1. Morning walks. Enough snow melted that we got to go back around the ponds and by the river later in the week. I think I was so excited about it, I took extra pictures. It’s funny how some (most?) mornings I just want to stay in bed or on the couch instead of going out in the cold, and yet EVERY time I go out, I’m so glad I went.

2. Comfort food. Sure, a necessary function of food is fuel and nutrition, but getting joy and comfort from food is pretty important too. When I am stressed, I cook. More specifically, I bake. If I feel bad and there’s not much I can do to “fix” what I feel bad about, I’m gonna bake. This week I’m planning on making two or three different kinds of cookies because it’s my great niece’s sixth birthday next weekend and she loves cookies. It might just be the best thing about having me as a local friend because I usually make more than we can eat and love to share. 

3. Practice. It’s a pretty raw, rough time for me. I’m so glad that I have practice as a refuge.

4. Wild Writing, Small Group Training, Aqua Aerobics, and Yoga at Red Sage. Quite honestly, I don’t leave my house much, don’t go to church or have family living nearby or a “real” job, don’t have a lot of friends or a busy social life — which is more than fine with me. And yet, there are a few groups of people I get to see on the regular that I enjoy so much, am so grateful for.

5. My tiny family, small house, little life. I’m looking forward to a quiet, cozy, restful, healthy winter holiday season here with my two favorites.

Bonus joy: Smart Food white cheddar popcorn, apple pie, chicken noodle soup, marionberry gummies, good books, a blank notebook and a good pen and a hot cup of green tea, crispy gala apples with crunchy peanut butter, molasses, chrysanthemums, other people’s dogs and kids, massage, down blankets and pillows and jackets, electric cars, space heaters, urgent care centers, pharmacies open on the weekends, vaccines, my infrared heating pad, texting with Chris and Mom and Chloe’, meditating “with” Chelsey, text conversations that are nothing but memes, lunch with Janice, sitting in the sauna, Christmas movies, true crime, comedy, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, making other people laugh, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.