1. Practice. I really appreciate the capacity my practice has to calm me down, take the edge of my anxiety, give my despair and rage and sadness a soft place to land.

2. Farmer’s Market. There aren’t as many flowers and they don’t last as long, but there are hand pies and breakfast burritos and apples and fresh bread.

3. A new bed. We’ve been meaning to buy one for a while now, but just never got around to it. Last weekend, we went shopping and were determined to not come home without a new bed. It’s a memory foam mattress, which is new to us, feels a bit like sleeping on a hard marshmallow, but so far so good, (and we have four months to sleep on it and return it to trade for another one if we don’t love it).

Ringo and Sam were pretty sure we should keep the old mattress and let them use it — the biggest dog bed ever.

4. Women. My favorites are funny, smart, creative, and kind. I got to hang out with my very favorite ones this past week — eating, talking, laughing, and writing.

5. My tiny family. I know we don’t get to stay together forever, but I’m sure enjoying the time we have right now.

The sky was on fire

Bonus joy: Recipes I’d been wanting to try turning out yummy, Tums, my toaster oven (which when Eric gave it to me for Christmas seemed like a weird present, but we’ve gotten so much use out of it), cheese quesadillas, fresh farm eggs, clean water, no more yellow jackets, good TV (the latest episode of Better Things was so good), good books (I’m reading The Hate U Give), getting in the pool at the gym, cooler weather, a warm shower and a clean towel.

1. My garden. I love especially all the birds and bugs it attracts and feeds, and the way that every year it gets just a bit more developed and filled in.

2. A safe, fun, short trip to Oregon. It was less time than usual, what with having to work an extra month this summer, but it was good to see family, eat some good food, watch some movies, take some walks, play cards, talk, laugh, and then have a safe trip back.

Playing cards with Mom

3. Friends in real life. I got to spend a few days with my friend Mikalina while I was in Oregon. We met in a Wild Writing class and I loved her immediately, sent her an email and told her so, hoping she wouldn’t think I was weird. She’s all my favorite things — smart, creative, kind, and funny. We hang out almost every week online, but it was even better to get to hang out with her in person, and to find that I was absolutely right about her, (you always worry that maybe a person you’ve known only online will be different than you expected, but the only thing I was wrong about is I thought she’d be taller).

4. The Chinese Garden in Portland. Mikalina and I went one afternoon, and I got to take lots of pictures.

5. My tiny family. I’m so happy to be back home with them.

Bonus joy: aqua aerobics, Pilates, yoga, walking with Eric and the dogs in the morning, Catfish Season Six, air conditioning, clean sheets, Wild Writing, laughing and writing with Mikalina and Chloe’, upcoming dates with friends, good books, my Kindle, a clean car, fresh basil from our garden, strawberries, butterflies, clean water, a cool shower, being able to pay my bills, laughing with Eric, getting a massage, texting, video calls, a soft tshirt.