How is it the end of February? The month flew by, didn’t it? And a weekly practice like the Finding Joy in Gratitude Collective seems to be speeding up time somehow. I am a little late with this, but here’s my last week of FIGs for the Finding Joy in Gratitude Collective. Thank you again for hosting, Elisabeth. It’s been so much fun.
February 22
I am grateful for my sourdough starter “Linus” which reliably helps me bake delicious homemade bread. I’ve been playing around with some new recipes. There’s nothing better than a fresh loaf of bread out of the oven. Amirite?
February 23
I enjoyed a lunchtime walk with my Peloton friend Sherry. It was so nice and sunny outside.
February 24
It’s been one full year since our mandatory RTO (return to office). I’ve gotten used to going to the office again every day. I still miss my home office and all the flexibility I had, but I am also grateful that I am still here, that I have a nice, quiet window cubicle with a standing desk (with nesting owls outside of it) and that I still have other little perks in my job that I don’t take for granted (like my 4-day work week).
February 25
My coworker brought me a full bag of grapefruits, oranges, and lemons from her garden. That’s so sweet that she’s sharing her bounty with me.
February 26
Ok, this is a silly FIG, but I think (fingers crossed) I fixed my coffee maker yesterday. (Nicole can relate to the elation.) It’s not like it stopped working completely, but for the last week or so, it had been throwing a hissy fit, including various “error codes”, and I had to restart it multiple times before it would finally run a full brewing cycle. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was, but decided to run not one, but three “cleaning cycles” last night (even though I thought I had fairly recently done that). That seems to have fixed it. This morning, it had no issues at all. I hope it just wanted some TLC.
Bonus FIG: I picked up takeout for dinner. We love the burritos from our local taqueria.
February 27
I received a sweet note from Engie this morning, letting me know that she now frequently thinks of me when she goes on her morning walks with Hannah. Awww.
February 28
I wore shorts and tank tops for running… in February! I love winter, and I don’t mind a little bit of rain and cold, but I am also very thankful for blue skies, sunshine, and warmer temps in February!
Nicole MacPherson
March 14, 2026 at 6:06 amI am SO glad you fixed your coffee maker. This is the most important small appliance! WHAT would we do without our morning coffee, San? WHAT??? Let’s not imagine the scenario. It’s too horrifying!
Your office space is very nice – how lovely to have such a window! And I don’t think I knew you had a 4-day work week – that IS a nice perk. When I first worked at a company back in 1999 they had a “9-80” schedule so every other Friday was a scheduled day off. Unfortunately for me they changed that soon after I was hired, but it was nice while it lasted.
Southern California is just incredible for fruit! Having citrus fruits in your backyard. What a luxury! How nice of your colleague to share!
NGS
March 16, 2026 at 8:08 amIt is CRAZY to me (as I sit writing this we are the tail end of a “blizzard warning” that dumped ten inches of snow) that citrus GROWS IN PEOPLE’S YARDS. Like…what? I’m excited to get a pint of raspberries out of our bushes in the summer. And summer IT AIN’T. Anyway, I’m envious of your four-day work week and fresh produce.
*Blizzard lady* out
Anne
March 29, 2026 at 12:24 pmOK, I have questions about your work set up. Are your screens showing data from different sources or from different times? Is the laptop running on one screen or both? I kind of assume you’re comparing and analyzing data? (Written following an epic lit review session during which my eyeballs nearly fell out of my head from trying to pick out the important points in 38 page pdfs… oof.)