1. A beautiful wedding. I’m so glad I got to be a part of it, that I didn’t mess anything up.

2. Three day weekend. It felt really good to get things done AND get to rest.

3. Clarity. It can be scary to face the truth about what you want and how things aren’t working, even more terrifying to talk to other people about it and then attempt to do something about it, but it’s way better than confusion.

4. Ringo and Sam. Their training is going good, and they’ve gotten back into the habit of playing together once or twice a day so I feel confident that the chaos of this summer didn’t do any permanent damage.

5. Eric. Even though we’ve both lost our minds a little this week and some things are just hard, there’s still no one I’d rather go crazy with.

Bonus joy: Ringo helping me meditate, Sam sleeping in with me, Wild Writing class, paid sick days, good TV, good books, a date with two of my favorite people, learning new things, a clear next step, the physical therapy for my hip and back actually working, breakfast with a friend who gets it, tomato gratin, clean water, clean sheets, strawberries from my garden in my yogurt.

1. The end of August. Now that I’m back at work, I’m okay with summer being over, with things cooling down. The end of any month also means a pay day. This month was sometimes too hard, too much, but there were also moments where I sat in the backyard with the dogs, the grass under my feet, listening to the kids playing in the street and drinking a cool glass of clean water.

2. Good friends getting married. I’m officiating the wedding. It’s superficial, but I’m also so grateful I was able to find something to wear that I feel okay about.

3. An insulated house. For 15 years, our house had no insulation in the exterior walls. They just didn’t build them with it in the early 60s in Colorado. It cost big money and took a lot of effort on our part (which still isn’t over) and was a bit of a mess, but it’s done now. So far we’ve noticed that the house retains its temperature (rather than adjusting to what’s outside) and it’s quieter inside. That plus cheaper electric and gas bills will make it all worth it.

4. A three or four day weekend. I took today to get some stuff done for the wedding, and because I’d worked both really early and really late other days this week. The wedding is tomorrow and the other two days I have left away from work, I’m going to be as lazy as I can.

5. Ringo and Sam. They are settling in to being back home, are getting along so much better than they were that one horrible week at the beach. A few days ago, they were out eating stuffed frozen Kongs together, and today when I got home and let them out, they played and played.

Bonus joy: Ringo asleep on my feet as I write this, finding shoes to wear with my dress the first place I looked, painted toenails, my new car, hiring two new interns, my new therapist, being able to talk to Eric about things that are really hard, a new book, a new deck of tarot cards, two days ahead where I won’t have to do anything, some good tv and movies on their way, meditating, sleeping in, clean sheets, soaking in the tub, lunch plans with good friends.