11 things on a snow day

1. This day. Whew. I worked up a sweat shoveling a path for poor Chalupa, who was like, hey lady, where is a dog supposed to relieve herself around here?

2. Trudging up the hill to my office, with a stop at the landlord's on the way to drop off the December rent check. Gratitude for ability to a) trudge up a hill and b) pay the rent.

3. Greeting my space as if it were an animate being. "You look lovely today! I'm so glad to see you." Releasing self-consciousness in favor of embracing unmitigated dorkiness.

4. Clients. Conversations about fierceness and what that feels like, power and powerlessness, living with uncertainty, and the difference between creative fulfillment and commercial success.

5. Lacing up winter boots to walk back home. Kids playing outside. Devouring lunch -- tuna on whole wheat sourdough. Taking Chupie out to pee.

6. Embarking on a midday dinner project so that it's ready when we get home later from piano and errands. A big pan of homemade mac & cheese, enough for leftovers at least twice.

7. So. much. cheese. Chupie having a hissy fit over only getting one piece.

8. Reading, reading, reading. Thirty-five participants in the Before 2020 groups. Floored by the storytelling, the different voices, the fifty-year age range and the countries and continents we cover collectively. Loving the work, giving thanks for the trust we create together in these spaces.

9. An email from an editor. "I love how you weave personal memories with historical memories so that it all becomes part of a large memory bank, so to speak, that we are able to draw on as part of the Jewish people."

10. Pearl runs upstairs, rosy-cheeked, asking if I'll come out to take a picture.

11. I say yes.