I was like this 5 years ago. It's trite and no one wants to hear it, but the basics go a long, long way.

All of that stuff you hear about in front-end interviews ( like the box-model and relative vs absolute positioning ) comes in handy.

I do admit that pre-flexbox CSS did require some wizardry and hacks here and there. I think "modern CSS" is quite enjoyable and we're able to enjoy a time where we no longer need CSS frameworks to do all the "hard work"