Gratitude Friday

1. Morning walks. With the time change, we have a bit more light, but we also had snow this week.

2. New fence. It snowed this week, and it was the first time since we got the new fence. The old one was in such bad shape that every time it snowed I was afraid part of it was going to fall down.

3. Flowers in the bathroom. I’m back to ones from the grocery store, bouquets that are weird collections of things, some of which don’t even seem real and for sure not natural, but I still love having them.

4. Kitchen counter love notes. He always seems to come up with something new, and I keep all of them.

5. My tiny family. Again, it’s Friday and I’m so looking forward to being alone with them all weekend.

Not a dog bed, silly puppy.

6. My new hat. I was very sad when I lost my favorite hat last winter. I’d bought it almost 10 years ago at REI. It was fleece lined wool with earflaps, made in Peru, and a great color. It was the perfect hat for me, just right. Then, during a freak storm with freezing rain, I slipped on the ice in a parking lot, fell hard flat on my back. I landed on my elbows, back and head, and was really worried I’d broken something or given myself a concussion, but had to get to my car and drive myself home. It wasn’t until a few days later I realized I’d dropped my hat. I even went back to look for it, but it was gone. I still need one that is a bit warmer but I found this one last weekend — made in Oregon, super soft and floppy, and some of my favorite colors. I love it so much.

Bonus joy: getting in the pool, aqua aerobics, Wild Writing, teaching yoga (even on a morning when I’m so tired I just want to sleep in), walking with the dogs in the afternoon (even when I’m so tired I just want to take a nap), working from home, tangerines, breakfast for dinner, texting, video chatting, cuddling with Ringo on the couch, the way Sam’s clock won’t adjust to the time change and he begs for breakfast at 4:30 am, down blankets and pillows and coats, writing, meditating, my interns (how can they be my favorite ones every single semester?), my Smartwool sweater that I’ve worn about 1000 times and have on for some part of every day just about all winter long, Pilates (especially leg circles with the straps, feels so good).

1. Morning walks. It’s that time of year where it’s dark for most of it, but so pretty when we get to see the sun rise.

2. That it wasn’t worse. Two hard things happened this week: Sam got bullied by a loose pit bull while Eric was out walking the dogs on Sunday afternoon, and I had to have an emergency root canal on Monday (after having a toothache all weekend). It made me grateful for so many things: that Eric and Ringo didn’t get hurt, that someone heard Eric yelling and came out and helped so they could get to safety, that Sam was limping and had a cut where the dog’s tooth punctured his leg but it wasn’t any worse, that we have an awesome emergency vet, that we have the money to take our dog to the emergency vet, that even though my dentist was out of town and couldn’t do the root canal until November 8th there was another office where I could go and get it taken care of that day and they were all awesome, that I have good dental insurance, that I could take the day off work, and that I could afford the portion my insurance didn’t cover.

Waiting to see the vet

Recovering (if you look close, you can see where they shaved his armpit so they could close the wound, no stitches necessary just some medical grade superglue)

3. Ringo. He’s been extra sweet. I can’t say he understands that Sam and I had a rough start this week and therefore is trying to be super good, and yet he’s sure been extra nice — especially all the extra cuddling with me and being patient with Sam.

On our walk the next morning, he was a bit wary, keeping an eye out for any trouble

4. Kitchen counter love notes.

5. My tiny family. I will be happy that we can all be together this weekend. Hopefully it will be a quiet, uneventful, relaxing time.

Bonus joy: vegetarian corn dogs and tater tots and lots of ketchup, pain medication, clean sheets, Wild Writing, yoga, aqua aerobics, a new swimming suit, down jackets and wool socks, waterproof Keens, something to stop the itching, being able to work from home, good TV, good books, good podcasts, good movies, good women doing good work who keep me from giving up because they keep showing up, texting with my brother, emails from my mom.