.
4. Time laughing with friends, while shopping
5. Italian wedding soup from M&M for lunch
6. Made a great grilled oriental chicken salad for supper.  Kinda cheated by using a salad kit, but I really liked the addition of dried pineapple that came in this kit (which I'd never used before) - it added a nice texture and flavor to the usual noodles, veggies, almonds, and sesame dressing.
7. still loving the George Foreman grill my parents gave me for my birthday.  Such an easy way to make hamburgers or grilled chicken, without fire being involved, or the need to flip things, and without having to go outside in the middle of winter.
   
8. Loved the surprise that an audio book I'd requested at the library, and that I wasn't expecting for another couple of weeks had arrived when I went to the library to pick up some other items that I'd requested that had arrived.  Was great to spend some time this afternoon listening to part of the book while I puttered around.  Liking it quite a bit so far.
9. Thinking about the friends that are really more like family, and grateful for the way they challenge me, and for their love of me.
10. Productive, but mostly restful and quiet afternoon, with candles and my oil burner lit in my bedroom
11. (AND a bonus!)  Making it to 150 straight days of showing up and listing the things that are reasons for joy and hope and thankfulness in my life.  I think it really is making a difference in how I see the world, and I'm so grateful for that.
    

A Few Posts I Liked

A couple blog posts I liked today:

Refiners Fire at The Grey Albatross.  Love what Allie, dearest has been writing lately.

Late to the Library at Susan Isaacs blog.  (I was at the library this afternoon... I still love being there, even after all these years.  In fact, in the homeschool years, we'd come home each three week time span with our card maxed out - something like 100 items or so.  I think I checked out 8 or 9 today, which, while I won't get them all read in the next three weeks, will hopefully provide some fodder for future reading endeavours, and the goal of reading at least a book a month over the coming year.)