makes me happy

A photo of a container of cherry sauce with a heat made of steam visible on the right side of the cover.

Reciprocation

Today I was delighted to discover that my Chinese food loves me right back.

See what I mean?

A photo of a container of cherry sauce with a heat made of steam visible on the right side of the cover.
A top down photo of a covered plastic container of cherry sauce on a wooden table. The lights above the table are reflected on the plastic and to the right of those reflections on the cover is a small heart shape made of steam.
A drawing of a cartoonish gold star.

Gold Star!

In my coaching practice I award gold stars for effort (because you have much more control over your efforts than you have over your results.)

And I have gotten into the habit of awarding *myself* gold stars for sticking with a project, for putting in work on tricky task, or for getting around to something I was dreading.

So here’s my gold star to celebrate my hard work this week.

And it celebrates your hard work, too.

Go Team Us!

A drawing of a cartoonish gold star.
A drawing of a cartoonish gold star with a happy face on it. The drawing is on a piece of white index card and the background behind the star includes a bunch of small marks (some dots and some are a little more like lines) and five short lines that are near each point on the star like it is either glistening or in motion. The piece of index card is propped up between the keys on my computer keyboard which is black with white letters.

New Year’s Eve

I love treating NYE as a mostly regular night.

It feels like mixing the magical and the mundane to be journaling and drawing while people set off fireworks.

I’m not usually a fan of the saying ‘start as you mean to go on’ because I don’t usually know how I want to go on but this time I am certain:

I plan to spend this year going easy on myself and doing things on my own terms.

That works for this evening and it works for 2025.

A relaxed Monday is strange but good

Last Monday, I was still getting things ready for Christmas. I was running errands and picking up gifts and making mental lists.

This Monday, I am sitting in a comfy chair covered in a blanket, reading and drinking tea.

I have stuff to do later, but it’s mostly things I’ve chosen to do today instead of at another time.

So, the idea of a relaxed Monday is kind of weird, but the practice of a relaxed Monday is pretty damn good.

I’m pretty sure Khalee agrees.

A dog snoozes in a chair
A photo of my light haired, medium sized dog, Khalee, snoozing on an oversized burgundy leather armchair. There is a Christmas wall-hanging of a lit red candle and a poinsettia and leaves on the wall above the chair back.