1. Friday. It was the first week of classes at CSU, the first week of a training class I’m taking with Ringo. I took on a seven day blog challenge, started a new Daily Dharma program, am gearing up to teach a bunch of yoga classes, and am taking part in an online writing class. I worked my ass off. I have a lot of work to finish today, but after teaching a yoga class Saturday morning, I’m not doing anything the rest of the weekend and I can’t wait. Sweet Sam is warming up the couch for me right now.

2. Peach jam, which I’ve been hoarding like my very own jar of sticky sweet sunshine and finally opened and oh my everything that is holy it is so delicious, the dear friend who gave it to me, and Lucille’s biscuit mix, (I make awesome biscuits, but sometimes you just want to eat them, not do all the prep work).

Doggie eye chart

3. Sam’s Pannus isn’t as bad as it could be. It can eventually make some dogs go blind, but the eye specialist who saw Sam earlier this week said his case probably only runs a 1% risk of that happening as long as we keep treating it. Now we just have to figure out his food allergy.

This still happens rarely enough it’s worth taking a picture when it does

4. Ringo keeps growing up. He still has a case of the puppy crazies, and can be so frustrating sometimes, but he’s getting so much easier. He’s so smart — if he had an owner who wasn’t so busy/lazy, he’d be a superstar.

5. Hiking season.  I rarely go with them, but this is the time of the year when Eric does a lot of hiking with the dogs. Ringo is old enough to go with now, and I am either at work or get a few glorious hours at home alone.

Bonus joy: How much Eric and I laugh watching old episodes of Friends, new music to listen to while I work, my friend Amy’s sweet dog Burg probably doesn’t have cancer after all, finding where I bought those Hello Kitty socks for my niece so I can get her the right size, meeting with my new interns and them being just as awesome as the rest, all the TV that’s going to keep me company while I rest on the couch this weekend — new episodes of Downton Abbey, New Girl, The Mindy Project, Parks & Rec, Parenthood.

1. Yoga. I taught a new class this morning and it went well. Two gorgeous curvy women showed up, I had a new cd that I really like, and I wore a mala my dear friend made me for good luck. More and more I see how yoga has been essential to my ability to practice self-compassion, to my efforts to heal and get stronger, to be sane. Through teaching, I can see directly how much I’ve changed, transformed.

2. My new favorite tshirt from Curvy Yoga in Nashville. I love the work that Anna does — she’s one of the reasons I became a yoga teacher, knew I had the right, belonged. I think I’m going to demand that from now on all of my clothes are this soft, this comfortable.

3. Decluttering, simplifying. In order to make room for this new wardrobe of soft, comfortable, beautiful clothes that I’m certain are coming my way, I got rid of an entire trunkload of stuff. It felt so good. Bathroom drawers and kitchen cabinets and bookshelves are next.

4. Kelly’s Giant Ginger Cookies. I’d been wanting to make these for a long time and finally had the desire, ingredients, and time all in the same place. Susan’s blog has some amazing recipes, and I love her stories of my friend and her daughter, Kelly. I told Susan after I made the cookies that I was wishing we could all sit down over a cup of tea and enjoy them — heck, I’d eat a bowl of dirt to get to sit and chat with Kelly again, make her laugh with my dumb dog stories.

5. Danielle Ate the Sandwich’s new album, The Drawing Back of the Curtains. I’ve been listening to it non-stop since she released it.

Bonus joy: my three boys, watching old episodes of Friends on Netflix and laughing with Eric, Gumpkies (cabbage rolls), the good chocolate, beautiful malas, good music, sleep, a new season of Downton Abbey.