Happy!

I did a post last week about some things that annoy me. Here's the slightly-more-optimistic follow-up. :)

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY! ...In no particular order. :)

(This may be harder to write than last week's post, because I was fueled by frustration... plus... there are soooo many things that make me happy!)

The sun. It's like all the happiness condensed into a big ball of firey BLISS! When the sun's not out, it just makes my life that much less happy.

Babies. Come on. I dare you to look at a baby and not smile.

Hippos. And please. Don't tell me how ferocious hippos really are... they're cute, and I actually get giddy when we see them at the zoo. XD

Playgrounds that are big enough for me to play on. We went to a playground a couple summers ago like this, and I think I was more excited than my little sisters. I was practically squealing with excitement until we had to leave. I've been dying to go back ever since.

Ukeleles. Music in general makes me happy... but have you ever heard a sad song with a ukelele?

Making people laugh. Making you happy makes me happy. :D

Those times where you're in the car, you look out the window, and just thank God for how *beautiful* everything is. Yeah, this one's pretty specific, but it actually happens to me fairly often. Especially when the sun is out. :)

Jesus. "...And if the devil doesn't like it he can sit on a tack." :P

The satisfaction of actually getting something accomplished. Lately, I wish I could feel this one more often. :P haha

Dancing. Yes, I've confessed to not being able to dance. :P I suck at most dancing, but I'm good at Regency/Civil War era dancing (where you're mostly skipping around and twirling). It's really, really fun. :) Plus... if something makes me really happy, I do indulge in the occasional "happy dance."

Friends and family. You guys are awesome! I don't know where I'd be without you. You've all made me smile and laugh more than anyone else.

Getting emails/IMs from friends. They definitely brighten my day. :)

Finding out that you got a good grade on a test you thought you'd fail. Phew!

Anything remotely cutesy and romantic (especially if it's what I talk about here). I'm a sucker for romance. It's sweet, and it makes me melt in a puddle of sighs and pathetic girly musings. <3

Going to the mall. We rarely go to the mall. When we do... I sort of look like I've been raised in a barn and have just been taken to the mall as an introduction to modern society. I get all giddy and excited. And the pretzels. Oh, the pretzels!

Going to the beach. If you thought I was bad at the mall... you haven't seen me at the beach.

Finding something that's been lost for a long time. If it's lost long enough, it's like it's brand-new. And who doesn't like finding brand-new items in random places?

Roller Skating. I love roller skating. Nothing more to it. :)

The smell of fresh-cut grass. Pure bliss.

Pringles. Thank you, mustache-wearing Pringles guy, for delivering to us your crispy, MSG-plaited deliciousness.

Doing the things I love doing. Learning Sign Language makes me happy, because I'm finally learning something that I've always been interested in. Playing the piano makes me happy, because it's epically FUN! Writing in this blog makes me happy, because I've finally found an outlet for my impulsive urge to write something.

So thanks for reading this! I'm hoping that at this point your joy is busting at the seams, and you're ready to explode into a swarm of butterflies or tapdance with a chimpanzee.

But if not, here's some inspiration. (Keep in mind the ukelele!)

Germs

Last week, one of my nightmares pulled its way into reality.

No, nobody broke into my house.

Nobody was kidnapped.

I'm not being stalked (that I know of...)

Instead, my serene bubble of sterility and wellness has been popped and my family has succumbed to... the stomach flu.

Dun dun DUNNNNN

Some of you might understand the chaos of my dilemma, and some of you might be sitting at your computers, wincing and saying "is that it?"

It's because there are two different kinds of people.

There are the people who aren't bothered by germs at all. They breathe in other people's germs like it's as fresh as a spring afternoon. It just doesn't bother them. It's because it doesn't bother them that they sometimes don't realize that if they do get sick, they don't let that stop them from running around and infecting everyone else.

Then there are the people who see germs like the microscopic, heinous little demons they are, and try to avoid them at all costs. :P

I might be what you'd classify as a germaphobe. But... I *have* gotten better over the years. I went from freaking out over pretty much any kind of sickness, to just the kind that will have you lying around in pain and agony for 12 hours. That, unfortunately, is what's circulating through our house right now.

So far I've managed to avade it. For the first week, I was a germ warrior. I washed my hands after touching practically everything: countertops, doorknobs, refrigerator and cupboard handles... and suffice to say, the current dryness of my hands make alligators' skin look like this:

I was all over not catching this thing. I was pretty sure that if I washed my hands enough and stayed away from the invalids, then maybe I could make it to the other side completely untouched by the stomach flu's sinister claws. That was at the beginning of last week.

See, one of the reasons why I'm such a germaphobe is HOW LONG it takes my family to recover. We have 9 people in my family. It's been hitting one or two people every two or three days. It takes a painfully long time for it to hit everyone. Every day has dragged by like its own week. I've hardly left the house since my mom caught it at the beginning of last week.

Although so far my physical health has been left untouched, my mental health has been slowly slipping through the cracks. Since the Monday before last, I've been nervously waiting for someone else to fall victim. It's taken a toll on my sanity. Aside from the cabin fever that everyone is suffering with, Every two or three days my paranoia would jab me and whisper menacingly into my ear, "You're next, Kaylee..."

And on Monday, the unthinkable happened: My dad came home from work sick. AGAIN. And last night my mom ALSO caught it again. O_O Whether it's the same flu, or if we caught yet ANOTHER illness, I'm still unaware. All I know is that I can say that in the transpiring events, my anxiety scale has decreased dramatically. It was this week that I begun to go from this:

To this:

It's not that I want to catch it now... but I think it's almost become more like a word that you say over and over and over again: If it held some sort of meaning before, it's been lost in the repetition.

Photo cred:

Tiny ugly germs

Perfect skin lady

2 Birthdays

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas!!!

Mine was pretty good. :)

It started out just about the same as it always does... people groggily stumbling down the stairs for our annual picture on the staircase.

My Grandparents came out to watch us open presents.

...And yes, despite the fact that we had to leave a couple waffles out for Santa because we didn't have time to make cookies, he still came. ;)

...And as far as the presents go, I didn't do too bad this year. ;) (THANKS EVERYONE!)

I got the coolest leather-bound Bible, NKJV, with silver pages (this is what it looks like from the outside...)

A couple of my favorite movies ("Sherlock Holmes," and "27 Dresses."), 5 new diaries to indulge my writing addiction, and this little baby riiiight here:

It's amazing. :D

Also... Kyla got me this for my Secret Santa gift:

I totally love her music the more I listen to her. :D Her voice is so cool!

Ok, my bragging is over with. :D

After present-opening we had a HUUUUGE brunch, and then we went to my grandparents' house. :)

And my mom's cousin James came to visit, too.

...and, as the title suggested, our family celebrated 2 birthdays yesterday.

I think you can guess who the first person's birthday was... ;)

But the second birthday was my sister, Karissa's.

She turned FIFTEEN yesterday. O_o I still find that really weird, since I still vividly remember this:

Also, it seemed like yesterday *I* was fifteen. Pretty soon I'll be all old, covered in wrinkles and sitting in a creaky old rocking chair in some retirement home, fighting with my roommate over a game of checkers........

But I'm getting ahead of myself. :P

She had a good birthday. :) She got her greenbean casserole for dinner (her favorite), and...

She got a cellphone.

I'm not sure, but I think she likes it... ;)

So yeah. Christmas/Karissa's birthday= Awesome. :D

Also... If you've made it to the end of this post, I commend you. :P

^Those cheeks. O_O