Happiness is ice cream sandwiches and other serious matters...AKA the innerworkings of my brain

I learned something today: You can find happiness in getting together with family after a long time of not seeing one another. You can also find happiness in having an especially busy day at work and not feeling like a million elephants trampled over you. But delight is also found in ice cream sandwiches, and don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.

I went to Otto's for dinner with my family, and while their burgers are plenty reliable, their fries crispy and whatnot, it is the dessert that presents the bam effect. Okay, I know, that perhaps Otto's is known for their beer, but for now, my hops will have to come from jumping around like a rabbit on a sugar high. (Haha get it...hops?...No?) This sandwich, let me tell you, was in no way half-assed. I couldn't be more bothered when a place advertises "healthy" desserts that are only a hundred calories! Negative grams of fat! The equivalent to running on a treadmill if you chew on this thing! Yeah, and did anyone forget to mention that it tastes like moldy cardboard? This thing was phenomenal. I don't think I'll ever have to eat again. Seriously people, you haven't had an ice cream sandwich until you've smushed creamery vanilla ice cream in between two gooey chocolate chip cookies.

Anyway. This blog was purely going to be a superficial post about the wonders of dessert, but something has been on my mind lately, and I haven't had a serious post in a while, so let's just bring down the mood a tad, shall we? This is college after all; we can't have too much fun. This was my first weekend in a while where I spent the whole time at home, and while I'm used to crashing in my room in between shifts at work, it didn't occur to me how much I'd missed my family until I actually spent time with them. I don't know what the hell my brain was doing in high school, but for four years I was convinced that unless I was given an engraved invitation to come watch a movie in the living room, I was banned to watch Jenna Marbles videos in my room. The times I surfaced from my bed were to suffer to Jillian Michaels workouts, to pee, and whenever I heard the "dinner knock" on my ceiling. And I was surprised when my one sign of existence in that house were disappearing whipped cream cans. I guess the "duh" moment came four years too late, since now that I'm not technically living at home, I'm realizing how wonderful, albeit zany, my family is. After hanging out in the living room for two days, I didn't get any shocked looks for not hiding away in my room. I had actual conversations. I laughed with people I was previously intimidated by. I think I got twenty times closer with each person in my house over two days than I had in two years. Plus, I got to have dinner table conversation about anvils and atlatls. And that is just not something that happens every day.

An atlatl...yes, this a thing my household has

Is it the whole "you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone" phenomenon that makes people feel this way? I don't know if other college students are appreciating their family more that they're away, but it makes for a mixed feeling of "I have the best damn family in the universe" and "I wish I could do it over." So for the high school students that are tempted to hide out in their room (believe me, I know the feeling), try hanging out in the living room/kitchen for a while. You might be surprised by how delightfully weird the people you live with are, rather than just "lame."

Plus, enjoy the time you have to not wear shower shoes.

Namaste.