1. Peonies. Every day I was amazed, watching them shift from bud to bloom and finally to compost, changing color from a deep pink to the palest golden peach.

2. Not being any worse. Sometimes when you are sick, this is the best you can hope for. Too bad I don’t get paid sick days during summer vacation.

3. Summer vacation. Finally, finally, finally. The first few weeks are going to be a blur of being sick, healing, and tying up loose ends, but it’s finally here.

When I knew I was really on vacation — my office was all packed up for the move back into the remodeled Eddy Hall

4. My tiny family. My three boys.

Sam’s safe spot — he doesn’t like it when I cough, but when I go in to use the bathroom, he forgets it was me he’s hiding from

My view for most of the week

All three boys, couching

Ringo hiking at Lory State Park, which looks more like it’s in Oregon than Colorado, (image by Eric)

5. HGTV House Hunters. I’ve been binge watching on Hulu and Netflix while I’ve been sick on the couch, in between naps.

Bonus Joy: clean pjs, a hot shower, real cough syrup, Good Earth Sweet & Spicy tea, Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup, onion rolls and butter, planting our garden, naps, friends checking up on me, permission to rest, a comfortable bed in the spare room where I can cough as much as I need to without waking everyone up, how Ringo is learning to cuddle, the internet, email, being able to afford a plane ticket, knowing what I’m worth.

1. Watching this peony open right in front of me. I was sitting at my desk and heard a rustle. I looked over at her, and in slow motion her petals started to uncurl, falling open until I could see all the way into the yellow of her center. It was so amazing, so precious, it’s still hard to believe it actually happened.

2. Sick days. I needed one this week. Actually I probably needed two or three but one was at least enough to keep me going just a bit longer.

3. Opportunity knocking. I have another chance to publish elsewhere (I’ll say more about it later when the details get worked out), and I didn’t ask for it, didn’t seek it out — it came to me. I’m here, doing what I do, and someone noticed and made me an offer. I love it when that happens.

4. Eric. How he takes care of me and the dogs, goes hiking and running with the dogs, makes me laugh, loves to read, has weird nerdy interests and habits that drive me crazy but are also adorable, how excited he gets to learn a new fact or hear something funny and share it.

5. My boys. Happy, healthy.

Bonus joy: Good Earth Sweet & Spicy Tea, Netflix and Hulu, a hot shower, clean towels, sunshine, bees, bird song, mac & cheese with roasted veggies, naps, a good warm hat, space heaters, radio, and what she looked like when she opened.

What she looked like when she opened, lower left