1. Morning walks. We are upping Sam’s distance, which meant flipping the walk this morning, going backwards, which always feels so strange after days and days of the same route. I still haven’t been to the river in weeks and I miss it.

2. Another Lincoln Center date with Eric. I didn’t really know anything about the musical we were seeing, and it was one of those that (at least for me) didn’t really hold up, meaning “back in the day” it was meant to be a romantic story (I think), but it didn’t seem romantic to me at all, most likely because the way we (or rather I) view love between a man and woman now is different (as in women have choices, their own desires and goals that don’t need to be secondary to marriage or a man). The choreography and dancing, however, were gorgeous.

3. “Joy is my choreographer.” The new Maria Bamford comedy special, Weakness is the Brand, is out and I watched it the other day — SO GOOD. She’s just so awesome and weird.

4. We got our new rugs put down. I really like them, and they are a nice backdrop for super cute pictures of the dogs.

5. My tiny family. There’s nothing I love more than hanging out with them at home — cooking, napping, watching TV.

“Can we haz some pizza?”

Picture #1: Wow, Jill’s dogs really love her.

Picture #2: Nah, my dogs just really love cheesy snacks.

Bonus joy: Good TV (I’m finishing up Ghost Bride on Netflix, and even though it is SO different from the story in the book, it was really good), pay day, hanging out with Mikalina, tickets for an Andrea Gibson show, teaching yoga, clean pjs, a warm shower, sitting on my new couch under my heating pad and a blanket, therapy, writing, reading in bed at night while Eric and the dogs sleep.

1. Morning walks. Because Sam is on restriction, only going 1.5 miles in the morning, we’ve been walking more around our neighborhood and not so much by the river, so I haven’t been taking many pictures. The one above is of my favorite tree in our neighborhood, at the end of our block just across the road from a large field that is used as an unofficial dog park by the people who live nearby and someday could have an apartment complex built on it. I love the shape of the tree, and how it reaches out over the street. I’m not sure what kind it is, always think to get online and try to find out but then forget by the time we get back home, (okay, I just looked it up and I’m almost positive it’s a Honey Locust).

2. Lincoln Center shows with Eric. We get a package every year of tickets to five different shows. Usually there are at least three we for sure want to see, and then we pick two that are more random. Last week we saw The Choir of Man (it was really good, although I could have done without so much audience interaction) and this weekend we’ll see An American in Paris. Eric always takes a selfie of us with the program to text to our friend Jeff, to prove that we actually sometimes leave the house at night. My favorite thing about the Lincoln Center as a venue is it’s only six minutes from our house, so if the show is over at 9 pm, we are in our car at 9:03 and home by 9:08.

Me, sitting on my new couch under my infrared heating pad and favorite blanket, with a rainbow at my feet

3. Honoring my limits. My habit over the years has been to push myself too hard, go go go until I collapse and have to stop completely and rest until I can get back to it. I’m not good at pacing myself. Before I start teaching a bunch more classes, I’m trying to learn what my limits are and honor my true energetic levels as well as my requirements for rest.

4. Good TV. I am not watching as much as I was when I first stopped working, but I still watch a fair amount. I just finished Frankie and Grace and Sex Education, and I’m trying to finish reading The Ghost Bride because they just released it on Netflix and I noticed today that the first episode of the new season of Shrill is up. All my “regular” shows are back in action too: The Good Place, Superstore, Grey’s Anatomy, Will & Grace, The Conners, Blackish, Grownish. There’s always plenty of International House Hunters and Tiny House Nation too. I also want to watch Troop Zero and the Downton Abbey movie on Amazon when I get some time.

Six years ago, when Ringo Blue was still a baby and Samson still liked to play

5. My tiny family. I’ve started to notice Ringo giving me way more attention and seeking out my attention more than before I was home so much during the day. Sam has always adored me, followed me everywhere, and that hasn’t changed. I think that pets are essential for any introverted hsp, but even more so for one that doesn’t have a “real” job and spends most of their time at home and has anxiety issues, (although sometimes they are the source of anxiety).

Each boy on his own couch

Someone is shedding…

He still prefers this couch even though he’s really too tall for it. His fur was warm from the sun, so I get it.

Me watching a police bust go down in front of our house (a car pulled over that had at least four stolen backpacks inside) while the dogs wait quietly. Some day I’ll repaint those circles of drywall from when we got our house insulated…

Bonus joy: writing with Carrie, hanging out with Mikalina, writing in the morning while I drink my cocoa coffee, sleeping in, taking naps, good books, good podcasts (I had an ocular migraine the other day and couldn’t watch TV or read, so I laid in a dark room and caught up on podcasts), moving my body, a big glass of cold clean water, sunshine, clean pjs, getting all the laundry done, our new rugs for the kitchen and dining room, watching Father Brown with Eric, my infrared heating pad, sitting in the sauna after aqua aerobics.