Daily 5 - Day 93

Today's Daily 5 (and more):

1. Wearing jeans to work
2. Getting back some photo prints I'd ordered, and being really happy both with how they turned out, and with the memories they captured
3. A Friday night that went as planned for the first time in weeks
4. Enjoying an episode of Grey's Anatomy
5. Relaxing in a hot bath...
6. Bourbon Street Grill for dinner
7. Laughing with family and friends
8. curling up in bed with magic bags spread across my feet and against my achy back
9. really feeling peaceful tonight after a bit of a challenging afternoon
10. the satisfaction of working through my budget and knowing that it is workable for right now
    

One more on the Communion of Saints

One more thought from Henri Nouwen...

Heart As Wide As the World

The awareness of being part of the communion of saints makes our hearts as wide as the world. The love with which we love is not just our love; it is the love of Jesus and his saints living in us. When the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts, all who have lived their lives in that Spirit live there too. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents; our teachers and their teachers; our pastors and their pastors; our spiritual guides and theirs - all the holy men and women who form that long line of love through history - are part of our hearts, where the Spirit of Jesus chooses to dwell.

The communion of saints is not just a network of connections between people. It is first and foremost the community of our hearts.

Friday morning

Well, I must have slept last night, because I certainly dreamt. Weird snippets of conversations and relationships and people and emotions, all mixed up and slightly twisted. It wasn't precisely the night I was hoping for, but I suppose it'll do.

So, I'm sipping tea, and glad that it's Friday. I'm wearing jeans, and that's helping too.

Mostly, I'm just thankful that it's Friday. That in 7 hours, I'll be off work for a couple of days.

That tonight I'm going (barring any unexpected internet connection issues) to be watching Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice and doing very domestic stuff and resting.

Daily 5 - Day 92

Today's Daily 5 (or more):

1. Getting a blog award - very fun! (see my previous post)
2. The smell of the roses on my desk at work
3. really good roasted baby potatoes and yam, green beans and "tuscan chicken sausage" from the farmer's market for supper tonight
4. finishing day 4 of yoga/exercise - week 2
5. accomplishing a number of things on my to do list tonight
6. daily dose of a trivia game at lunch hour with a coworker
7. sorting through photos, ordering a few to be printed, some for me, and some to send to some friends
8. a long hot shower tonight after yoga
9. knowing that tomorrow is Friday - this is a very good thought right now
10. magic bag draped across my cold feet in bed.
    

Honest Scrap Award

Susan at Weaving a Life presented me with the Honest Scrap blog award today! I think that might be the first time I've ever gotten a blog award!

These are the rules apparently:

1. Tell 10 honest things about myself

2. Pick 10 honest bloggers to pass it on to

3. Tell who gave you the award in the first place

Well, I've got number three covered about with the link to Susan.

Ten Honest Things About Myself...

1. If you had asked anyone who knew me, even two years ago, if my preference for health treatments would be the most natural products available, they'd have laughed at you. It still makes me laugh to think about it almost every day as I'm swallowing one of the myriad (I think it's close to 15 pills - a variety of about six supplements) of pills that I take at any given meal.
2. I love my nose piercing, even two years on. I got it to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of my healing from depression, and that's still what it reminds me of every time I look in the mirror.
3. I'm not so keen on my latest piercing - a navel one I got about 4-5 months ago. I love the way it looks, but it's taking forever to heal, and is kind of getting annoying. If it's still like this at the one year mark, I'll probably get rid of it. (I actually think about taking it out probably at least twice a week.)
4. Mental illness doesn't scare me in other people, but is a terrifying thing in me. Every time things are a bit out of whack with me, I start freaking out, wondering if depression is returning.
5. I'm very slowly learning that God's gift of healing is a constant thing - that I don't need to freak out about the depression.
6. I'm also learning that that healing is not an excuse to not take proper care of myself. Thus the recent changes in diet and exercise habits, the attempt to sleep, and the myriad of supplements that I'm using to try and bring a restoration of the physical health that stress has totally trashed over the last two years.
7. I've made two "mission" trips in my life - both to countries that start with M. (Mexico and Malta). Both trips had a very shaping impact on my life. If you ask me if I'll ever make another "mission" trip, I'll probably tell you that it's unlikely. I do still love the idea of traveling and praying with friends though, and am dreaming of several trips like that still to come. (I've also learned to ask LOTS of questions about the trip before making it.)
8. I place an immensely high value on hugs. I really appreciate the friends who can get past the sort of distant, non-touchy north american thing, and express affection with a hug. I've also quite literally gotten on a plane and flown across the country just to collect a hug from a dear friend. (It was totally worth it.)
   
9. I pick almost all music based on the lyrics. Words are my thing, and if the lyrics don't move me in some way - if they don't make me laugh or cry, or deeply touch my heart, then I'm probably not all that interested in the song.
10. Email is one of my favorite forms of communication. But I've recently been feeling the limitations of it a bit as well.
    

Ten Honest Bloggers (really just some of my favorites - since most of the blogs I read are very honest - that's why I love them! In no particular order, and keeping in mind that a lot of my favorite honest bloggers are not exactly known for blogging on any kind of regular basis, but there's great stuff in their archives if you're willing to look!)...

1. LP/CA (a private blog, but one of my favorites)
2. Ian at Shallowfrozenwater
3. Dana at Ofwoolandwater
4. Alliedearest at The Grey Albatross
5. Hootenannie
6. Claudia Mair Burney at The Ragamuffin Diva
7. Hope
8. Renee
9. Faye
10. Lisa at Let's Put the Kettle On