1. Snow. Winter waited until February this year to arrive, and the way it’s acting it might stick around through March.

2. Morning walks. I love these few weeks of winter before Daylight Savings time when we get to the river just when the sun comes up.

3. Practice. Yoga, writing, meditation. The opportunity to teach, the chance to learn, balancing effort with ease.

4. 8.5 weeks left at CSU! My three interns this semester are awesome. There are other people I’ll miss running into in the hallway or having them stop by my office for candy. There are situations and humans that are uncomfortable, difficult, and not something I’ll miss even for one second. I’m working harder than ever right now, but there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel, and I can SEE it.

5. My tiny family. Because we worked so much this week, had after hours stuff some nights, Eric and I hardly saw each other, and I have yoga teacher training all weekend. I have been working from home more often, so I at least get to see the boys. I’m looking forward to spending more quality time with all three of them.

I got up to go to the bathroom and they stole my spot.

Bonus joy: orange juice, my infrared heating pad, napping, sleeping in, teaching yoga, Pilates class, being rowdy and laughing way too much in Pilates class, aqua aerobics, sitting in the sauna, a warm shower, clean pjs, getting the laundry done on Friday, my rental car (for a little cheap car, it has done amazingly well in the snow, or maybe after 20 years in Colorado I’m just really good at driving in it), getting nice feedback from a person I wrote an article about (“You are very good at what you do”), having friends I can talk through the big stuff with, knowing that being good at what I do doesn’t mean I have to always do everything well or that I have to keep doing it when it’s no longer fun or meaningful for me, being able to quit and still have health insurance and a roof over my head, a partner who loves me and takes care of me when I need it and makes me laugh.

1. Morning walks. Right now is my favorite time of year to walk. We get to the river just as the sun starts to rise and the sky lights up, so I get to take lots of good pictures.

2. 9.5 weeks of work left at CSU!!! It is going by so fast now! And I have so much work to do, I’m going to be busy right up until the final day. My hope was to save at least two weeks to clear off my computer, tie up loose ends, and clear out my office at a reasonable pace, but I’m not sure if that’s going to work out. I might have to go full speed right up until the end.

3. Practice. Meditation, writing, and yoga. The three together keep me sane.

4. My tiny family. Eric, Sam, and Ringo. The three together keep me sane.

5. My new to me car that’s not new or mine. I know I already mentioned it last week, but I’m still enjoying the freedom of having my own car, even though it’s not really mine.

Bonus joy: writing with Mikalina and Chloe’, making and eating good food, pay day, Pilates, aqua aerobics, sitting in the sauna, sunshine, things starting to bloom, snow, good books, good TV, good music, the technology I need to do the things I want, my three interns, slowly and surely letting go, sleeping in, napping, reading when I get in bed at night while my three boys sleep, talking to my mom, texting my brother.