1. The last bit of winter. I think I’ve mentioned it: as much as I love my garden and all the green and sun of spring and summer, living in Colorado I actually prefer the weather in fall and winter. We’ve been getting snow pretty regularly this month, but I can hear the birds singing in the morning and it is getting light much earlier, so spring is close. I’m savoring this last bit of cold and snow.

2. Good food. I made this Sweet Potato Salad with Pepita Dressing from Smitten Kitchen (my favorite recipe site) this week, added in some spinach because I had some that was wilting and needed to be used, and it was SO good. Pretty much anything with roasted sweet potatoes, black beans, and spinach is going to be something I like, and the lime really made this salad. I love trying new recipes, especially when they turn out well and are something I want to eat again.

3. Teaching yoga. This week in my regular class, I talked about “completing the stress cycle.” This is the time of year when people are getting sick and feeling fatigued by the dark and cold, and I had one person with a knee injury and another with a hurt back. I was also pretty sore from doing 120+ push ups in a fitness class the day before and extra tired from a people-y week, so teaching was a challenge, but also the best medicine.

4. Good TV. I watched The Stranger and Safe on Netflix this week. They are both based on books by the same author, murder mysteries with lots of interpersonal drama and intrigue, and even though it seems like those things would be triggering for someone with anxiety issues, they are weirdly calming in small doses. I’m also rewatching The Office, one of the only comedies that seems to stand the test of time, and there’s always House Hunters to round it out. I’m also reading some good books and listening to a bunch of good podcasts and good music. There seriously isn’t enough time to consume all the worthy content, let alone create some.

5. My tiny family. Last night while I was watching TV, Ringo got in my lap, and seriously there is nothing better than a warm cuddly dog on a cold night. Sam does his cuddle shift in the morning, in the hour or so before the alarm goes off.

Sam grows his own socks in the winter

Bonus joy: pay day, Girl Scout Thin Mints, napping, clean pjs, clean sheets, a warm cup of cocoa coffee while I write in the morning, writing with Carrie, hanging out with Mikalina, aqua aerobics, morning walks with the dogs, blue sky, good neighbors, my tiny house, sitting in the sauna with Eric, texting, therapy, grocery shopping.

1. Morning walks. Yesterday was only six degrees and it had snowed late the night before, so we drove to the park to walk by the river, (the city is better about getting the trail cleared than our neighbors are about clearing their sidewalks). Sure it was foggy and cold, but it was so pretty.

There are two deer out in that field

Ringo had frosty whiskers

2. Going to a show with Eric. It was the last one we have tickets to this season at the Lincoln Center. I’m so glad he likes to go to shows, everything from a musical to comedy.

3. Our new living room. The carpet and sectional and bookshelves and plant Eric bought me make it all so cozy.

4. Honoring what I need. This week it meant a few new books, cancelling some plans, eating whatever I wanted, watching dumb TV, and taking long naps.

5. My tiny family. They are my favorite.

Bonus joy: sitting in the sauna on a really cold day, a warm shower, clean pjs, reading in bed at night while Eric and the dogs sleep, drinking cocoa coffee while writing in the morning, sitting under my infrared heating pad, how when I back into the parking spot at the park the sidewalk is tall enough that Sam hardly has to jump to get into the back of the car, teaching yoga, writing with Carrie, how good walking in the pool feels when my knee is sore, cute pictures of my grand niece that remind me how cute her mama was when she was little, laughing in the car with Eric way harder than we’d laughed inside at the comedy show, the new griddle he ordered, cooking dinner with him, a big glass of cold clean water, letting go a little.