1. Morning walks. We got a tiny bit more snow this week and more is on the way, but true to Colorado, most days the skies were blue. I enjoyed the walks a bit extra because Ringo is feeling so much better.

2. Raintree Athletic Club. It was really really hard to leave my other gym. I’d been going there for over ten years. One of the original owners was my trainer for eight years and a friend for longer (and who helped me rehab from a pretty bad knee injury), it was the first place I practiced yoga and after getting certified to teach I regularly subbed for the MWF early morning class (teaching people you’ve practiced with for over 10 years is an extra kind of special), it was the gym that took me through a transformation when it became clear I was a disordered eater and drowning in self-loathing, it was where I met (and eventually lost to cancer) my friend Anne, where I started Pilates, and even the place where I discovered my masseuse who I’ve been seeing for at least six years because she’d put a special for members on the community bulletin board. But there was a moment where it just was time for something new, in particular somewhere with a pool. And after three years there, I am so in love: aqua aerobics, swimming (it’s where I took lessons and learned), the sauna, the hydromassage chair, small group training, Pilates, yoga, and such good people, both the ones who workout there and those who work and teach there.

3. Cooking. I know it was hard for my mom to be patient with the process, the mess and mistakes I made, but I’m so grateful she taught me so many basics of how to take care of myself: laundry, grocery shopping, banking, gardening, how to make a bed, cleaning, but most of all cooking. So many people never learn how or never feel comfortable, but I feel like I can make just about anything I would want and inherited lots of yummy family favorites. Additional thanks to the internet and all the cooks who post recipes so they are easy for me to find and follow and all the people who grow, harvest, transport, and sell the ingredients I need.

4. Reading. It struck me the other day how much I enjoy it, the depth of that joy. Again, thanks to my mom who always read to me, knew it was important, who helped teach me and modeled what it meant to be a reader. My dad was also a reader, modeled that joy, which I know now is pretty rare, a dad who reads because he enjoys it, because he’s curious about the world.

5. My tiny family, tiny home, tiny life. This morning, as I sat with a hot cup of coffee and hot cocoa and tiny marshmallows at my desk writing my morning pages in front of my HappyLight while the finches and chickadees visited the bird feeder attached to the window over my desk, I noticed how in love I am with all of it. I really wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Bonus joy: trading books with my neighbor, getting to see the baby, texting with Chloe’, making art with Calyx, that corner of the couch, watching TV, listening to podcasts, napping, a warm shower, kitchen counter love notes, Thin Mints, raspberries, being able to help, masks and vaccines, gummies, practicing with my writing sangha, an abundance of fresh(ish) produce at the grocery store, other people’s dogs, the Prisma app and that one filter I love so much, when Laurie calls me Jilly, watching “Guy’s Grocery Games” with Eric and making each other laugh, sitting in the sauna with him, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.  

1. Morning walks. It’s the perfect blend of the sacred and the mundane.  This weeks was extra special because Ringo is feeling so much better. Which leads to…

1.a. Ringo’s physical therapy team and pain meds. Teri and Dr. Lindsey Fry and the whole team at Red Sage are just the best. Lindsey said he’s getting so used to acupuncture, she doesn’t even have to give him treats, he just lays down and closes his eyes, leans into her and trusts her to do whatever she’s gonna do. And Teri just might be his favorite person in the world.

2. Practice. I was talking to a friend yesterday about drug addiction, and we talked about how our practice is maybe the most important thing that kept us from going all the way down that road. Yes, we suffered and struggled, but we also had methods for working with trauma, strong emotions, and difficult situations.

3. Rest. Naps. My bed or that side of the couch. This particular picture of our bed makes me smile because it’s such a scarily accurate comparison of how Eric and I exist in the world, the state of our minds, the quality of our experience. You can probably guess which side is mine.

4. My friend Leslee. She passed away this week. It was unexpected, shocking, and sudden. I didn’t get to say good-bye. She was the smartest, sweetest, most creative, silly person — I mean, just LOOK AT HER. I’m thankful that she died at home, in her sleep, but I’m so so so sad that she’s gone. The world lost a bit of its magic and I am going to miss her so much. I still can’t quite believe I won’t ever see her again.

5. Good neighbors. I found out yesterday that our next door neighbors of the past 13 years are putting their house on the market and moving to Ohio to be closer to family. It makes me so sad, but also so grateful to have had them there for all these years. I sure hope the next set of people are just as good, and that they like dogs.

5. My tiny family, my tiny life, my tiny home. I say it every single week and maybe you are tired of hearing it, but they and this are exactly everything I ever wanted.

Bonus joy: cooking (I just made these refried beans and they are so good!), getting in the pool, sitting in the sauna, the hydromassage chair, Wild Writing, texting with Chloe’ and Chris and Mom, sharing cute pictures and memes, good books, canceled plans, Zoom, writing, listening to podcasts, bran muffins, raspberries, a big glass of clean cold water, a warm shower, down and wool, therapy, KN95 masks, vaccines, gummy supplements, cleans sheets, that corner of the couch, watching TV with Eric, making each other laugh, dog fur, toast, a crunchy gala apple, caramel, pinto beans, snow, trees, snow tires, ice scrapers, heaters, birds at the feeder, squirrels eating out of our compost pile, white twinkle lights, my infrared heating pad, reading in bed at night while Eric and Ringo sleep.