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.
    

Full Day...

Well, the day has been full.

I've made dinner, and I'm just waiting for my roommate and our former roommate to arrive, and then we'll sit down to eat and catch up.

Work was CRAZY today. I actually didn't have to do yoga after work tonight because I was on my feet running back and forth most of the day and definitely got well more than the prescribed 20 minutes of moderate aerobic activity. I think it was more like 5 hours or so!

Lunch was unique. I'm glad I went, and I'll likely follow up and check out the house church community that we were talking about sometime in the next few weeks.

But I'm tired. I'm hoping the visiting tonight won't go late.

And I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night, having the house to myself, and just doing things that involve caring for me for an evening. Especially since that was what I'd planned for last Friday evening, and thanks to the way my visit with the doctor went, I spent a good chunk of last Friday evening in tears, or frenetic panic, trying to sort out what I'd been told and figure out if I had any options or was truly boxed into a corner. It'll be nice to just rest tomorrow night.

And with that, I'd better go check on our food...

I'll be back later with the daily 5 (or ten)!

Remembering Lessons Learned

I'm trying to remind myself about the lesson I learned from Stan over the summer. The lesson about not postponing joy.

Because I'm tired just thinking about the day ahead of me, and everything in me wants to curl up into a crabby ball and hide from the world.

Work promises to be very busy.

I have a lunch meeting with a complete stranger (draining for an introvert like myself) to talk about church (because that's not a subject that I'm feeling sensitive about these days.)

And then we're having our old roommate over for dinner tonight.

Oh, and somewhere in there I need to fit in 20 minutes of yoga.

It's a day filled with people, and that feels tiring.

But somehow, I'm determined to at least make the attempt to find joy amidst all of that today.

We'll see how it goes!