“I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.” —CS Lewis

I wonder that too. I substitute a lot of things...

Food for Comfort
TV for Company
iPhone instead of having patience
Using "being a parent" as an excuse for lacking self-discipline
Grudges instead of honesty

Oh dear. I could go on and on. How frustrating that I do the things I don't want to do!

Enough of that... this morning, I'm just going to be grateful.

119. A dog that adopted us. Little Bingley AKA Chuck AKA "dog" AKA Ed AKA "doddie" (Maddie's version of doggie).

120. Stained concrete floors. If you're a parent, you understand that nothing hides dust bunnies and cracker crumbs better. Plus, it's so much easier to clean... especially with our new vacuum AKA dog.

121. A workspace for my paintings & piano. Now I just need to beautify it.

122. Skype. Seriously. Do you realize not even 60 years ago, if someone was in India your best effort to talk to them was by parcel post? Really?

123. Other artists who really do inspire me and though I don't know them well, there is something motivating about seeing other artists hard at work with something they love.

124. Learning to decipher 17-month-old language. For example...
"bibee" = binky
"i bob oo" = i love you
"nigh nigh" = night night
"gabbaaaa!" = yo gabba gabba
"ummm" = food/eat/hungry
"do do doddie" = no no doggie
"madaddy" = mama

125. Planning a trip to see family in a couple months. NY is on my radar and I can't wait!

126. Being in over my head with something so amazing and fun and terrifying. Who knew!?

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