1.  Lately I’ve been listening to Jen Hatmaker’s For The Love of Black Lives series on her podcast while making dinner and it’s a winner. Highly recommend.

2.  One of the questions she ends each interview with is “What is saving you right now?”.

3.  Here, in no particular order, are some of my “saving me” things.

4.  A warm cup of coffee doctored up with sugar, creamer, and a spoonful of cocoa.

5.  Blinds up so I can look at the trees behind our house.

6.  Seeing the leaves change color and start to fall.

7.  Mia gazing thoughtfully out the windows at the birds.

8.  People texting me funnies. You know who you are.

9.  Chips and salsa.

10.  Reading a book in the bath.

11.  Cocoa butter body wash.

12.  T-shirts as a standing dress code.

13.  Naps with a dog curled behind my knees and kitty stretched out on my hip.

14.  Cheese fries. Extra cheese, extra ranch dip. Yum.

15.   Mike’s Hard Tangerine.

16.  Freshly shredded cheese.

17.  The roadwork is finished in front of our house.

18.  Sunny days with bright blue skies.

19.  Salad topped with sunflower seeds, shredded cheddar, and homemade dressing.

20.  Mia chasing nighttime bugs fluttering against the windows.

21.  Throwing caution to the wind (but taking a betaine) so I could enjoy a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit THEN NOT GETTING SICK. Hallelujah.

22.  The weird way Phoebe sometimes sleeps in the shape of a backwards S.

23.  Mia smacking at Gracie’s big fluffy tail.

24.  Mia gently licking Phoebe’s ear or eyebrow.

25.  Tylenol PM.

26.  Snuggling under a super soft throw.

27.  Well broken in Birks.

28.  Speaking my mind. Well, 99.99% of the time anyway.

29.  The start of sweatshirt weather.

30.  My white noise machine.

31.  The fact that I actually got to see a human being who doesn’t live in my house.

32.  Hey now, that’s a pretty good list! Sometimes it’s all about perspective.

33.  Okay, y’all, my 2020 tank of gas lasts for-e-ver. Seriously, I’m probably spending one tenth of what I used to pay to drive my car.

34.  That’s nicely balanced out by our teen driver, though, who seems to enjoy meandering about for no discernible reason whatsoever.

35.  So many miles, so little time.

37.  We’re into season three of “24”. Jack Bauer’s foiled a presidential assassination and a plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles.

38.  We’ve moved on to bioterrorism. GO JACK, GO.

39.  Now, to set the record straight…yes, I watched the town halls last night. Ninety minutes of Joe Biden’s and about ninety seconds of Trump’s.

40.  If you were undecided – and I don’t really believe anyone could possibly still be undecided at this point but whatevs – then seeing these two men answer voters’ questions should have done it for you. It really is the difference between night and day.