Daily 5 - Day 344

Today's Daily 5:

1. kit kat bar
2. walking in the cemetery this afternoon.  (I paid a visit to a local Victorian cemetery that I love to walk in... it's a place I go when my heart is really aching, and I need time to walk and think and listen and pray.  I needed that today.)
3. pausing to notice flowers, and smile at them, try to let their beauty penetrate
4. taking photos as I walked... epitaphs that struck me, and flowers...
5. the brief moments when my racing thoughts settled, and there was quiet peace and I could breathe again
6. this beautiful post that Renee wrote, that my heart simply said, "yes" to, because I know that place she describes, in my own way, right now.
7. watching a British comedy/drama television series on DVD with mom and dad and laughing.  British humor really is to my taste.
8. recognizing in a fresh way a gift of grace offered to me in the midst of a challenging conversation last night
9. tears that finally flowed, no longer able to be contained
10. a quiet place to rest tonight at mom and dad's

Daily 5 - Day 19

Image by Darren Hester via Flickr

Today was a lovely day, filled with some moments that I will hold deeply precious within me for a while, though perhaps I'll eventually share.

In the meantime, here's today's daily 5:

1. the joy and laughter of children on the amusement park rides (that I was also riding!) at Heritage Park today
2. a big bag of really sweet, fresh green grapes, purchased at a very affordable price at the Harvest Sale
3. an incredible, God-ordained moment on another cemetery tour
4. finding just the right spot (while praying) to sit by the creek in the park for a while and write
5. wet feet!
6. (a bonus today!) Chinese take-out for dinner, after a quick stop at mom and dad's to give them the pineapples I'd picked up for them at the harvest sale (2 for $4!)
   

Daily 5 - Day 18

Image by Dia™ via Flickr

So, eighteen days in...

This was a wild and crazy day within my heart, on the heels of a wild and crazy week. I just sent a long email to a dear friend detailing some of the things going on within me, and it took nearly an hour to write those thoughts out...

But it was a beautiful day, and good...

So, here's today's daily 5:

1. the surprise in the way God started speaking, catching me totally off guard, while I was at church tonight
2. an iced passion tea lemonade, and Macdonalds (one a typical beverage for when I need to pray, the other comfort food) consumed while I processed those things
3. a tour of a cemetery, and hearing some stories of the origins of Calgary
4. Hosea 2:14-16, 19-20, 23 NLT
5. Accomplishing some very necessary errands so that our home can truly begin to feel settled and like "home"
   

The Starting Plan

It's my birthday, and I have a thing about being another year older. It always seems like some kind of victory to me. (Maybe it helps that since I was about 7 I've been accused of being a bit old for my age, so every year older I turn, I feel like I'm slipping more easily into the person I've been for a lot of years already, and that as I get older it's easier for others to accept that person since she increasingly fits the age and body that she exists within.)

Anyway, here's the starting plan for the day.

I'm actually planning to spend the vast majority of the day doing errands and various things that I love. I'm headed out at the moment for the farmer's market to find some breakfast and soak up some color. I'll be stopping at the bank before I do that. I'm following that plan up with a trip to a local store to hunt for a belt (I badly need one), and a trip to the AMA to renew George's insurance for another year. Sometime today I'm hoping to go to the Catholic bookstore. I need to buy a birthday card for a friend who's celebrating tomorrow. I might go to the zoo, or to a cemetery that I love to walk in. I borrowed a great camera from my dad, so I'll be taking pictures at various spots along the way as well. And then, tonight, I'm having dinner with my family and roommate. Followed by a trip out somewhere with my brother and his girlfriend.

It has the makings for a great day - lots of little errands and things to be accomplished. Some favorite people and places. And lots of flexibility.

And by the way, it's Friday, and I'm not at work! And, I'm not missing casual Friday even a tiny little bit! Because jeans at home and out and about in the city always trumps jeans at work!