Archive | March, 2026

The good list.

3 Mar

I follow a woman on Substack – Emily Gaines Demsky – who, every single day, lists three good things from that day. “Tell me 3 Good things.” She then encourages people to comment or share in some fashion their own three good things. By golly, it’s a delightful practice. Paying attention, naming and then sharing the good things.

I won’t copy it exactly but perhaps I will catch you up on life here lately through my own good list of sorts —

  1. This is old news if you know me in real life but I bought a new sewing machine. And now every time I sit down to use it, it is such a treat. (It cuts my thread for me when I finish stitching. I push a button. Magic happens. Thread cut. And don’t get me started on the feed dogs and walking foot combo or the crazy amount of throat space …)
  2. There is just something about one’s own bed. If there ever is a perk of returning from vacation, that is one of them.
  3. I had coffee with my dear high school friend Kim who mentioned she kinda-sorta had an extra ticket to a Rob Thomas show and she offered it to me and I said yes and it was the very next day and I went and I had so much fun with my friends and listening to my all-time favorite musical guy even if it meant I didn’t get home until midnight the night before I went back to work after vacation.
  4. I’m so very excited to start my garden seeds in the next couple weeks. New this year: soil blocking. (I hope it’s not as tricky as some people say it can be.) Let the research begin.
  5. I’ve never been a real audiobook kind of person but I’m on my third in the last month.
  6. SO MUCH GOOD TV RIGHT NOW. I can’t keep up.
  7. At work: We’re currently establishing a ‘birthday kit’ for our patients who have a birthday while on our hospice service – a handmade card signed by the team, a birthday banner and a sweet treat.
  8. We have really been loving steel cut oats at our house lately. With almond milk, a splash of maple syrup, and blueberries please.
  9. I love learning new things. Currently: American mahjong.
  10. St.Patrick’s Day decor.

Your turn.

A winter escape.

2 Mar

Thanks to Dave forever proclaiming that he “wants-a-beach-vacation” and the Costco travel website, we spent last week in Mexico. And yeah. Okay. It was nice.

We booked an all-inclusive resort south of Cancun on Riviera Maya. Our resort – El Cid Ventus Ha – was about a twenty minute ride from the airport. Our resort was actually one of three connected resorts on a single sort of “campus”; we could wander freely between them, enjoying all the pools and restaurants.

We arrived on Saturday with no plans but to relax and enjoy the next six nights. We considered an excursion or two but after the increased precautions due to the violence on the other side of the country, we just stayed put on the resort. And it was lovely that way.

We ate good food, drank drinks of the fancy and not variety*, and played a lot of Farkle (dice game) at our favorite hang-out spots. We explored the beach and the pools; got massages on the beach. Dave went on a snorkeling adventure through the resort and saw all sorts of cool things in the reef. (My ever present sea-sickness scared me to stay on land.) The landscaping was meticulous and beautiful; staff wonderful.

After our time there, I kind of get it – the people who do a trip like this every year, or every couple of years. I’m not sure that will be us right now, but I could see us returning someday.

* We both discovered how much we love sparkling water with lime. (We’re stocking the fridge with limes now.) It was a good balance to the margaritas and cervezas (also with lime) and cosmopolitans …

Our favorite breakfast spot.
Room service morning.
Our balcony faced the mangroves.
We did take a bike ride into town through the resort to explore for an hour. One of our favorite places in a foreign city? The local grocery store.
Farkle on the rooftop bar; our last night.

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