i've always liked the time before dawn because there's no one around to remind me who i'm supposed to be, so it's easier to remember who i am.
-brian andreas

i'm all about routines, especially on sundays. for someone who doesn't know how to ever slow down, sundays are a gift. i wake up early, usually by 6:30. i can't sleep in; i've never been wired that way.  i untangle myself from my flannel sheets, roll out of bed, and feed ruby, my cat. i start the coffee, grab my laundry, go to the basement of my building, and start two loads. i walk two blocks to my newspaper vendor and buy the tribune. i pass the usual coffee clutch, as anna fittingly calls them, at dunkin donuts, the same group of old men who share donuts and stories about their weeks.

i walk home, to my home, my tiny apartment in a blissfully quiet building. i pour a big cup of coffee and settle into the couch, as ruby curls up next to me. i separate the newspaper into the order of sections i read. during baseball season, it's sports first. the rest of the year, i start with travel. i look at my tree, my clock, my walls. this is my life. i am the maker of my life. 

i'm thankful for quiet, when i force myself to sit in it and feel all of it.

i'm overcome with gratitude for so many things.

i'm thankful for girlfriends who, without fail, always know what to say. and when to say nothing. i'm thankful for those little reminders that i don't need to spell out every single thing because these women already know, and they know me. and that is a blessing.

i'm thankful for the winter forest candle burning on the windowsill behind me.

i'm thankful for the bowl of fresh fruit on my kitchen table: bananas and green apples.

i'm thankful for the awareness and acceptance that anything could happen today, that this day is a gift.

here are a few glimpses into my life:

happy sunday.