1. Flowers in the bathroom. I bought these daffodils and the very next day it snowed. We’ve had a really mild winter so far this year, but it’s still a little cold and a lot dark so I’m craving sunshine, warmth, citrus, and flowers.

2. Tuesday was my last first day of the semester at CSU! I feel pretty good about it. I had a realization this morning that if the expectations about the quality and quantity of work are going to so far exceed the compensation for said work, I’d rather spend my days writing and teaching yoga, meditation, and writing, and spending more time cooking, reading, swimming, working in my garden, and being with my husband and dogs. And yes, I absolutely understand that the only reason I can make such a choice is because of my big fat privilege.

3. Four years ago yesterday, I taught my first paid yoga class in my friend Stacey’s basement. That group of humans is still one of my favorite classes ever. They brought laughter and love to something I easily could have taken too seriously. Feeling some major gratitude – for them, for that opportunity, for my practice, for the privilege of teaching, for all my students who show up just as they are and allow me to hold space for them, for how far I’ve come and hopefully how far I will still go.

4. Facebook memories of the first month with Ringo. Some of the memories aren’t happy. They are about how Sam was sick and we didn’t know why or if he was going to make it, and others are about how hard it was to have such an energetic, demanding, mouthy, smart puppy and all the things I did wrong. But everything else is all “look at how cute and tiny he was!”

5. My tiny family. They really are the best thing, as essential for my survival as sleep or water.

Bonus joy: tea, treats, and talk with a friend who can make me cry and also laugh multiple times in the same conversation, aqua aerobics, sleeping (a regular night, sleeping in or a nap, doesn’t really matter), all the good TV and books and podcasts — there is not enough time for all of the goodness!, Pilates and how much I laugh in those classes (it counts as core work), teaching yoga, yoga teacher training, good people, buying groceries (this is one of the times I am most aware of how privileged, how lucky I am), bran muffins with dried raspberries, butternut squash soup, split pea soup, tomato bisque soup (I am on a soup kick right now), our new Instapot and all the yummy stuff Eric is cooking with it, a good internet connection, seeing Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo last night (watch their documentary, it’s so good).

1. Morning walks. Because it’s been so dry and Sam has been walking further, we’ve been going by the river and around the ponds this past week. I can’t wait until it gets lighter in the morning again so I can get some good pictures. For now, the sun is only just coming up when we are on our way back.

2. Yummy food and company. I’m heading over to a friend’s this afternoon for tea, and I’m bringing snacks.

3. Sweet Sam, and Red Sage Vets. With their help, Sam is up to walking five miles a day, and he seems to not be getting as stiff or sore. He’ll probably never go for another 10 mile run, but I’m happy he can go as much as this.

4. Ringo Blue. I’m super jealous that he loves Eric more than me, even though Eric has totally earned it.

5. This guy. A few years ago we started buying packages for the Lincoln Center where you pick five shows from their full season. Usually there is one we really, really want to see, one that we didn’t really care about that turns out to be amazing, a few more that are good, and one that’s just “meh” or even a dud. Portland Cello Project this year was brilliant, and this one (Friends! The Musical Parody) was “meh” – I have a complicated relationship with the original show and much of the cast had either just graduated from theater programs or previously worked cruise ships (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but there were other people in the audience losing their minds with joy. Eric and I have a nerdy tradition of taking selfies with the programs and texting them to our good friend to prove we really do leave the house and go out at night.

Bonus joy: a big glass of clean cool water, sleeping in, yoga, aqua aerobics, swimming, Pilates, sitting in the sauna with Eric, good TV (I’m embarrassed to tell you what I’ve been watching lately – so bad, it’s good), meditating and writing in the morning, orange juice, our new Instapot (mostly because Eric keeps trying new recipes), a really soft tshirt, computer glasses, owls hooting, having dear friends whose houses are within walking distance, having dear friends who are just a text or Zoom call away, the growing appreciation for the privilege of having a car I can get in and go anywhere I want any time I want, reading in bed at night before I go to sleep.