Gratitude Friday

1. Flowers in the bathroom. I hadn’t had any in a while. I wanted a small white poinsettia but kept forgetting to look for one. Then I had to get rid of my Christmas tree and needed the cheering up.

2. An intention and visioning workshop. I haven’t done one of these for a while, after doing them regularly when Jamie Ridler hosted monthly full moon dreamboards. It also inspired me to pick a guiding word for 2019, something else I haven’t done lately: space. Holding space, making space, taking up space, resting in space. My Buddhist name translates to “space dancer” so it makes sense.

3. Eric. He and our friend Kerri were recently honored as Colorado Community College System’s Outstanding Faculty. They totally deserved it.

4. Ringo Blue, and his mama and papa, Peaches and Spec. It was five years ago we went to visit a litter of puppies, met their parents, and committed to taking one of the babies home when they got old enough. I suspect we’ll never get another dog under those circumstances, but I’m glad we have him.

5. We finally got snow! It’s almost all gone now, as the temperatures zoomed up to the 50s the very next day, but it was nice to have a little.

6. Sweet Sam. I didn’t get any pictures of him this week, even though he was with me almost every minute. Here’s a cute one from last year.

Bonus joy: citrus essential oils, naps, good books, bad TV that is good in its own way, aqua aerobics, teaching yoga, hanging out with Mikalina, texting with my brother, working on a puzzle, vet visits with both dogs who were so good for me, a big glass of cold water, sunshine.

1. Morning walks. With Eric off work, when I go, we all four go together, and that’s the best kind of walk, no matter what time of day.

2. Holiday food. When I think about traditions of celebration, they almost always involve particular kinds of food and gathering together to eat that food. Having leftovers to get you through the days that follow when all you want to do is read, take naps, and cuddle is an extra bonus.

3. Naps and reading books. These are two of my favorite things, no matter what time of year, it’s just that during this season I’m more likely to do them more often and with WAY less resistance, (i.e. it can often be hard for me to relax into the joy of it because I can’t stop thinking about all the other things I could be doing).

4. Sweet Sam. Just like our first dog, Obi, Sam really is the best dog to hang out with when all you want to do is rest and relax and be lazy or when you are sick and just need comfort and love. When I go and get in bed during the day and he knows we are going to take a nap, it makes him super happy.

5. Ringo Blue. One of his favorite things on a walk is to find lost, abandoned things, pick them up and carry them home – socks, gloves, toys, baby things, water bottles, balls, sticks. Our front porch looks like the Isle of Misfit Toys. He’s also very very very handsome.

6. Eric. He’s my favorite.

Ringo helping open Christmas presents while Sam naps.

“Is that one for me, Dad?”

Bonus joy: sitting in the dark with just the lights of our Christmas tree, all the great presents and cards, aqua aerobics, sitting in the sauna with Eric, good TV (we’ve been watching a few series with Monty Don, a master gardener from England, and it has both of us excited about working on our garden next season), good books (I just finished The Miniaturist, in fact spent one whole day in my pjs reading because I couldn’t put it down), taking some time off from just about everything, anything citrus.