1. Morning walks. I don’t like that Sam is restricted, but it sure is easier walking just one dog, even if it’s only for half the walk. It was so dark the other morning that even with my headlamp, we almost walked right into a herd of deer.

2. My dad is going home tomorrow. He still has a lot of healing to do, and my mom is going to have a lot of work to do helping, but it’s what they both wanted – to be where they are both most comfortable to be together. Their 54th anniversary was last week, another thing to be grateful for.

3. The last of the garden. We ate the final cucumbers and are collecting the last of the tomatoes, as there is SNOW in the forecast for next week. I can’t wait to have more time for my garden once I quit working at CSU. It’s one thing I’ve neglected the past few years, even though I love it. Thank goodness for Eric!

4. Good friends. I’m an introvert who spends a lot of time alone, but when I’m with people, I’ve got some of the best to be with.

5. My tiny family. Eric was gone for just a little over 24 hours, giving a presentation at a community college in Arizona, and it’s always a reminder of how much I like having him around, all the time. The boys were good company while he was gone though. Sam even slept in bed with me all night (he NEVER does that, even when one of us is gone) and I got all the extra love Ringo usually gives to Eric.

Bonus joy: sleeping in, warm wool socks, swimming, aqua aerobics, my “new” car, Friday (which means the weekend!), meditation, a cold bubbly drink, the fruit fly infestation at our house almost gone, having all the laundry done and put away on Friday morning, computer glasses, smart phones, texting, good films (I just watched Disobedience), good TV (every season, I think I’ll be over Grey’s Anatomy, but I’m so not), yoga teacher training, fresh pesto.