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Happiness is Joy Snacks

The Washington Post published a quiz to help you determine what kind of life you want to live, and one of the choices was a happy life. According to them, “Research shows that the frequency of positive experiences is more important than their intensity for long-term happiness,” so the WaPo suggests you try to find more small moments of happiness as opposed to waiting for the big banging events. They call these small moments “joy snacks.”

Cute, huh?

But we’re at the end of 2025, a year when the snacking has been slim. I will not suggest that we look back and reflect on what happened. That’s sunk cost, and it cost us a lot and sunk us pretty deep, but there’s a new year coming, fingers crossed a better year, so let’s consciously pig out on our own personal bag of happiness chips as we watch 2025 fade away. (I know, I know, that was a horrible, weak, pathetic metaphor, but I’m tired and that’s the only thing I could think of; I’ll change it if I think of anything, but don’t bet on it, they can’t all be gems.)

Where was I?

Right, We’re in that weird week between the holidays and the new year, and frankly, I think we should all just put our feet up and have a big bowl full of small joys. One of mine is a dog named Johnny who makes me walk four times a day which is probably saving my life. The Washington Post was right; it’s the little things we have to pay attention to, and my little thing is part dachshund, part chihuahua (mostly the ears), and part alien. He’s a good snack.

How did you snack on joy this week?

Photo by Patricia Gaffney, who does everything well and is always right.

91 Responses

  1. I had a couple of lovely get-togethers that bookended the week. On the solstice I sat in my living-room talking to two old friends and enjoying the rich colours and pictures and bookcases full of books with my beautiful Christmas tree lit up. Yesterday was at a friend’s, reconnecting with people I hadn’t seen for a while.

    In between there’ve been some lovely sunny days, when I’ve gazed up into trees lit up by the low sun: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSuenoADLv5/?img_index=1

    4. Your photos are gorgeous! I am so annoyed with Instagram that it doesn’t put your post in my feed even though I’m following you.

      1. That’s really weird, Kelly. Sorry for the frustration. Have you tried unfollowing and then following me again, in the hope it gets the idea?

      2. Nowadays, you need to mark accounts as favourites (little star in the corner) to ensure they appear high enough in your feed among the dross.

        Jane’s is of course one of my favourites 🙂

        1. I’m flattered! I guess I don’t follow that many people – plus I won’t let them clutter my feed with ads & sponsored posts (I view it in my browser & avoid the app),

    9. The light on the trees is gorgeous and so is the moss. (I have moss growing on my driveway, which isn’t good for the asphalt, but so pretty.)

    10. Jane, your pictures are, as always, beautiful and uplifting. thank you for sharing them with us.

  2. He really does look like he’s part alien. But I have a cat who is part demon, so I can’t argue with that. (Luckily, the other part is adorable as hell, so I live with the demon bit.)

    I have been doing joy snacks for many years as a way of coping with chronic illness. I rarely have large happiness–although not never–so I get a punch of joy from the sight of a red cardinal against the white snow, or a cat doing something cute, or a really delicious piece of chocolate.

    We got 9 inches of snow yesterday, and I tried to focus on the serene quiet it brought, and how pretty it was, and the fact that it meant we didn’t have to worry about drought next year. Of course, my driveway is ice again, but you can’t have everything.

    My snacks of joy were finally after a really chaotic month, sitting down and writing (well, rewriting) for 45 minutes. It’s a start, and hopefully I’ll come back later and say I did some more today. My cat who has been very ill actually eating his whole dinner with little prompting, even after I forgot to give him his late morning pills because I was texting people and worrying about my plow guy showing up. Even with the meds (appetite enhancer and anti-nausea) he has been reluctant to eat, so this was a huge hit of happy.

    I gave myself permission to have a lazy, accomplish not much day, and that was a joy too.

    Like you, my happiness has been thin on the ground this year, so I am grateful for the snack of joy I get every time I come here. Thank you all for letting me nibble on you. Wait…that doesn’t sound right…

      1. He seems to have turned a corner, although I’m not breathing easily yet. He ate breakfast without prodding (and without meds) and when I weighed him, he’d gained back a pound. So big joy snack there.

        1. A pound is a good percentage of the weight of even a large cat. I wouldn’t be surprised or immedely disappointed if some of it goes away (water or constipation), if the long-term trend continues upware.

  4. I like the idea of joy snacks. Happiness can often be elusive so focussing on the small moments, like delivering Christmas cookies to my neighbours or an unsolicited hug from DS, is important.

    I’m very happy that we made it home from my in-laws safely. The weather forecast said snow, but a small enough amount that we weren’t worried. However, the conditions were terrible – poor visibility/whiteouts with lots of cars spinning out and ending up in the ditch. We were making slow progress when our car went into “limp home” mode. We managed to make it to a hotel just off the highway – they had room and accepted dogs. We ended up having to leave our car at the local Hyundai dealership which is closed until Monday. We managed to get a rental and drive the remaining 2.5 hours without incident. DS and I will need to drive back next week to return the rental and pick up our car once it’s repaired. Today is all about rest and recuperation.

    1. Susan, that was a miserable ending to a visit. I’m glad things worked out pretty well, anyway.

    2. Oh my gosh, limp mode sucks! A couple years ago we were heading home from Riding Mountain National Park, towing a trailer, and the truck went into LM right out of the park. Had to be towed and ended up in Dauphin (pronounced daw-fin). We had to get to BC from Manitoba in time to get back to work, and some lady I met in kids’ park offered us a truck to get back home if the dealership couldn’t fix it in time (they were planning a trip out west to see a kid so would’ve gotten their truck back at some point). We didn’t need her truck, but Therese Dauphin is still a contact in my phone!

      1. We had the opposite experience. After a delay getting to my family’s—so we were there for Christmas rather than Christmas Eve—we fled the day after to get home before the expected storm. Despite leaving against the objections of my family (who claimed to get only 2 inches of snow but which seemed more like the 6 inches the NWS showed in the sledding pictures they sent) I’m trying to look at the time we did have together as a joy snack.

        It’s very difficult to know what to do in the face of what feels like relentless criticism, but I’m trying to put it behind me since we’re home now and I can’t undo anything.

        I desperately miss my cat, who passed away this year, but looking at Johnny’s happy face is a joy snack too. As is this blog. Much happy snacking to everyone!

  5. We have declared the week to be the intercalens, a Roman term for the time between when one calendar ended and the next year officially began. This was when they’d have the Saturnalia, and revels and feasts. Time feels especially soupy at this time of year. Both adult kids are home, my partner is actually taking time off, and we are all four of us baking together and cooking together and eating slower and visiting more. It is pretty lovely.

  6. We managed to catch both of our neighbors at the same time, to make the delivery of cookies (from both sides) complete. It was a serendipitous moment of delight.

    I also take delight in the cats. Teddy, snoozing on my lap. Wendy sidling up for purrs and pets. Charlie butting his head against me, asking for affection. And Charlie, sprinting up to me and snuggling under my chin. It’s all wonderful.

    1. Poor Stanley is the red-headed step child! He was the one I was thinking of in the third position, rather than having Charlie twice!

  7. As shitty as 2025 was/is politically on a global scale, I’m blessed to have had many snacks of happiness: kiddo had a fabulous time abroad with a great host family that we’re now happy to call friends, too.
    2025 and my two trips over the big pond brought incredible new experiences, memories I’ll cherish forever and was happy to share with my loved ones. Funnily enough, my still rather young passion for this strange sport with blades, a rubber disk and sticks and too much toxic elements was at the roots of of this. It even sparked closer connections with colleagues at work and old friends.
    Another buffet of happiness snacks was to see one of my fav books be made beautifully into film and be recognized and loved by so many. To bond so much over this with kiddo and see my two men (hubby and son) be endlessly patient with us. Big sigh.

    Also: Johnny is an absolute cutie – he has a strong resemblance with the lovely dog of ond of my colleagues.

  8. I LOVE joy-snacks!

    Boxing Day I put out trays of joy-snacks: grapes, cheeses, crackers, sourdough bread chunks, oil and vinegar, cheery cherry tomatoes, French jams and goat cheese, olives and pickled beets and asparagus spears, and basically snacked all day while the turkey cooked.

    Family and friends came for Christmas dinner, and everything was delicious and the conversations were fantastic. And I like hosting it not on Christmas day because then that day is chill.

    I got an advent box of Bushberry tea samplers, and enjoyed the apple cinnamon last night.

    Watched Stranger Things with K2. Watched Becky with K1; will maybe watch Wrath of Becky tody. Watched Wake up Dead Man (Knives Out) with my mom and K1.

    I did not get dressed all day yesterday.
    But I did get some laundry done, and cycled the dishwasher thrice, and I like that I don’t stress about how many more loads of dishes I have. Down to pots and pans and wine glasses…

    The Joy-snack thing reminds me of a Friendship I once had where it was basically neglected, and then made up for by grand gestures. I much preferred the little things, like chats and little bits of time spent together, and grew to hate the Grand Gesture.

    I am glad that DH is good at the little things.

  9. You’re eating your dog! Don’t let that get out. I get to hug my dog, but only in the mornings, because evening is when she gets brushed, and she runs away when approached at that time of day. I’m just glad she finally decided to let me snuggle her. My cats provide hugs, too. My grandsons brought me home from the Christmas Eve celebration, and each gave me a “boy hug” before they left. We had a great time with the two young labs, and they each really enjoyed snacking on the “indestructible” toys I gave them. Time will tell on the toys, but I hope they last a long time.

    Joy snacks have been rare this year, but I, too, hope that next year will be better. For all of us.

    1. It was 59º at 7:45 this morning when I got up, and it will be below freezing by 3::00PM! It will stay cold for the next week. Winter has found its way back to Kansas.

  10. I join all previous mentions of argh as a great provider of joy snacks. It is truly amazing how much community I feel with people I have never met in person.
    This week:
    I pleased someone in a parking lot by admiring their sweatshirt.
    I made the slightly crabby person at the pharmacy smile (by declining my receipt for $0)
    I got to spend extra time with my sister, BIL and two closest friends. We expected more people at Boxing Day, but it turned out being really nice with just us.
    LOTS of good food.
    And I am off work all week except for a brief stop to water plants, so even more time for good things.

  11. It’s been a tough year indeed – geopolitically, but also losing my mother was a big moment of personal grief. Life is also difficult for my much loved mother in law, coping at 92 as main carer for my 98 year old f-i-l who has dementia and can be very oppositional. But we were with them for Christmas and he brought us all joy by a campaign to steal canapés – a bony hand snaking out across the table to sneak an extra smoked salmon blini or paté on pain d’epices. It was lovely to catch a glimpse of his mischievous side.

    On the plus side, Minion 1 seems to be stabilising and moving into a positive place after a couple of very complicated years, and Minion 2 appears to be coping with university and much improved relationship with his brother, neither to be taken for granted in Jan.

    We have a permanent joy snack in Zazie the dog. She’s six years old now, we collected her from the breeder in March 2020, just as we were going into lockdown, and she has brought me joy and delight every single day that she has been a member of our family.

    1. Oh Zeba I remember how hard managing your mom’s last days were. Such a hard year for you. Yay for minion 1!

  12. I had hoped for a lot of joy snacks this holiday but it turns out DS had rotavirus not food poisoning and I caught it boxing day. 18 days after hip replacement. I am recovering but wiped out. I’m also unable to contemplate most of the food in the house.

    More generally though I thought that Post article was fascinating. I definitely prefer to have a meaningful life and I also like to have a joyful one. But I can’t say a psychologically rich life calls to me at all. I mean, I had over a decade of therapy and learned a lot about myself but that was to get out of depression and learn to set healthy boundaries (which was totally worth it. I speak as someone whose mother emailed me 12 times in an hour to find out what color towels I wanted after I had told her I was working and would look at it that night . I am here to tell you setting boundaries is hard work and takes time and WORKS.) It wasn’t a life goal . It wasn’t something that enriched my life on a daily basis. It got rid of serious problems. I’m trying to envision what that kind of life goal even means.

    My joy snacks are talking with my kids over this holiday. And maybe seeing some neighbors when I think I am no longer contagious. But I do have longer joys planned for the year ahead — trips to CA, London and Amsterdam, and NYC; working in my garden; hiking with DH. And I am going back to my plan to see 10 friends I haven’t seen recently and also have a list of friends I want to have for dinner.

    And for some reason I really want to try making a soufflé

    1. This also made me think about how little we may know about others. I’m pretty sure my DH and FD want meaningful lives . I’m not sure what DS DD and SIL want . I may bring this up.

      1. DD and SIL think they are a combo of two and three. DS doesn’t know, doesn’t care and “I am not letting the end of my life run my life”.
        Thus pretty much putting paid to the whole concept of living a good life.
        ( For reference, he is the physics grad student working on fusion which could end climate change, and provides lots of intellectual challenge, so it’s not like he’s living a bad life.)
        A

      1. Thanks. Yes it was awful. But I don’t think it put my recovery back which I was worried about . I will say DH was a huge joy and comfort because he had to take care of and clean up after both DS and me. And it was ugly.

    4. When my parents went to Europe for the first time, my college age sister and I were on our own together for about a month. She was working in the mail room at the Pabst brewery for the summer and I was an idle 13 or 14 year old. We decided that we were going to try to make a souffle while there were no siblings around to laugh at us if the results left something to be desired. My brother had a cookbook that was very unintimidating and we tried their recipe. Kitty had some experience cooking at this point, but I had never made anything but brownies. So we had our great adventure and it WORKED. It was a fabulous experience and it gave me the courage to try cooking for years thereafter.

      1. Ooh. Very encouraging! I have bookmarked a recipe but since we only have two of the things I think will work as soufflé pans I am waiting until it’s just DH and me

  13. Today’s joy snacks are Argh, an upcoming three-day workweek that is bound to be very very quiet, a subsequent four-day weekend, the revived Netflix subscription, and nothing I absolutely positively must do.

  14. Lots of small moments of joy this year with me, I am very happy to say!

    Called in a TNR specialist and I now have four nearly grown kittens and one fully grown adult cat. They only they come out to play when I’m home alone, so my grandchildren are disappointed, but they run, jump and fight with each other, which amuses me a great deal.

    Also amusing is what they consider a cat toy. Right now, they have found an empty lint roller, and that is a source of great play, as is the door stopper that springs back when they push it and makes a wonderful zinging sound.

    I got to watch my granddaughter do her first ice-skating competition while listening to my daughter sob with nerves behind me throughout the one minute performance. We laugh at her, but she does get stuck in her feels.

    A healthy year this year for me! That is never to be overlooked.

    Got to see my great nephew in his role as assistant college basketball coach after a road trip of 5+ hours with two of my sisters. We managed to get along great for the entire long weekend.

    An unexpected gift from an extremely generous sister of check of five figures. I’m very blessed that I don’t actually need the money to survive, but it adds to a nice cushion for the upcoming year.

    A daughter and son-in-law, who actually seem to enjoy my company and grandchildren who love me. That’s not a small chip of joy, but a whole bowl of them. It gives me a thrill every time I am with them.

  15. My life feels joy snack filled at the moment. I had a lovely visit with my Michigan son and family. I’m now headed to Fort Worth to visit with my sister-in-law and family and do jigsaw puzzles. I feel I learned something very important while I was with Jim and Nikki, but I’ve never thought of before. Their daughter Ella will be home from the clinic tomorrow. They’re not sure how it’s going to be because she still having 40 minutes meltdowns.
    I am praying some positive. Life will be easier Home. Ella is coming home to a week of no school and no ABA so it’s not exactly a normal week. When I left the clinic Saturday, I whispered to Ella I love you. You are smart and you can do anything. She actually said I love you, grandma Sue that is a huge joy snack
    Johnny is adorable. What a beautiful joy snack. I wish each of you many many more.

  16. My joy snacks for the intercalens (love that) are, in no particular order: the Argh community; banana bread that came out okay despite using bananas that refused to ripen fully; friends who fight over who gets me for Christmas; life-saving tenants (literally; they’re both EMTs) who’ve sort of adopted me as their local mother (and vice versa); and my three cats that keep me warm at night (and vice versa) during this insanely cold end of the year.

  17. Joy snacks, Yes!
    Johnny is adorable and those ears are magic! Nothing like puppy kisses to break the crust of grumpiness. My grandpuppy Nugget a.k.a. Goyito does it for me. And now my sweet baby granddaughter, who is beyond an angel.

    I just saw Bob’s IG post on the art crime series, 2026 will definitely have something to look forward to.

    Echoing everyone Argh gives me joy snacks, thank you.

    1. Yes, those ears are nuts! He’s got some Yoda species in him perhaps.
      Johnny needs to be featured in a Crusie light rom-com. Doggie-ex-machina getting the main characters to keep meeting.

  18. Johnny is adorable!

    My joy snacks include giving the cat his final dose of antibiotics. He’s still skittish when I look at him, fearful I’m going to grab him and shove a pill down his throat but slowly spending less time hiding under the bed.

    Another joy snack was buying packets of my favorite hot cocoa mix at half price. They only had 3 left but I grabbed them.

  19. I saw my kids at Christmas, that was a happy thing. The week after is always kind of emotionally flat for me. It’s a time of trying to get back into regular routines, healthier foods, and trying to recover from the fatigue of the holidays.

  20. My joy snack has been watching Project Runway Canada and much has been surprisingly much better than the US version! I like Coco Rocha better than Heidi Klum, and the woman who gives feedback much better than the annoying Christian Siriano and the designs have been fabulous! Really a pleasant surprise. I do miss Law Roach though as the most stylish and acerbic judge.

  21. Those ears are glorious! I love this time of year, when pretty much everything shuts down. In Tassie it doesn’t really open again until the end of Jan, when schools go back. So it’s a time when no one is demanding anything of me, and I can walk on the beach and read and maybe swim if the day is warm. Gardening is a joy snack, and the anzac biscuits dipped in melted chocolate that one of my brothers gave me for Christmas is a very snacky joy snack.

    Big joy snack this week was walking with my niece on Christmas Day. The weather was grim – forecast of rain and hail – but we managed to fit in a walk between showers, and also a picnic, with occasional interruptions to dash back to the car to shelter from the rain.

  22. I actually had a nice Christmas, mama had no drama because it was at someone else’s house. Most pleasant one I’ve had since oh, 1996 when that was the last year we had Christmas traditions in my family (after that, my dad got too sick and I moved out). Mom got Difficult the next day, of course (seven phone calls) but that’s just her.

    I saw some friends this weekend and hung out, that was lovely.

  23. Johnny, such a sweetheart!

    Small snacks of realizing I don’t have to go anywhere until Tuesday. No meetings, no parties, no errands.

    And pull on cleats for my boots are a joy snack every morning. Haven’t slipped once on Pixie’s morning walks. I am hoping that the weather shifts from snow and ice to just cold.

    And I’ve pre-ordered a certain book. 2026 is looking better than 2025.

  24. Joy Snacks reminded me of Rat Snacks. It gave me a giggle fit.

    I was in the Garden Room, checking on the hydroponic units, and looking at the garden shelving reminded me of the shelving in the Owner’s Suite. I have two baker’s racks and a four-shelf unit that I’ve been passively thinking of modifying. Given the modifications of the racks in the Garden Room that I accomplished in little steps… snacks, as it were…

    So, Joy Snack 1 was emptying the four-shelf unit and relocating the shelves thereon.

    Joy Snack 2 was completely disassembling a bookshelf that was barely used, located to the right of the fridge and stacking the components for disposal. The four-shelf rack had been located to the right of the bookcase.

    Joy Snack 3 was moving the fridge to the right, up against the 4×4 post support, as far to the right as it could go unless it went to the right of said post.

    Joy snacks 4 and 5 were removing the loose items on two baker’s racks and dragging them to the right, up against the fridge. That freed up the corner.

    Joy Snack 6 was moving the four-shelf unit into the vacated corner. The rearranged shelves now aligned with the baker’s rack at ninety degrees.

    Joy Snack 7 was arranging the contents of the shelves that had moved and several that hadn’t. Several snacky nibbles involved magnetic spice racks on the side and door of the fridge.

    More joy snacks ahead – the shelves on those two baker’s racks need to be adjusted. When It’s all completed, there will be pictures.

    1. All that lovely rearranging makes me want to move something around. But everything is exactly where it belongs. (Except in the garage, which gets no love from me. Also it’s COLD out there. As opposed to the other half of the year when it’s HOT.)

  25. Awww, Johnny is adorable! I had a few joy snacks that helped counter balance the not so wonderful travel day I had yesterday. My sister arranged for me to fly out to visit her for Christmas in her new house (they’ve been there about a year and a half). I got to meet my niece’s husband and three children while there and my sister, BIL and I drove up into the Rocky Mountains to visit Estes Park. The wind was very strong and made it feel much colder than it actually was, so after visit a book store and a card shop where I found some cards I really liked, I treated them to lunch and we headed back to their house. All of those were joy snacks.
    The travel home wasn’t fun. My plane from Denver arrived late and had two (of four) malfunctioning lavatories so we had to wait for them to be repaired. They asked those of us in the later boarding groups to check our carry on bags as there wasn’t enough room in the overhead bins for all the bags so I volunteered to check mine. Later, they said everyone in the later boarding groups had to check their bags. The plane was very late taking off and I had a connection in Chicago to catch that I wasn’t sure I would make. Long story made short, I made it on the plane at the last minute…but my suitcase did not. I had to fill out a claim and requested my suitcase be delivered to my home. Fingers crossed it shows up soon as my prescription is in it! Joy snacks from this…the nice people in baggage claim that helped me fill out the claim and the nice airport employee who helped me find where my ride was waiting as I couldn’t find him.

  26. I’ve been re-reading some of my favorite books: Welcome To Temptation and Bet Me (combined kindle edition). They give me joy with every rereading.

    I know you’ve got other irons in the fire, but if you ever do decide to write about (Bet Me) Liza’s further adventures or (Anyone But You) Max and Cherry… I’ll be interested.

    Wishing you a wonderful time this season.

    1. I actually had a proposal at Harlequin for Jane Errs with Max and Cherry, but they changed the contracts there and I left. Two proposals, actually; the other one was Newton, the Rat With Women. He was going to meet up with Christine, the secretary from Strange Bedpersons. I thought that sounded like fun. I have a lot of ideas that fell by the wayside.

  27. My joy snacks for the intercalens are: staying in bed until noon, a fridge full of delicious leftovers, lots of knitting time, and listening to our old LPs after buying ourselves a turntable for Xmas.

  28. I don’t do food snacks, and I don’t think I do joy snacks either, because however worried or angry or sad I am on the outside, inside me is a never-ending fountain of joy.

  29. My dog Lola passed away Saturday. My snack was my husband was with her, so she wasn’t alone. He was waiting up for me and hugged me as I came in. Then my daughter came in and my eldest son. So group hug with 4 people who loved her very much.

    Meanwhile United healthcare denied my file stay in the Transitional stay unit. He was so happy. “When are you picking me up”. Then oops if we will cover it. So he’s back alone after a stroke. Talked to him a little while ago, Me:” You can’t drive until you get clearance”. Him: “Nobody told me that” Me:”Yes I did”.

  30. I just got home from my brother’s funeral. He died on Thursday and I was pretty much a zombie ever since my niece called me with the news. She, poor baby, was the one who found him, but as she was the one who used to take him to see the doctor, his condition wasn’t the complete shock to her that it was to me. She had warned me in the past, but I just wasn’t able to visualize it correctly.

    The funeral was difficult for me because unlike my sisters, who had written things out in advance, I had no idea what I planned to say. I told myself that it was because I didn’t want to repeat what my sisters had to say, but it was more a case of not knowing what would make people see the brother I knew before his body started shutting down. There was a zoom link and I had hoped that others not there would be able to speak, but the funeral home did not set up a 2 way zoom link. I was really feeling isolated until I started getting some hugs.

    People I hadn’t seen in years didn’t bother trying to explain anything to me, they just shared their warmth and love. It was the most beautiful gift and the only thing that really made it through my zombie shell.

    I like to talk and I often only figure out the finer points of what I think by saying them out loud, but the biggest gifts I got in the last 2 days came without words. Which is not to say that I am not ENORMOUSLY grateful for all the support and encouragement that I get from all of you on ARGH. I have simply become so spoiled that now I expect it.

    3. I hope you found words that conveyed something of what you wanted. And I think in times of grief there is something healing in touch. May his memory be a blessing.

  31. Small moments of peace and joy are important, they don’t have to cost much, but they keep us going and give us something to look forward to. So in the time between Christmas and New Year I have been trying to take a couple of hours out to make a fresh cup of tea and started on a new library book. Someone I know… though on a budget, buys the good coffee and savours it like the nectar of the gods, when she has time. May 2026 be filled with small moments of joy

    1. The woman who ran the B and B my family used in London would invite everyone in for a nice cup of tea at all hours of day or night. It wasn’t such a big deal when I was there in the winter and they were almost empty, but I used to wonder how they managed during the summer when they were fully booked.

  32. All I wanted for Christmas was a hard-bound book. Please, Jenny, can you and Bob set up an option for print on demand? I have read and reread the Liz Danger and Rocky Start books so many times I’ve almost got them memorized, but I want to hold them in my hands. THAT would be a joy snack.

    I hope all had a merry Christmas and will have a happy New Year!

    1. I’ve just checked on Amazon UK, and both series seem to be available in both paperback and hardback. They’re quite expensive, but I imagine that’s because they’re print-on-demand.

  33. This has been a tough year for me, big changes at work, living in the middle of a renovation with no motivation to finish it, and to cap off the year my father died on my birthday in December, after a 6 year fight with cancer. I ended the year pretty exhausted.
    My mother visited for a few days so we could spend Christmas together and I realised that a number of internalised beliefs that I have been changing come from her and the narrative that she has for me. This is actually one of the joy snacks; that I could hear those things, and only go ‘so noted’ and not react. It’s wonderful what 3 years of good therapy can do.
    My other joy snacks are: a therapist who was absolutely on point in her support during tough times, a TV show that has reminded me what it was like as a teenager to be wonderfully obsessed with a show (and that romance is the best genre there is), this wonderful community, and that after 2 years of my books and furniture being in storage, my books are finally out on my new bookshelves, and I have a jigsaw puzzle setup on the dining table.

    1. Congratulations on the successful therapy. That sounds really helpful. And many pocket hugs on the death of your father.

    2. I am so sorry about your father’s death and all the pain and lack of clarity you’ve received for so many years.

      I wish you a New Year of hope, health and healing with enough pocket hugs to fill every garment you’ll ever own.

About the Author

Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.

Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com

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