Randomosity

I dunno… I usually like to think of myself as a progressive thinking and at-times Artsy type of girl…

I never really got much into the whole modern art scene but the

Populist Scene scares the crap outta me.

Am I alone on this?
I guess on the surface, I can appreciate this as “modern art”

BUT I have to be real…

yikes, I’m scared shitless of it…

Maybe I’m misunderstanding it and need a giant creepy matronly type of

doll to take me upon it’s lap and explain it to me?

When I make things, I like to make them pretty, and express beauty and fun; and I mean absolutely NO disrespect to the artists creating these pieces, I just don’t understand it, but then again, maybe they don’t understand my version of beauty… maybe they are just expressing other emotions in their art? I can understand that…

Maybe this type of “art” is an outlet of sorts for their creators? I can understand the point of view from the artist creating from the soul, expressing and discovering their feelings of hopelessness, their grief, a void in their soul for some tragedy they have experienced, but what confuses me is…

what if that’s NOT where they are drawing from when creating pieces such as this?
I remember a few years ago when people started making the reborn dolls, then it led to vampire dolls with fangs and now these types of things…
so who is buying these things?

collectors?

other depressed people?

WHO??!!

I’m just being brutally honest, these things conjure up such fear, sadness and pain inside of my soul that it hurts me to look at them.

But wait, maybe that is what is SUPPOSED to happen when I view these types of pieces? Maybe the artist has hit the nail right on the head, and I’m feeling EXACTLY what they hoped for when creating their art?

UGH!!! I don’t know….

Please SOMEONE explain this “populist” movement to meeeee before I go insane!!
Maybe I’m missing the art in it…BUT it makes me want to cry!

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)

can I be evil for 1 minute?? Here’s a pic of Katie Holmes & Suri (holding hands)…are they NOT loaded… can she NOT find a dress that fits her little girl??!! She could SO be dressed amazingly… and yet, it looks like it’s a crappily made dress, and looks too big, it just hanging off her shoulder! UGH… what are they thinking??

Here’s a little known fact about Goosie Girl…

I absolutely LOOOOVE Johnny Cash!!

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

In the past, I’ve homeschooled my two older children~and now I’m embarking on a journey of homeschooling my youngest. He is preschool age (four years old) and I have learned so much about feeding the child inside the child rather than putting them in front of the television or video games.

How many memories of your own childhood do you have of playing dress up, having tea parties, playing house with dollies and dressing them up?

Some of my fondest memories of my own childhood include moments of these very things! My Grandfather used to come home from work during the week and usually one night a week after we finished dinner, he would join me in my bedroom and play some silly form of dress up fun with me! He’d let me put curlers in his hair, wear a wig, sip pretend tea or whatever this silly little goose wanted to do! What a wonderful time that was! Children learn through play~they experiment and replicate many of the daily life scenarios we, as adults carry out thoughtlessly but to a child this is a WORLD of fun. When I was a child, I had a box of old clothes, purses, high heels and even wigs in which to dress up in.

Perhaps these heart warming memories of dressing up, and pretending to be a princess sipping tea with the Queen (my gramps in a dress, LOL!!) is what has birthed Goosie Girl Boutique, or drives the creativity behind the items in my Etsy Shop. (?) I’m not sure, I just know there is sooo much wonder, creativity and FUN to be had when little girls play dress up. A recent interview in USA Today noted these concepts as being an important part of how children grow and learn when they are encouraged with open ended toys, costumes, and environments in which to play:

Make-believe is more than child’s play. It’s crucial to the development of creativity, empathy, learning and problem-solving, but it’s being squeezed out of the lives of many children, says psychologist Susan Linn. In her new book,The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized WorldLinn says parents must limit their children’s screen time and give them simple tools that encourage creative play. USA TODAY talks to her about the building blocks of make-believe.

Q: Why is play essential to children’s mental health and creativity?
A: Children use make-believe to conquer their fears and explore their hopes and dreams. It’s in play that they get to initiate action instead of just constantly reacting. It’s a safe haven for honest self-expression.

Q: You write that studies show the time children spend in creative play has diminished over the years. Why?
A: Kids are spending about 40 hours a week engaged with electronic media after school. That’s time taken away from creative play. The combination of this screen time and all the toys based on TV shows and movies narrows children’s options for make-believe. So do these best-selling electronic toys where all you have to do is push a button, and the toy talks, walks and does back flips by itself. It’s like the toy is having most of the fun, but it’s not giving children a chance to be creative. When it comes to toys that encourage creative play, less is more. A good toy is 90% child and only 10% toy.

Q: How will the toys associated with some of the movies, now out on DVD—Indiana Jones, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight — help or hinder play?
A: These very violent movies are spawning thousands of new toys and other licensed media-linked products. Kids play less creatively with media-linked toys. These toys come with a built-in script. There is a particular character with a particular history, and it does particular things. That’s not conducive to creative play. I see this with little girls and the Disney princess movies. There are 40,000 Disney princess items on the market today. Girls see the movies again and again. And so when they play, they often just reiterate the movie instead of inventing something new or bringing something of themselves into it.

Q: What kind of things should parents have available for children ages 3 to 7 that will encourage creative play?
A: Invest in art supplies, including paint, crayons, markers, glue, glitter. Give them dress-up clothes, puzzles, blocks, old sheets for pretend tents and caves, dolls that aren’t sexualized, puppets and stuffed animals that don’t have computer chips.

Goosie Girl and Les Tissus Bows offers an amazing assortment of items that foster creative play for little girls! From Tutus, to costumes depicting fairies, princesses and animals such as frogs and bunnies and bumblebees. Each item is made with the most love and attention to detail we can muster. Come on by the website or etsy shop and browse our current selection:
Goosie Girl Boutique

Les Tissus Bows Etsy Shop

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!!

Have you ever had a favorite cd (or for you older peeps, cassette or 8track) that you listened to SOOOO much that you wore them out and had to replace them? I’m a complete music freak and I’ve done this so many times. I’ve often had to buy and rebuy cds because they wore out! Thank goodness for digital music downloads in this age otherwise I’d still be buying the same 10 cd’s over & over again (it would be like groundhog day, except no Bill Murray…and no groundhog…well, you get the idea).

So I made a list of the TOP 10 played cd’s of all time from Goose’s music collection. I know every word to every song, and have bought a few copies of most of them. I have a fairly eclectic taste when it comes to music but I was surprised to see a lot of my selections are acoustic or  the front woman is a strong female vocalist

…anyone else dig these cd’s?

Until They Wore Out!

“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!

What did the Mommy Tomato say to the Baby Tomato?

“Catsup!”

For my birthday, my bestie and I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a weekend getaway. We got an awesome deal on a room at the Hyatt and the BEST part of the trip??

He! He! We were THRILLED to find this ADORABLE little baby bottle of ketchup when we ordered room service!!

Omigosh, I am absolutely in love with this darling little bottle!

How Cute is it?????

Ah…It’s the little things that bring me JOY!!