Recently, I was talking to my therapist about my conscious search for non-food sources of joy. After applauding my brilliance and suggesting that perhaps I should be counseling HER (haha), she cautioned me to remember that what brings me joy one day might not do so the next. And that's okay! She suggested thinking of it in these terms: that I am going to view my world with "joy glasses". I will be looking for those flashes of joy that vary in intensity, duration and frequency. There will be mornings when the sight of Tess' cherubic, smiling face will make my heart melt, and others when that same sight makes me scream in my mind, "For the love of all that is good and holy, GO BACK TO BED!" :)
Lately, these are some of the things and moments that have registered on my joy radar:
Tess was delighted to hide out in Maddie's canopy with her big sister. After awhile, she had a huge pile of stuffed animals piled up in there, too.
Tess' impeccable fashion sense!
During a break in the rain today, Tess spent a long time stirring a concoction of rainwater and chunks of chalk in a bucket.
She was pretty excited about her mad stirrin' skills.
I made the girls go on a walk together this afternoon. Unless commanded, they rarely move all that much. It's so frustrating! Does anyone else have that issue with their children? At first, they were really grumpy about it, but after awhile I caught this moment of kindness and then the beautiful smiles below. Mothering win! :)
Tess eventually joined in on the walking action. She can't let her big sisters have ALL the fun.
Girls' Night! Tonight, I was able to enjoy the company of two of my favorite people, Tina and Kayleen. We went to the Iron Rabbit (go there, local friends! It's great!) for dinner and dessert. Yes, I had dessert. Don't judge me. :) And I'm so glad I did! It was the most amazing brownie I've ever had. Holy yum! Our server's name was Joy, too, which I thought auspicious.
