Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Happiness Project

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Yesterday {on my day off} I woke up a grouch. I moved like a sloth over to my bathroom and angerly brushed my teeth, vigorously washed my face, and hastily brushed my hair.. ok it was more like two passes with a large comb.. but the effort was there peeps.

I moved through the still house quiet with shifty eyes looking for signs that ass hat was there or gone...
was any one else home?
no.

Did that change the fact that I really just wanted to leave and never return?
no.

So I headed to my sisters place.
I was cranky.. and in no mood to stay in my warm and muggy room with bright sun coming through the window. "Uck.. its soooo sunny! Stupid sun.. alll sunny" I hissed at the beautiful day out side like {yes I'm sooo going there} like a vampire {and  not even a really stunningly beautiful one.. just a greasy haired blotchy faced one} and made my way to my hot and steamy car.. eck. We Arizona folk are not used to ANY humidity. So I am really grossed out right now at the outside world.
With my giant celeb shades {or as my brothers call them.. bug glasses} I made my way quick, and cat like on the freeway to her house.

As soon as I opened the door and the cool circulating air hit my face and my shoulders dropped and I felt some peace. I opened her bedroom door where Marlee the adorable was asleep. She lifted her head from her little princess bed to look who made all that noise, saw it was me, and unimpressed she lay her head back down.
Cool.
She wasn't in a hyper "Play with me! Love me!" mood.
Good deal.
I went to her freezer where she stashed some left over M&Ms from my last visit there, picked out a fluffy  blue blanket from the basket in the living room. I crawled onto her bed exhausted and defeated like I had been swimming in the ocean and just crawled ashore onto land for the very first time.

I layed there atop her giant bed and among her massively fluffy pillows.
My pillows are flat. Smooshed. Sorta crumbly in old cotton clumps.

Her fan was on low and sent a nice refreshing, steady breeze that made the hairs on my face tickle my cheeks.
My room was hot.. and loud. Two fans pushing hot steamy cat hair around and around and around.

I listened waiting for the other shoe to drop.. loud neighbors? Noisy trucks? Car alarm? But nothing. It was quiet and peaceful.
My neighborhood was riddled with load trucks being fired up, the mail mans squeaky breaks ect ect ect.

Clearly this was an awesome idea!
When the Sister Sue texted me to see how my day off was going {see.. a peach!} I told her I was layed up in her bed chillin. I told her I wouldn't turn lights/tv/ac on to not add to her eclectic bill. But she quickly responded in protest. "Nooo turn the tv on! if its hot turn the air down. I'll be home around 6:15.. Subway for dinner?"
 Ummm yes please! My day got a whole lot better from there. My sis has a stack of books she is reading right now {like mother, like daughter} one of those books is The Happiness Project. I picked up at the library and started it today at lunch. I am really enjoying it so far! I recommend :)

Around 8pm full from our sandwiches and chips, I crawled back up into her large bed and settled in with MORE Grey's Anatomy {enter my need for a support group} while she read under a soft light in the living room. She gasped in horror reading her scary novel and I chuckled at the silly characters on my show. Each quietly enjoying the space in two different ways.

I closed my eyes and thought "what if?". What if she and I lived together? Would this be what it is like? Quiet nights in our own corners of the world, and radios blasting and curling irons blazing on nights getting ready to go out? Will this be similar to what it will be like to live with MGrace in NYC? i hope so. I think so.
I believe so. I know so.



"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy."
-Robert Louis Stevenson
(from the book)
What makes you Happy?
Greys Anatomy and baking blogs make me very very happy :)

7 comments:

  1. Yea I love your blog.. (PS.. I've been saying or typing.. "Ba ha ha" its funny how you pick up things that make you smile) I loved your visit last night, and more so I love that you knew you could come over and "just be in my space." As you know, I bought this 2-bedroom condo in case my 'little sister' ever needed a place to live, and although it makes me slightly sad that we couldn't do just that.. I love that our sister friendship has matured and we can close this chapter knowing that. Although.. I never did the "bucket list" or drove out to NY with you..damn budget got in the way.. we still have hell-a memories to look back on and LOVE. The happiness project makes me smile to.. shout out to "A" for posting it on her blog.

    XXOO

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  2. This is so perfect. I love the days you can just enjoy the people you love and recover from the days that kick your butt.

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  3. This post is perfection. I love :)

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  4. You're lucky to have such a wonderful sister. And I loved the Happiness Project when I read it. Now that I think about it, I probably should re-read it again.

    When do you arrive in NYC? Or did I miss that? My road trip has me all sorts of out of the loop.

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  5. Such a sweet description of you and your sister. Clearly, you two are happiest together.

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  6. I loved reading that book. It just made me more cognizant of my thought and behavior patterns.

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  7. I'm almost finished with this book.. love the author, (Gretchen Rubin is a big blogger- the irony in your post)..

    Here is my favorite line from the book:

    "One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself."

    Cheers!

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