All the plants from my CSU office

1. Zero more days at CSU!!! It hasn’t completely sunk in yet. I am so focused on prepping and teaching the capstone for my 500 hour yoga teacher certification on Sunday that I haven’t fully relaxed into the reality that from here on out, I am the one making all the decisions about where I focus my time and effort. This morning, I removed myself as an admin on the Facebook page, logged out of the Instagram and Twitter accounts, and checked my email for the last and final time: done.

2. It’s finally time to put a garden in. I recently finished the novel Tulip Fever and am reading a nonfiction book about the same topic, Tulipomania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused. That, combined with my Dutch roots, makes me want to plant a bunch of tulips this year, in varying shades of purple.

3. Morning walks. There are all kinds of babies right now, the river is full of snow melt, and everything is turning so green. Not only do I not need a headlamp, but I start out wearing sunglasses!

4. Wild Writing with Laurie and Chloe’ and Mikalina. I signed up for a short session to launch myself into my “retirement.” This morning is the first meeting and I can’t wait!

5. My tiny family. It’s only been a day and a half since I finished up at CSU, but I already can feel how much I missed getting to spend time with my boys, and how lovely it’s going to be getting to be around them more. If nothing else, there clearly will be WAY more pictures of them to share.

Bonus joy: hummingbirds, the sound of the whole house fan in the morning, the prospect of finally being able to clean out and organize my home office, teaching yoga, aqua aerobics, Pilates with Ashley, the smell of my lilacs, how healthy my Peonies are, tape, that place you get when you are transitioning or moving where you finally can surrender and let things go, working in my pjs, Ann’s irises continuing to thrive, dandelions, a big glass of cold clean water, my infrared heating pad after getting needled at physical therapy, health insurance, the privilege and luxury of being able to quit my job, long naps, reading in bed at night while all three boys sleep, good TV, clementines.

1. Baby foxes! The pictures aren’t great because with two dogs, this is as close as we can get to them. The last year or so were the first babies in at least five years. Our fox population got wiped out by plague or rabies or some combination of both, but they are finally back.

2. Morning walks. There are going to be a lot more of these in my future.

3. Flowers in the bathroom. Eric bought me these. I love when he does that, sometimes because I’m having a hard week or sometimes for no reason at all.

4. Three more days at CSU!!! I took some final pictures of my office today, my last Friday in that space. Eric is coming tomorrow to take some of my plants to his office, so I realized if I pack most everything up today, he could help me move it out when he’s here, which means these are the final moments this space will look like this. As soon as I start boxing stuff up, it’s going to feel really real.

5. My tiny family. I love how Sam always wants to be right with me. I’m sad that Ringo feels that way about Eric and not me, but I guess I can’t have everything.

Bonus joy: the flock of tiny birds sitting on my fence and in my lilacs, sushi, all the people who are stopping by my office to tell me good stuff, cupcakes and awards, money I hadn’t expected, how much greener the grass gets every time it snows, Pilates with Ashley, aqua aerobics, sitting in the sauna, teaching yoga, being so close to being done with some really big things, knowing what I’m going to be doing but allowing room for surprise, good books, the sweetest Facebook page for an elementary school choir and the videos they post, writing with Mikalina, texting with Chloe’ and my brother, emails from my mom (not saying you have to email me, Mom, but rather while I was cleaning out my work email today I found a whole folder of emails from you and it made me happy), going to a movie on a weekday with Carrie, shock wave therapy for my knees, an awesome physical therapist, THC gummies, CBD oil, living in Colorado where both things are now legal, napping, the smell of my lilacs.