1. The amazing sky on Christmas morning. It’s always so pretty around here, and I’m grateful every day to be up and out early enough to see the sunrise, but yesterday the sky was really showing off.

2. A white Christmas. Mid afternoon, it started to snow, which made for a kind of miserable afternoon walk but a gorgeous morning with about six inches of snow on the ground. It’s a great excuse to shower, change into a clean pair of pjs, and stay on the couch the rest of the day — that is, until it’s time to walk these two again.

3. Presents. I’m not gonna lie, I love getting presents. Maybe it’s because the people who buy them for me are so good at it. Some of my favorites were all the marionberry stuff (jelly, sauce, jam, and candies), blank journals, and a Kindle. I also loved imagining “my” Pine Ridge kids opening their presents from me.

4. Peppermint. In my cocoa and tea, sprinkled on white chocolate covered pretzels, used to flavor cookies, minty and sweet and warm.

5. Christmas Eve, going for Chinese food at our favorite restaurant and then watching “Elf” together with the twinkly lights on.

Bonus Joy: Talking to my mom, texting with my brother, our Happy Hearth fireplace dvd, snow tires, early morning yoga, Christmas cards, couching.

1. Walking the dogs. They get me up, get me out. As Ringo gets older, more grown up and less crazy, it gets easier to walk both dogs, which makes it more enjoyable for the human. In the morning, we go early enough that I get to see the sun come up. They don’t care, but it amazes me every time.

2. Christmas shopping. Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t usually enjoy shopping, and sometimes I even hate it. However, it does make me happy to be able to buy gifts for people I love, to find the exact right thing. I also take part in the Pine Ridge Holiday Project every year, and buying for people who need so much, have so little makes every crappy day I ever have at work totally worth it. The best part of shopping this year is that I’m almost done.

3. The relatively good health of my dogs. Ringo had a case of puppy warts but it never got that bad and is almost cleared up. Sam had another bought of what we call “scritchiness” but is feeling better now after some treatment. We are taking him to the Dermatology department at the CSU Vet hospital to see if we can either determine the underlying cause and manage it better, or discover a more effective way to treat him.  Watching Sam and Ringo play in the backyard still makes me stupidly happy since when Ringo first came home, we didn’t know if Sam would get healthy enough to do so, or if he’d even still be around.

4. Good friends. Seriously, so funny and smart and kind. They support me when I’m struggling, cheer me up when I’m sad (or cry with me, if that’s called for), give the best advice, celebrate my successes, make me laugh, and keep me company while I’m figuring it all out. Sometimes I even get to do the same for them.

5. New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” playing while I was on a writing date with an angel. I could hardly pay attention to what I was writing because the song was like a tiny musical time machine. “Every time I see you falling, I get down on my knees and pray. I’m waiting for that final moment You say the words that I can’t say.”