1. Morning walks. My foot has been bugging me a bit this week, probably after the marathon week of walking when Eric was in Chicago, but I’m still so glad to be back on a more regular schedule with the morning walks.

2. My mom and dad. Their birthdays are one right after the other, April 12th and 13th, so I got to talk to both of them on the phone for a bit this week. I feel so lucky to have parents that are still married and still alive, and a little sad how unusual that is.

3. Kitchen counter love notes. He’s not any kind of artist and he has terrible penmanship, but somehow he manages to make the sweetest notes.

4. My dogs. I still miss my first two dogs, and in some ways they were easier, didn’t need so much special attention and care, were sweeter with each other than these two are, but Ringo and Sam are just so stinkin’ cute sometimes, so funny, such good dogs.

5. My Saucony collection. If I can’t wear sandals or clogs or flip flops just now, I at least have these. (Just to be clear, this photo wasn’t staged, I just walked out into the living room and noticed them like this, had to take a picture — I’m not so good about putting my shoes away, which is why almost every morning, I can be heard saying “where are my shoes?”).

Bonus Joy: Friday at the end of a very long and very intense week, snow coming but I have no plans and it’s the weekend and Eric will be home, getting good feedback on my work, butter lettuce, pine nuts, a warm shower, yoga, stretching, napping, good tv, a glass of clean cold water, donuts, lunch plans with a friend, getting our taxes done on time, snow tires just in case, massage, good books, a department retreat on Monday that I helped plan that I think is going to be really good, sometimes knowing what I’m doing, being able to let go of the things that just aren’t going to get done, being okay with not being perfect, sleeping in.