Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 213

Today's Daily 5:

1. sleeping in
2. getting a ride to my destination for the day, and not having to carry what I needed for the day and for the weekend with me on the bus
3. getting an errand done (hooray for dropping off my taxes! fingers crossed for a decent return!)
4. A pork and mango taco
5. a treatment from my mom
6. finishing up all of the homework that actually HAD to be done this week - I can take the weekend off if I want (probably won't since next week is busy, but I could, and that feels great!)
7. Lindt Petits Desserts Hazlenut Chocolate Mousse (oh my goodness SO good!)
8. really good mini-cupcakes at house church (I normally don't like cupcakes, but these were really tasty!)
9. house church conversations and laughter
10. marking quite a few items off my list of "to do's" for the week today

Mini Reviews (Part 4)

A Cup of Friendship (Deborah Rodriguez)

I bought this particular title on a whim, based on a suggestion from a friend.  I'd loved Rodriguez's memoir Kabul Beauty School and was willing to give her first attempt at fiction a try.  It was a great story.  In many ways, the story-telling of Kabul Beauty School carried through to A Cup of Friendship, detailing the intersecting lives centered around a cafe in Kabul, and it's owner, Sunny.  The story-telling was fabulous, the characters complex and believable, and the book left you feeling as if you'd truly been given a window into both Afghani culture and the lives of the ex-pats living in Kabul after the initial defeat of the Taliban.  If you're interested in travel, and culture, and looking for an easy read, this is your book!

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (Rhoda Janzen)

I listened to the unabridged audio version of this book, and I'll admit that I had high hopes for it, since I've had connections to the Mennonite culture for quite a number of years, studied Mennonite history in university, and had read positive things about the book on a few different blogs that I follow.  The text on the jacket promised that this title was "an immensely moving memoir of healing."  It didn't feel like that to me.  It felt like more of a chance to poke fun at the culture that the author suddenly found herself relocated back to, after some painful turns of events.  Janzen does not claim to profess the faith of her culture or her parents and her tone, though trying to be respectful, comes off almost as derisive and dismissive.  And honestly, I'm not sure we see a journey of healing, other than the physical healing that came as she recovered in her parent's home from the injuries sustained in a terrible car accident.  The book is humorous, but at times crass, and it seems as if Janzen goes out of her way to point out the many flaws of the faith and culture of her family and childhood, while focusing far less often on the positive things it also gave her.  I can't decide if I'd recommend this one or not.  It was funny, but left a bit of a bad taste in mouth as well.

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 212

Today's Daily 5:

1. A day that started with being awoken to pray, and ended with hearing about other prayers being answered
2. tackling some homework
3. A great salad for supper - I wasn't expecting to really enjoy it, since what I really wanted was a burger or a steak, but it was really satisfying
4. a yoga class that focused on all my tightest and sorest spots
5. unexpectedly getting to hang out on skype with a friend for an hour or so
6. being able to laugh at some of the odder aspects of my week
7. a day that was mostly good
8. having a bit of time to read for pleasure on the bus
9. when the really soft toilet paper is on sale
10. some really good chocolate

Reading, Listening, Pondering

Because I can't figure out what else to share with you at the moment, here are a few thoughts from three random categories.

Reading

• I just finished Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts" and it will be getting a full post all to itself, just as soon as I can figure out how to put words around the way that this one is impacting my heart.
• Currently on the go for reading, I have, "Letters from the Land of Cancer", "Holy Cow", and "Forgotten God" (which I'm reading for a house church study that I'm also providing a good portion of the leadership to)

Listening

• Audio book: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.  I'm almost finished with this one, and I'll probably be writing another mini-reviews post soon to talk about it and one or two others that I've read recently.
• Kindness - Steve Bell.  I've worked for Steve when he comes to town for about 15 years now, and this is his latest album.  I haven't had a ton of time to listen yet, but a quick perusal of the lyric booklet (I choose all music based on lyrics) tells me that the usual profound quality of Steve's lyrics and those of the others whose work he records is still there.  Early favorites off this album are the title track, the song "Absalom, Absalom," and "In Billy's Wake".
• I think I'm also going to dust off Steve's "Waiting for Aidan" album.  I seem to be the only one at the concerts I work that has this as my favorite of Steve's work, but this is the album I still return to in the moments when I'm struggling.  It was the only Christian album I could stomach during the many years I struggled with depression, and as I find myself again wrestling with some big questions, I feel a yearning to listen again.

Pondering

• Some big life direction questions.  The sort of "Are you really saying what I think you're saying, God" type of questions
• Some smaller but still very painful relational questions
• A day on the weekend where I was struck by a whole number of awarenesses all at once.  That hasn't happened in a while, and I feel a bit caught in the maelstrom of it all.  Not bad, but shocked at the things on the surface of my mind and heart.
• and praying for friends and friends of friends, scattered across bits of the world that are less than stable.  for war torn regions, and those that have been stricken by disaster.

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 211

Today's Daily 5:

1. the first night of sleep under freshly washed sheets
2. managing to sleep just a bit longer
3. surprising answers as I journaled
4. my sparkly emerald colored nose ring
5. laughing at the comments on the post I wrote earlier about my nose piercing
6. bus drivers who wait when they see you running to catch their bus (so NOT the norm, and thus something to be thankful for, especially on a route that only comes twice an hour!)
7. Italian wedding soup
8. a quiet evening at home
9. the smell of scented candles
10. relieving news about a midterm grade