Path of Positivity Challenge #27: Happiness

Well, how do I spell 'Happiness'? H-A-W-A-I-I. And nothing represents Hawaii better than the Hula, IMHO, KWIM? (OK, for my sisters, IMHO is 'in my humble opinion'. And KWIM is 'know what I mean'. Just so you can follow my thought process. Yeah, and good luck with that!)

If you are a new reader, then let me introduce you to my favorite vacation spot! Yes, it's the land of Hula and beaches and whales and sea turtles and all of God's other sea creatures. Not to mention fabulous food, lava, gorgeous sunsets, ocean breezes, and plenty of aloha. Hawaii just spells happiness to me.

I saw this cute little hula girl and it made me smile. I knew I needed to use her to represent happiness for this first posting at PoP this month. And the sentiment that I found online really says what happiness should be, no matter where on earth you are. (Though being in Hawaii just doesn't hurt any.) Be happy at this instant, because this instant is all you have. Until the next instant, which then becomes this instant. Capiche? So it is always this very moment. Right on, Omar!

I printed Hula Girl (from the Imagine That collection) on X-Press It BC, and colored her with my Copics:

Skin: YR000, YR00, YR01 (another new skin color combo for me)

Hair: C5, C7, C9

Flowers: E02, E15, E13, E07, E09

Shoes/Clothing: Y32, Y35, Y38

My DP is from the Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue collection, and it was paired with Stampin' Up CS. My die cuts were made with LaLa Land Crafts Palm Tree and Memory Box Palace Oval Frame dies.

I started to laugh when I typed 'shoes' above. Silly reason. But Saturday night, (as I getting ready to run out the door to yet another fabulous meal at Citizen Public House in Scottsdale), I noticed the shade screen on the patio was still in a down position. So I ran outside, (or walked quickly, actually, as my body no longer does running, does yours?), and began to madly crank the screen up. I moved my hand a little too close to the patio wall and scraped my knuckles on my right hand. Which caused bleeding, which is a no-no in public these days. Am I right? So, I ran back into the house, (yeah, yeah, I walked quickly again), to get something to stop the bleeding. My poor right hand already looks like Frankenstein's wife, with the lovely scar from my surgery earlier this year. With two lovely new scrapes, I was PO'd. Yes, I said PO'd. Please don't be so shocked. Anyway, I managed to stem the bleeding, and now we were a few minutes late according to Gary's schedule.

Well, you know what that is like, right? Don't mess up "The Schedule". I was a teeny bit flustered, but hurried to get into the car and got myself buckled into my seat belt, just as Gary was driving away. And then I shut my car door as we careened around the corner. (Oh, just kidding, he doesn't get that goofy about being late. And he goes so slowly around corners it irritates me.) Where was I? Oh yeah, the shoes. Well...we got about two miles down the road when I noticed that I had forgotten to put on my nice sandals before we left the house. Because of my angst about my bleeding knuckles. And I still had my sloppy, slightly broken-down, but very comfortable, sandals on that I ONLY wear around the house. Do you have a pair of those? Not-ready-for-prime-time shoes? Well, I do. And I don't EVER want to wear them anywhere in public. 

Not only was I wearing my ugly shoes in public, but I was wearing them to downtown Scottsdale. That's like the biggest faux pas you can imagine. (At least in my own mind, which is sometimes a dark and scary place.) It took me about 15 miles to get over my horror and see the humor in the situation. Yes, I actually did giggle a bit before we got to the restaurant. But I begged Gary not to mention my shoes. And, bless his black little heart, he didn't. And no one said anything to me. Like, 'why the hell are you wearing those ugly shoes to dinner, Penny?' Thank heavens...

So this posting could have been about something other than happiness, (like pain, exasperation, or embarrassment), but I have to say that I became quite happy again, while eating that wonderful chopped salad at Citizen Public House. And then we had a crazy burger, which was really scrumptious and loaded with cholesterol. You see, it was created with ground sirloin, short ribs, and pork belly. And topped with cheese. And the brioche bun was brushed with butter. Yeah, my arteries clogged, but the rest of me was extremely happy. In spite of my ugly shoes. And we had lots of laughs with our dinner club friends. So it was a really good night after all.

Hope you plan to join us this month--get happy! Check out the wonderful inspiration by my talented teammates, won't you? Here are the deets for this challenge.

The sponsors and prizes for this challenge are:

• A $10 gift certificate from Imagine That! Digis By Kris, one of our guest sponsors this month, for the post or project that the DT deems most inspiring of the bunch.
• Five images from Sentimental Susan, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

There will also be:

• One digital designer paper (made to order in a couple different ways) from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on the start, midway, pondering or top picks post for Challenge #27.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge.

Have a wonderful week filled with happiness! (And don't wear your ugly shoes anywhere.)