(Weird, two posts in a week that have "five" in the title. Not on purpose!)

First off, this was a hard, slogging week. As soon as I woke up on Monday I could feel it - maybe it was the rain, or the insane busy-ness of Sunday so that it barely felt like a day of rest, or Sean having a cold, or all of those things and more. On Wednesday (or was it Tuesday? the days all blurred together), one of my coworkers said with a big sigh, "Doesn't this week just feel long?"

Yes. Full of meetings and not sleeping well and more rain and sometimes forgetting to get up from my desk for a couple of hours at a time (ick).

And yet.

I've started making a running list early in the week for these Friday posts, and I feel myself get giddy when I realize that I'm in a good moment or have had an experience that I can scribble down in between work emails. This practice, and sharing it with you all, is definitely making me pay more attention.

What's saving your life this week?

1. Faraway friend catch up. I had a long overdue phone call with one of my kindred spirits and favorite people, and it was so refreshing to pick up right where we left off. I'm grateful for folks like her who get me as soon as we start talking.

2. On not giving in to fear. Rev. Canon Gina Gilland Campbell, an alumna of the school where I work and the canon precentor of the Washington National Cathedral, gave a phenomenal 13-minute (a.k.a. short enough for you to listen to right this second) sermon on Tuesday about fear. Quick excerpt (but really you should listen to the whole thing): "Fear is on the rise. It's as if our ordinary days are filled with the potential for extraordinary danger. Fear can serve an important and creative function. [But] constant fear diminished our imagination, degrades our spirit of adventure... chronic fear eats away at the roots of faith."

Listening, presidential candidates? Listening, white America? I was so grateful to hear this good Word in person.

3. Spring is in the air... Well, it hasn't felt like it later in the week, but on Wednesday morning it sure did. There was a moment during my walk to the office where this cool fresh wet breeze kicked up and I thought we had zoomed on into April. It gave me hope.

4. A love note. Yes, even (especially?!) when it is written on the refrigerator dry erase board and you catch it at six in the morning, it is a love note. And it made my whole day.

5. The universe expanding. Not talking outer space here, but just this feeling recently that writing and teaching (also, being done with my MFA so that I have time to do those things) have opened up relationships, possibilities, and opportunities that are really lovely and neat. Hell, I doubt it will feel this way every week, so I'll take it when I can get it.

Honorable mentions: I finally read The Martian and it was great; dinner with my in-laws; I love my hall of coworkers; started a new Headspace meditation "pack" (30 days of exercises) on relationships; this Jessica Smith kickboxing/weights video (I am so graceless but it felt good); the penultimate Downton Abbey episode (duh); the little girl across the street calling "Bye, Abuela! Thank you for coming!" to her grandmother as the car pulled out of the driveway; the joy and giddiness and nostalgia of watching my church's youth group put on yet another fun drama production; this essay I wrote on traditional church in a millennial world.

To quote Mark Watney's eternal optimism, yay Friday!