(in no particular order)

1. Fantastic clients that are doing outstanding work, including the Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center, the Black Philanthropic Alliance, PBS Teachers, the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, and the Hispanic Committee of Virginia. It’s a privilege to contribute to their efforts.

2. The community at Journeyoga, especially my main teacher Sabrina. And Sarah Lynn, the owner, for creating the studio and the opportunity to learn there. While I haven’t been as relaxed and serene as I would like to have been this past year, I am convinced that without yoga I wouldn’t have survived at all.

3. My friendly neighborhood acupuncturist Allison Kitchen with dcmindbody. I have long been afraid of needles and the idea of acupuncture totally freaked me out. But when you’re desperate, you’ll try anything, right? Many people recommended acupuncture to me this year for fertility issues, and I decided that I might as well try. So far Allison’s treatments have focused on calming me down so I could deal with day-to-day life well enough to even think about trying to get pregnant again. And that works for me.

4. Parenting Playgroups–their teachers and founder Rene Hackney. Zoe is at winter camp there even as I write, providing me with a much-needed break and providing Zoe with new friends to make, toys to play with, songs to sing, stories to hear, dances to dance, and a generally wonderful place to be. She attended summer camp there as well, and Randy and I have taken several of the insightful parenting workshops too.

5. Libraries. In particular the Mary Riley Stiles Library in Falls Church where I work while Zoe is at camp, the Arlington County public library system and its online catalog which allows you to reserve books from home, and the Fairfax County public library system which issues special library cards for kids. If you live in Arlington you are entitled to a library card in both Falls Church and Fairfax, thus wildly expanding your reading and browsing opportunities.

More gratitude to come…