There is so much to be happy about everyday and yet when the most important people in your life are not happy or even content, it becomes difficult to focus on the little things and ignore the glaring problems.  But what else can you do when the problems cannot be fixed, or changed, or alleviated? Ignoring them only means something much worse to deal with much later, but it's so draining to deal with them now.

If only I could inject a little bit of my self-induced happiness into those I love and force them to realize that life's too short to be upset about every little thing from past to present.

Happiness #25 : New wins

Playing basketball with my brother today reminded me of years ago when he would drag me out at all hours to get his rebounds despite my cries of "I don't wannaaaaa!"  I'm so happy for two different things today.
One, that I am able to be that friend/playmate/little brother to my brother that he was so impatient for when we were little that he would try to wrestle me at less than two years old, propping me to get me into the right position for a move; keep me up at all hours of the night so that he could play video games in the dark with someone else and not be alone, calling me his lucky charm; trying to teach me how to shoot a ball properly all the while ignoring my grimaces and complaints.  I regret that I couldn't just be more enthusiastic and call him out to play ball- instead I can still recall his dejected face as he finally gave up trying to keep me out there with him- "Alright, five more shots and we'll go in, k? Just five more, I'm kinda tired anyway."
I'm also very happy to see that I am starting to truly let go of my inhibitions about my weaknesses.  Never have I ever been athletic or very well coordinated and in the past, these factors affected me to the point of not even trying very hard.  I would put in as much effort as it took to appear as if I am making an attempt but it was never my all and my heart was never in it.  Today I was in it to win it.  A stupid game of HORSE, a silly game of two on two with rules bent every which way to put me and the other noobie at every possible advantage, and I made sure I never came out last.  While it wasn't my best because of the heat, I definitely defended my six foot counterpart with the best of my ability trying to yank that sucker out of his hands at any opportunity.  Who cares what I look like when I walk away as one half of the winning team, right? :)

Happiness #24 : Easy ruins

Here's just a short post because I missed yesterday and I don't want to make skipping a habit again...

Today I was watching a bit of the boobtoob with my moms when a very, how should I say, "American" teenager became so upset at her mother taking away her music player that the offended youth felt cause to yell, "Why are you trying to ruin my life?!" at her paternal unit.  As common as this phrase is- so common in fact that I'm fairly certain it makes a very dramatic appearance in the majority of American family films- tonight, it rang in my ears particularly loudly.  I could not stop myself from laughing at the complete impracticality of the phrase's application as well as the silliness of it all.  How can music deprivation in the form of an mp3 player be the ruin of somebody's life?  How can being grounded from seeing friends for one week be so life altering that one must utter these words at the injustice of it all?  It makes me think, do these kids honestly feel that their mother or father just follows them around thinking up ways to make them miserable?  There are actually children who have that particular problem from their parents through abuse, mental disability, drug involvement, and who knows what else.  I feel that their situation is a bit more appropriate for the usage of that phrase because in those instances, entire futures and opportunities are wiped out for the child due to the actions of their parents.  How very selfish and American of us to even entertain the idea that we know what it means to have our lives ruined...

But can I even say "we"?  I asked my own mother if she ever recalled me blaming her for the ruin of my life- in whatever instance- and much to my relief, she said no.  Thank god I wasn't a complete idiot when I was younger.  Thank god I know the difference between life ruining decisions and completely-irrelevant-to-the-future decisions.  Like being grounded.  Ugh, the stupidity of it all, and shall I say, of THEM all, make me balk.  And as elitist as I sound by saying "them" as if I am not included, I say I have every right to say "them" and distinguish myself as apart from this moronic era of young people because I apparently had the common sense (even way back then) to understand that my life is not useless and weak enough to be "ruined" just because I don't get to go hang out with friends.

And this reflection upon such people makes it easier for me to understand how it is that Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her child remorselessly; if she was truly judged by a jury of her peers, then they probably could sympathize with her feelings for wanting to be rid of the burden of a child- just like I'm sure 90% of America can see the injustice and cruelty of having one's phone taken away for a day.

Good Lord.

Happiness #23 : Beauty-ful Returns

Well I'm back... I know not many of you missed me because I know that there are not that many of you actually there.  However, for what it's worth....  IT WASN'T MY FAULT!! I WAS SUPER BUSY WITH - absolutely nothing.  Actually I have no excuse for my month long hiatus, and since this blog serves more for self gratification than for an audience, I guess I should be apologizing to myself...   

Today, I decided I would ease back into the writing again with something simple and something that represents a passion of mine- DIY.  Now, anybody who periodically browses the craft stores and craft websites that exist all over the world can understand how amazing it is to create something that is completely new and unique and even better than something you can buy.  So if there are any of you DIY-ers out there, here is a little gift for you:

I call this wonderful concoction the Dirty Scrub.

Here is a little back story.  I know dermatologists say not to use exfoliating scrubs as they may be too harsh for your face.  Well I say, POOP on dermatologists.  I know my skin as I have known it since the pubescent acne epidemic of 1999- when I start breaking out there are four main possible causes: 1) hormones; 2) clogged pores from makeup; 3) clogged pores from dead skin cells; and 4) change in climate/environment.  Notice that 50% of my problems occur from clogged pores a.k.a. the devil.  The majority of instances where something drastic happened to my skin by way of clogged pores revolved around times I stopped using my absolute, go-to, take-everywhere exfoliant St. Ives Apricot Scrub.  Who knows what I'm talking about??  Can I get a what-what!? RIGHT?!
There is only one thing my crafty self can say to St. Ives.  SUCK IT! Because there's a new bad-boy in town :P  ok ok, too much?  I'll get down to the good stuff now:
What do you get when you combine oatmeal, coffee, cayenne pepper, and salt to your daily skin cleansing regimen?  A serious all-in-one scrub that does so many things, your face is guaranteed to look more glowy in three days.... well at least my brother's did!


Here's some hearsay:
Benefits of Oatmeal:
"An excellent multi-purpose skin care treatment, oatmeal helps to relieve dryness, restoring natural moisture balance to aid in healing minor irritations due to the many causes and sources of skin sensitivities."
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