A recap of my recent read: The Happiness Project: or why I spent a Year trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin.
I can't decide if I am ultra annoyed by this book, or if it resonated with me a little. I think the fact that I can't definitavely say that I enjoyed it, means I really didn't. If I have to question my enjoyment, I probably didn't like it that much. I've read a few happy books from time to time. One that comes to memory is The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner. I do recommend that one because if nothing else, it is a fantastic travelogue and geography eye opener, but back to the book at hand.
As someone who has struggled with clinical depression and post partum depression many times throughout my life, I guess it is a topic that peaks my interest. I used to be very hush hush about my depression, but I needed a support and a network, and now I talk very freely about it. I love my medication, but I also do my part (I'm an exercise Nazi because I get natural endorphins, and I don't expect meds to solve any of my problems - but you'll never convert me to therapy.) I think that depression is a very personal issue, and you can deal with it however it works for you. I say just do whatever works for you. I've managed to figure out what works for me thankfully and that's that, but back to the book at hand. (I keep dodging the book - I guess it really bugged me.)
This book recounted a year long happiness project that this highly educated ultra talented lady embarked on. You can check out her website here: http://www.happiness-project.com/ She didn't pick extreme things (like moving to a foreign country); instead, she tried to make little daily changes that could impact her for the better. While I like many of her ideas, most of the book reads like a gigantic bragging session to me. "O look what Gretchen can do....." All in all, while I find her admirable, and I think I'd really like her in person, and I'd ultimately love to count her as one of my friends in real life, and I'm very impressed with her accomplishments...... she left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. I couldn't help feeling like I could never measure up to her happiness standards, and instead of inspiring me, I felt like a dud of a person. I'm not sure if it was really the book that made me feel this way, or if it is just my negative nature....but that's my take on it. I do like many of her ideas. She set out twelve personal commandments for herself. (1. Be Gretchen 2. Let it go 3. Act the Way I want to feel 4. Do it now...etc...) I really like this idea and her first commandment really resonated with me. "Be Debby." Easy, simple, good advice. Instead of pretending there are things I enjoy or trying to make myself into a carbon copy clone of everyone on the block - just be me. I think I am happy when I am unabashadly Debby....but that doesn't mean just being me will make me happy. You still have to coexist with society, and since most of the activities I enjoy are solo - I have to push myself to interact with others. and try to appreciate their interests also - (This is the ultimate introvert in me talking here.) I think my main beef with this book is that I am a perfectionist and I just don't think her strategies would pan out for me. I have tried projects like this before - (you should check out some of my books of New Year's Resolutions.) In the end, endeavors like this tended to make me more unhappy because I never measured up enough in my eyes. I've found sometimes just BEING instead of STRIVING have made me personally happier. I could go on and on this topic, but I'm afraid I have a child stuck under the recliner, I better go! To happiness!
I had my spring piano recital in the morning! Yippee! I don't have very many students, but the ones I do have are really fantastic. They all did a great job. They played by memory, kept going through any rough spots, and gave great bows in the end. I was happy how it turned out. We used the library auditorium for this recital, and I liked not being able to provide any refreshments :) I did give them all a Symphony Bar as a treat afterwards, but it was nice to not fuss with drinks and others junk. There was quite a mix of music, from Beethoven to Star Wars, and Grieg to Taylor Swift. I make them do some songs that are classical, but I always let them pick something they want to play too. In the end, I think it was a great recital. I got a teary-eyed grandma of some of them coming to me telling me how great it was. Quote: "My daughter isn't just wasting her money on lessons any more. She is paying for someone worthwhile." Even if she is a possibly prejudiced grandma....it feels nice to have your teaching validated. I love teaching and really do care a toooon about my students and their progress. Now onto summer. I am thinking we are going to have a practice competition this summer, and maybe just maybe some of them will still practice. 
I met my friend Sarah for lunch at The Castle Park, and had a great time! Sarah was a really good friend of mine in junior high, who moved to Utah in high school, and we reconnected via facebook a few months ago. She has two girls the same age as my boys, and our kids mesh together reall well. The Castle Park is a super fun park - I'll have to post some pics of the park from previous visits another day. Cade didn't want to play on any of the playground equipment because he saw a bee. My crazy boys will eat bugs, but they panic and flip out when they see even ants. We ended up exploring a very steep ravine type trail instead. The boys and girls got down in the dirt and slid on their little bottoms and crawled back up for a loooong time. I enjoyed catching up with my friend and it was a great afternoon. I love the dirt plastered all over David's legs when we were finished. I'm so glad I have little boys that can soak in dirt and be cute little bugs while doing it!
Even though I have managed to kill a cactus - and can't keep a houseplant or flower alive for the life of me - I still like gardening. This is only the second attempt at a garden so we will see if there are any fruits to our labors. We have two square foot gardening box kits and we've been planting lots. Maybe too soon? I don't know. We have lettuce, tomatoes, kohlrabi, peas, peppers, zucchini, and many more squares left to fill. Two years ago we actually got some veggies out of our garden. It was so exciting to me to grow some edible food. I was just floored every time something grew. I just didn't think it would work. I guess I don't have very good faith in soil, water, and sunshine. Since we didn't weed our last garden, I think we made out like bandits. Only time will tell if this year will be another success. (Oh yeah, by the way those are COATS we are wearing to plant the garden. I think it snowed just the day before we decided to plant....grrrr....) 
What kind of pics do you get when you ask your five year old what you should take pictures of? Well, pics of mom with a free 
Saturday was hairct night! My friend Marcy came over and chopped all three of my boys hair! Yippee! They all look as handsome as ever. David danced around with a broom and Sponge Bob bandaids plastered to his nose, whilst my friend Annie provided background music. I think I like this haircutter that comes to the house business. Very convenient - and much better results than my fuzzling attempts.
Remember the Breadinator? (Crazy apple/peanut butter/asparagus/banana masher dude?) Well, it looks like Cade and I'd little food creation played off. We may not know how to cook - but we know how to win. We won two free boxes of produce from Green Bee Produce! Yahoo! Thanks to anyone who voted for our creation. We are still enjoying the fruits (pun intended) of our labors! I'm in artichoke/plum/carrot/asparagus/etc.etc.etc. heaven!!!!
Just in case you weren't completely baby animaled out.....here are three more pics that I didn't fit on the previous post. I just discovered how to do a collage. (This may or may not be a good thing.) I take pictures - tons of pictures AND I never delete any of them. No not one. I have some of the most miserable pictures ever (crazy faces from me, blurred, completely black - you name it.) I just can't bring myself to delete it. It's like picture abortion in my mind, and I can't do it. I can't help but feel like a two year old child attached to a lovey....if I delete my picture it will go away forever, and even if it was a bad picture, it had personality, it had SOMETHING to say. Okay, I am messed up. So I take lots of pictures, and I try to love all of them. Sifting through and trying to find just one or two is not my forte. It is something I am trying to work on, though. Hence my resolution to post a Picture a Day. Please forgive me for picture overload. I just can't help myself sometimes. (oh and there are probably two more posts of Baby Animal Days yet to come.....)
So I don't really remember last Wednesday now...but I do remember lots of Thursday. So, I hope you can humor me while I post the next several days all about Thursday as if they happened on Wed. and Fri. and Sun. etc. On a spontaneous whim I drove the boys down to Baby Animal Days just outside of Logan. It was pretty spontaneous - as in I picked Cade up from preschool, realized it was cold and windy, and I had been to the gym and only had on shorts and a t-shirt so I went and snagged a pair of pants so I didn't have to go home and change - spontaneous. (More on my 97 cent pants later, though.) Anyhow... PROUD MAMA MOMENT!!!! One of the things we did at Baby Animal Days was eat bugs. Seriously. Everyone was gathered around a table where the students from USU were handing out free flavored bug treats. No one would try them. I told my boys they could have some bug candy that tasted like potato chips. So....they both ate them up. Cade really liked them. It made me proud to be their mom. My boys won't touch bugs, freak out at the sight of an ant in the kitchen...BUT they will EAT BUGS with no problem?????? They must be my children. If you would like to order some of these delicacies then check out their website: 
So I belong to this singing group called the A'Olian Modes. It is a sextet plus two, and more often than not I sing baritone (yes, baritone) - or play for the group to sing what isn't a cappela. So crazy, I never pictured myself singing again, but somehow I got roped into it. It has been fun. We are getting ready to do some shows with lots of songs from the King Singers, and we are putting together a "Popera" that will debut with the Village Grill (dinner and a show.) Anyhow, we were supposed to have a rehearsal on Tuesday night for an upcoming show, but things got crazy. Instead of rehearsing, we spontaneously put together a game night. I volunteered my house, and Marcy and Annie came with the pizza and Kent and Lara brought one of their sons. We chatted about Chicago with our recently returned traveling friends, we played Discombobulation and Annie put the pizza in the oven. We started smelling smoke, so we checked on the pizza. Eric opened the stove and smoke billowed out. Some of the girls started screaming, I ran to the kitchen to grab my camera....yes my camera. My camera was out of memory, and by the time I deleted enough pictures most of the fun was gone. Grrrr. Eric picked up the flaming pizza and ran it out the back door and chucked in the weeds. My response, "What did you do that for? I wanted a picture of the pizza on fire!" Eric: "I wasn't going to wait!" So that was our pizza fire. Eric saved the day, and I didn't get my flaming picture, but I did get some great pics of the aftermath. I also learned that if my house were burning down I might grab my camera and pictures before I grab the fire extinguisher....so I hope that doesn't happen! Oh, and in case you were wondering how this happened.... don't cook two Papa Murphy Pizza's too close to the heating element, because they might burn. And this one wasn't actually my fault, but it sounds just like something I would do. Annie thank you for being like crazy cooking me! It was a fun memory.