Personal

I admit it… this suburban middle-class Chicago girl has become a

Jersey Shore Whore!!
I’m totally addicted to this stupid reality TV show!

I think one of the hooks is because their lives ARE so completely different than mine, I feel like a voyeur peeping in on a train wreck! I can’t stop watching it! It’s like a bad car accident that you drive by and you can’t HELP but looking at it, although you know it’s going to be grisly and sooo yucky to look at! I can’t wait until each week’s installment~ I HAVE to know what is going to happen! I need to know who Mike “The Situation” is going to hook up (grenade or non-grenade) , who J-Woww is going to crack in the mouth this week (I LOOOVE that girl ), and how drunk and stupid the big and funny, (but kinda hot in a Mrs. Robinson way) Ronnie is going to get each week!  However, I must be honest,  The BIG draw for me is Snooki though, “Nicole” to her close friends, “Snooks” to the juiceheads she lusts after… Seriously, the girl’s hair is taller than the Empire State building, and those goofy slippers she pads around in crack me up! That girl can do some amazing back flips for being a shrimpo just like me! (Yep, I’m 5′ 2″!).

Recently on the episode that kicked off season 2 of “The Shore” Snooki mentioned that she was no longer patronizing tanning salons and opting for an at-home tanning spray system instead~ why, you may ask? According to Snooks, “because Obama put a 10% tax on tanning,” she said. “And I feel like he did that intentionally for us.” She also commented, “McCain would never put a 10% tax on tanning because he’s pale and he’d probably want to be tan,” she said.

Hear! Hear! for tightening your belt in these tough economic times, Snookers, this mom is PROUD of you, girlfriend! However, just as I am concerned about my kids carrying backpacks that are too heavy, I am just as concerned about you lugging all that bulky & heavy bronzer around with you too sweetheart! I don’t want you to throw your back out and not be able to finish the season!

I thinkGoosie may just have a VERY good and economical solution for your spray tanning.  Stay tuned Snooki, I’ll keep you posted on the most awesome airbrush cosmetic and spray tanning system to hit the market these days. Check back in a week or so, and I’ll fill you in.

Until then

GTL baby!

(Side Note: I am very curious to know exactly how many people actually LIVE in Vinny’s house? uncles, aunts, parents, nieces, sisters… sheesh it’s like the whole cast of the Sopranos live in that little brick house!… just sayin)

“What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.” ~Eugene Delacroix

I’m not claiming genius for myself by any means, but what I can relate to in that quote is the “obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough”…
A while back I wrote a blog about the evolution of design.. and how many of us who design (whether visually, fashion, interiors etc) are continually improving upon our own designs. I am discovering my art/designs are growing, breathing, living things which evolve into new ideas, I am constantly doing this… am I the only one? One fledgling idea grows and reaches its maximum potential but not before it gives birth to the next morphed, better, improved, idea…sometimes, it’s not even better or improved but it’s a lateral growth that evolves from one idea to the next new idea.

Herman Melville, American story writer and novelist said, “It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” ~ I could not agree with this more. Often times, I see a GREAT idea from another designer and think “WOW!! I could totally make that…” but I won’t. Do you know WHY? because I respect that artist’s creative domain, I may take an idea and think “Wow, that’s an awesome idea, how could I do that differently?”… other designers (and I use this term loosely) out there are not respectful of who is pioneering an idea… they often just want to make a fast buck, the almighty dollar pilots their designing and to me, I’d rather die a slow death with needles stuck in my eyes than design that way. I’d never want to follow in another designer’s shadow. I’d never want to be that dead inside that I had no creative ideas or original ideas of my own… that is a sad and somber existence in my opinion.

(image of Dante’s Inferno: Purgatory)

I love the fire in my belly… I love my minds’ eye and the creativity that comes from it… I can’t imagine walking through life with blinders on and not being able to “see” what is coming from my innner creative soul… to me, that would be a living hell… or pergatory. I NEED to let my soul pilot my hands into my art/designing, I need to produce living, breathing pieces/designs that have come from the wellspring of creativity inside me. To some, this WAHM, small business owner thing is JUST THAT… a business… an opportunity to make money… but not to me, it’s about so much more than that… it’s an extension of my heart, of my soul, of my mind and the NEED to let that pilot what I do. It’s about the creation, it’s about the design, not about the money…
I have been told SOOO many times I need to charge more money for my designs… that they are awesome & I’m not getting what they are worth… and this is a personal business struggle for me, because I want to share pieces of myself (and that is exactly what my designs are) with other people, with as many people as I can. Everytime I make a costume, a dress, or a flower embellished headband, I think about who it is being made for…where it’s going…what they will feel when they open the box, what their face will be like watching them try it on for the first time, I imagine their eyes lighting up and a smile coming over them… and THAT is why I have a hard time charging more for what I do. Yes, I work HARD… I put in MANY MANY MANY hours a day into my business, but it’s emotional and not just physical for me.
This is why I think people appreciate what I do, this is why I think people come back, because I sell them a piece of my soul, everytime I make something for them! and it’s apparent in the quality, and care that goes into each and every item.

In closing, when you have a moment, ponder this amazing Ansel Adams (American photographer/visual artist) quote,

“Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.”

“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
Patrick Henry

I am a very patriotic Goose and just love holidays which celebrate our American nation! Not only am I a patriot, I am a former homeschooler which means I loooove reading to my kids! I wanted to share a book, and artist you may not know about but I have become particularly fond of in my children’s book travels.

Each day in Mrs. Warkentin’s 2nd grade class at Lincoln Elementary school in West Chicago, Illinois after the class recited The Pledge of Allegiance we would all sing, “This Land is My Land”

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin'  -  I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side  .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me."

The lyrics and singing it aloud as a group had such a profound effect on a young Goosie Girl. I have
never forgotten this experience, and even though Mrs. Warkentin was not my favorite of teachers, this
experience was one of the things that helped form the patriot I am today. When I began home schooling my children
I was thrilled to introduce them to the ideals of the founding fathers and what it means to be an American, a resident
of the land of providence. Yes, I believe this great country was ordained by God originally, call me wacky if you will
but I believe this to my core. All weirdness aside, In introducing my children to the concepts of patriotism, and what it
means to be an American, we sang this song aloud and also enlisted the help of this book:

The words of course, are by the original artist of the song, Woody Guthrie whom recruited the amazing Americana folk artist Kathy Jakobsen to illustrate the lyrics. If you’re not familiar with Ms. Jakobsen’s work, I HIGHLY reccomend her children’s books to you, “My New York” and “Meet Me in the Magic Kingdom”. The artwork is vibrant, intricate and sooo intriguing. My daughter has come to be bery interested in illustration since being exposed to Ms. Jakobsen’s art and it even inspired ME to pour over the illustrations for quite a lengthy time.

If you have a chance sometime this holiday weekend between parades, picnics, barbecues and fireworks, please take a moment to listen to the song, if not get your hands on a copy of this book! (It may be out of print, but I’m sure you can get it through your local library!)

Wishing you all a wonderful 4th of July! Be Safe, and Thank GOD we are in the home of the free because of the brave!

Here’s a little known fact about Goosie Girl…

I absolutely LOOOOVE Johnny Cash!!

and don’t forget….Johnny Cash Died For Your Sins!!

I go through little spurts where I dig on one musical artist for a period of time and totally try to absorb their essence through their music. I’ve been on a Mahalia Jackson kick lately. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the “Queen of Gospel Music” you are MISSING OUT!! This woman is truly an inspiration to me as a singer with her powerful contralto voice~and her deep faith alone is inspiring. When she grooves on that “hallelujah” in “Go Tell It On the Mountain” it’s amazing!! Many of her gospel songs have their roots in “Negro spirituals” that encouraged slaves to find their hope in Jesus~and to embrace the ideology that they were not carrying their burdens alone. This deep spiritual feeling can be felt in Mahalia’s songs from beginning to end.

Mahalia Jackson was born in the 20’s in New Orleans and died in Evergreen Park, Illinois in the 60’s. She has strong ties to both places, both the Big Easy as well as ChiTown. (Which happens to be where Goosie hails from also!).

I’ve been soaking up Ms. Mahalia’s gospel tracks of late on my ipod and I must say she is one INSPIRING chick! Not only did she record over 30 albums during her career but they mostly focused on her deep Christian faith. Her father was a baptist minister and it’s understandable where her musical tendencies sprouted from. At the ripe age of 16, Mahalia moved from the south to Chicago during what was then called the “Great migration”~a time of movement from many southern blacks to the north. In the late 20’s she met up with Thomas A. Dorsey, a very prominent gospel singer of the day~they toured together for a decade in half until the spotlight shone exclusively on the southern singer turned Chitown gal. In the 1950’s she was the very FIRST Gospel singer to sing Carnegie Hall in New York (You go girl!). What an accomplishment, for a poor black girl growing up in New Orleans sharing her home with many siblings and surviving on the income of a poor black baptist minister. She is truly an inspiration to me~and it shows me that you CAN overcome ANY obstacles if you take the God given talent you’ve been given and apply it! I remember as a child I’d often see on my report cards in the teacher comments section, “Heather needs to apply herself more”…not anymore teach, just watch me go, I’ve got that mahalia fire in my belly and I’m overcoming obstacles, using the gifts God has given me and I’m loving every minute of it. Someday, I will arrive~as a woman in business, as a girl from a “broken” home, as an artist trying to find her market and her niche, as a mom raising three children, struggling to make ends meet…someday…and until then, I will have Miss Mahalia as my inspiration!

I live near Chicago and this winter has been harsh! But…rather than looking at the glass as half empty, I’m choosing to look at it as half full and celebrate the winter weather. Here are some pictures I took that captures winter in my neck of the woods, I hope you enjoy looking at them, this is just something fun for me (photography), I’m not a professional but it’s enjoyable.

My wonderful friends threw me a party this past Saturday to celebrate getting out of the hospital & not being sick anymore. It was a celebration with my crazy friends, to celebrate my crazy life! It was so mcuh fun, and I’m sooo very touched at all the friends that came out for this special get together! I love them all sooo much!

I have the best friends in the entire world! After seeing the really difficult time that I went through in the last month, first getting bronchitis, then having an appendectomy that came with an allergic reaction which put me in the ICU on a ventilator, they are all throwing me a party! The event is affectionately called “Goose Fest” (don’t make a type-o like I almost did and say “goose feast”, LOL) …I can’t wait, it’s going to be so awesome to have so many people I love and care about in one place. People are coming from out of state for this party *THAT* is how awesome my friends are! I’ll be sure to post some pictures next week!

It’s no longer “way back week”, it’s celebrity look alike week on facebook. I remembered this site & tried it!
How funny!! Try it! and then post a picture of your look alike as your profile picture!

I’m totally cracking up that Ashton Kutcher came up for me!! LOL!! Do you think I even look like these people? I’m not so sure!! LOL!!

“Appendicitis is an inflammation of the appendix, a 3 1/2-inch-long tube of tissue that extends from the large intestine. No one is absolutely certain what the function of the appendix is. One thing we do know: We can live without it, without apparent consequences.” (web md)…WHEW!! I’m relieved to hear this! LOL!! I swear, I have had a run-in with every non-life-giving organ located within my body! Yes, Goose is now 4 grams lighter than she was a week ago~(I was wondering why my jeans fit better today!) he he.

Last weekend I went to the emergency room in a fair amount of pain on my right side, thinking I had a UTI, however, after 2 ultrasounds (actually 3 if ya count the one they had to re-do because the tech didn’t get good enough pictures on one of them) and it showed an angry appedix.

I wasn’t expecting to stay in the hospital when I arrived, I actually thought they would find a UTI, give me a script and send me home…however, that wasn’t to be the case. The ER doc wanted to be extra careful so he wanted me to also have a CAT scan to be sure, after I was injected with the contrast dye, I began itching. No big deal, the ER nurse gave me a shot of benadryl and then the doc told me I had a bad appendix and it would need to be removed ASAP….ugh…a wrinkle in my weekend plans to say the least but it was supposed to be a laparoscopy (through my belly button) and the hospital stay was expected to be a day or so, no biggee…I have had 3 c-sections and countless other abdominal surgeries, it would be a breeeeeeze, or so I thought.

After the CAT scan, and the benadryl, they wheeled me directly to the operating room where I met the the anesthesiologist and the surgeon (whom eerily resembled Paul Blart, Mall Cop, and Elvis Costello respectively)

Let there be no mistake, his ability to pull off a WAY cool pair of specs and a hospital hair net simultaneously did not interfere with his ability to also remove an inflamed appendix with ease and grace. Dr. D’Alesio did an awesome job as did the anesthesiologist. He was as funny as hell and was like a rockstar with those drugs coming at me hard and fast, and yes, to set the record straight, right before he put me under, I remember quoting Pink by saying “let’s get this party started”  to which he laughed his ass off. Haaa!

This would have been a wonderful story, had it ended here….however, when I woke up from surgery (which was supposed to be about an hour, that turned into 4 hours of waiting for my family who began to freak out in the waiting room) I couldn’t breathe & began clawing at my throat. It felt as if I had a softball wedged in my throat! I was gasping for air and they were telling me I was fine because I was talking…let me elaborate I was not talking, I was gasping and saying “I can’t breathe! something is in the way!!”…it was then that they realized being inverted during the surgery, having had bronchitis recently and an acute reaction to the iodine from the CAT scan had constricted my airway in a huge way! The choice was made quickly to re-intebate me (yeah, that’s like what you see on tv when they cram a metal shoe horn thingy down the throat and then they say “I”M IN!” and then they put a breathing tube down your throat.)

OMG, this was the absolute worst thing I have ever experienced, if I was asleep that would have been one thing, but I was AWAKE…hello?! Can you say WTF?! NIGHTMARE in a word!!I was put in ICU and continued to have other complications for the next couple of days, and then was moved to a standard room. While I was in ICU I had the opportunity to experience the drug Michael Jackson was jonesin’ for when he overdosed and died. Let me tell you…it did not knock me out, so you can either take that one of two ways…I’m one hard biatch to medicate or Michael Jackson was a wussy…well, you do the math…

So here I am, a week out from surgery! I am home now and am hoping that I have effectively reduced my chances of having any other illnesses, sicknesses, trips to the hospitals or injuries for the entire coming year. It was an incredibly rough ride, of which the surgery itself was the least of my worries!I’m so very grateful to be alive. I really have had some time to re-evaluate my priorities and I’m doing some re-arranging in 2010!

Thanks for reading, and thank you to my family and friends who has supported me through this past week, I never ever would have come out half as well as I did without the prayers & love from all of you. I am blessed beyond measure to have you in my life.

Now onto bigger & better things this year, I’ve been given a 2nd chance & I’m not about to throw it away… Goosie love you long time!