1. Spending time with lovely humans. My favorite kind are the ones who are curious, smart, kind, creative, and funny, and I got to hang out with a couple of them this week.

2. Good food. Linden Street Cafe (formerly known as Cafe Ardour) has some seriously yummy food and drink. Eric has also been cooking some really good stuff for dinner, which means I get the bonus of some amazing leftovers for lunch too.

3. Having a short car. Seriously, yesterday was a sloppy mess with no signs of stopping, and I really really needed a spot in the parking garage so I didn’t have to clean my car off again, but there were only two faculty spots left: one was for an electric car and one for a short car.

4. Ringo Blue. I love both my dogs equally (for different reasons), but the adorableness of Ringo is sometimes more than I can handle.

5. Sam. That being said, the sweetness of Sam is often just as hard to handle. Whenever my three boys get back from a walk, he’s the one who always has to come find me right away, check in. And in the morning, after he gets breakfast and goes potty, if I’m still in bed, he jumps in, gives me a kiss, and then curls up next to me. How hard he tries to protect me, even when he doesn’t need to. How patient he is. How he hides from the washing machine. How he runs out of the room if someone sneezes or coughs.

It’s hard to get a good picture of a black dog.

Bonus joy: Some really good documentaries, a good week at work, pay day coming soon, snow (even though I’m kind of over it and need some sunshine), my “new” bathroom (which is over a year old now), snow tires, wool socks, clean sheets, soaking in a tub of hot water, laughing, really good writing, the technology that allows me to connect with people I love even though they are far away, knowing I’m good at what I do, being able to say no.

1. Kitchen counter love notes. Even though I’ve been home for the past week recovering from surgery, Eric has still managed to sneak a couple in.

2. Good food. Bran muffins with dried raspberries, smoked salmon, avocado, sour cherry juice, big bowls of fruit salad and green salad, ice cream sandwiches.

3. Paid sick leave, along with good health insurance and the ability to work from home, as well as a boss who would never give me a hard time about needing the flexibility and two awesome interns who can keep things running while I’m away.

4. Time to rest and heal, not needing to be responsible for anything, getting to read and watch TV and take lots of naps. I’m healing specifically from my surgery, but I needed this time for other reasons too.

5. My tiny family. There’s a picture I took of Eric last week that as I was taking it he was laughing and saying “do not put this on social media.” You are just going to have to take my word for it that it’s both adorable and hilarious. He’s been taking such good care of me, and Ringo and Sam have been being so good, keeping me company.

“Can we haz lunch now, Mom?”

He was falling asleep like this.

Bonus joy: That the human(s) who got into our cars the other night didn’t take anything of real value or do any damage, the sunshine, clean laundry, a hot bath in a clean tub with clean water, going to the grocery store (which is a big deal when you’ve been housebound for the past week) and having it not be very busy and the shelves newly stocked, lots of comfortable and clean pajamas to wear, friends who text to check in, Voxing with Justine, sending a surprise present to someone, talking to my mom on the phone, Valentine’s Day, love, laughing with Eric, my knee getting better as it gets rested by default as I heal from something else.