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The year 2022 is trying very hard to break my spirit. It is testing me in ways I never thought possible. I would like to say I am winning, but in all reality, I am doggy paddling and barely keeping my head above water. I am tired of floating in the sea; that is 2022. Though every once in a blue moon, something comes along to give me hope that all is not lost.

The feeling of joy I had was quickly doused with sea water when I found out some devastating news. I cried. Not ugly tears but inside tears. The tears that sneak up on you at weird times of the day and just start falling down your face. The kind of tears that remind you that you are not *'okay.'*

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I have been on this blockchain for a very long time. I have met some incredible people while here. Some of those people are sadly no longer with us. Some have moved on to other life goals. Yet some people have stayed, and I am lucky to call them friends.

Those friends have been there for me in times of joy and tears. They have surrounded me with acceptance and love at every turn of my journey. I am fortunate and grateful for those friends. They keep me sane. I might make them a tad insane, but it is the price they are willing to pay to be my friend.


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Amid tears and support from my friends, The Sims 4 came out with a new expansion pack called [High School Years](https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/the-sims-4-high-school-years-v). The collection comes with brightly colored everything. The Sims team outdid themselves when making this expansion pack. It is happy in a box. 

You do not get actual boxes anymore. You just download the new content to your computer. Which is faster and more convenient, but now that I think about it, I miss boxes. Who knew? Huh.

Anyway, let's move on, shall we?

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**No, No, not that kind of box!**
*hehehehe, I had to! #boobsforwitty*

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I use games and gaming to help control the amount of pain I am in. It works wonders. The trick is keeping your mind so distracted it forgets to register how much pain you are in. Gaming helps me a ton. I take fewer pain meds. I am happier because I am doing something I enjoy. It really is a win, win. At times, like down in Florida, this tactic did not help. But that is a story for another day.

My friend @IntheNow also got the High School expansion pack. We spent a lot of time OOOooo'ing and Ahhhh'ing over all the new stuff. IntheNow **plays** the game. He finds all the ins and out's of each new game pack. I am more of a builder. I love building my Sims' own homes. I can take days making Sims look just how I want them to be. I can also take days building my Sims home.


After the dreadful, horrendous, shocking, appalling news, I needed distraction and fun. The first idea that came to my mind was to take a few of my friends and make them return to High School in Sims 4.

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**Saffi, Bruno the cat, Brisby, and Dreem**

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Every family needs a parent. You came from somewhere. In my happy world of the Sims, I thought @Brisby would make a perfect and caring Mom. I called her to let her know she had gotten knocked up with two teenage daughters. She happened to name those daughters @Dreemsteem and @Saffisara. What are the odds? Okay, I named her children. Brisby had no choice in the matter.

I had a ton of fun finding outfits for the new family to wear. The teen outfit selections blew my mind. How times have changed since I went to High School! Yet, that made it fun to pick outfits for my Sims to wear.

Next, I started on the house. The new expansion pack has tiny lots. I dislike playing in two-story homes, so my latest house takes up the entire lot. There is no room for a pool, but I am okay with this fact. IntheNow is not.

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I started on the main rooms of the house. I wanted them to be full of happiness and cheer. To me, this means Bright colors. Happy colors. Using most of the new items in the expansion pack, I had a ball designing the living areas.

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Next, it was time to move on to the bedrooms. So many new items for the bedrooms! It was hard to choose!! I had a ton of fun filling them with color. I also made a videotaping room so Brisby can be a world-famous chef that makes videos for people to learn how to cook.

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Once I finished building the house, I let the new family inside. They had a ball doing homework, cooking, playing with Bruno, the cat, and making sure the place was easy to play in. It was so much fun to watch them move around in the house.


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What this post comes down to is life is going to be really shitty at times. You will want to bury your head in the sand and wish all the horrible things would disappear. But life doesn't work like that, I am sad to say. If you know these facts, you know it is up to you to deal with all the problems that come your way. 

It is your life, after all, and not someone else's. Knowing it is up to you to take charge of your life is more than half the battle.

That doesn't mean you don't need help because most of us, me included, do. Whether it is in the form of an ear to listen to you, a shoulder to cry on, or someone that doesn't judge you but will stand by you when you need it most.

There is also nothing wrong with giving yourself a break when you need to breathe and playing a game that will let you forget a few of your troubles for a while. We all need time to breathe.



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## Help someone smile today. It can not hurt you.

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# Snook 

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Thumbnail Water: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/martinstr-108372/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=230014" class="keychainify-checked">Martin Str</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=230014" class="keychainify-checked">Pixabay</a>

High School Years by [The Sims 4](https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/the-sims-4-high-school-years-v)

Box: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/xusenru-1829710/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1390659" class="keychainify-checked">Khusen Rustamov</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1390659" class="keychainify-checked">Pixabay</a>


All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.


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![Gif made by @Snook](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/snook/nWkFfuay-Hive202.gif)

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