Today is Mother’s Day, the sweetest day of the year in many women’s lives.

But to me, this is my first Mother’s Day so it’s even sweeter than that!

Okay, last year I was pregnant, so some people wished me a Happy Mother’s Day anyhow… but this is the first one that I can hold my own child in my arms.

And I can look in his face, and see both myself and Barry there.

Isn’t it amazing how much life can change in the blink of an eye?

This day will definitely go down in history as a very special one for me.

Keep Unwrapping The Mysteries of Life!

Barry was introduced to this beautiful short film, and I cried when I saw it. It’s beautifully written, and has a powerful, heart-warming message.

We also posted it on the LWL Worldwide blog, but I needed to include it here too because it’s a great way to end 2008:

I’ve seen my share of short films, having covered many film festivals in my reporter days.  I interviewed tons (like, hundreds) of short film actors, directors, producers, writers, and fans.  And none of their films held a candle to this one!

It won Best Short Film in the Sedona International Film Festival, but I’ll bet it could win more than that… if the film festival judges would allow some feel-good positive messaging rather than the doom-and-gloom artsiness that usually dominates the festivals.

Funny thing, on Canadian passport photos you’re not allowed to smile, so my picture is serious… but if this makes a few people lighten up, have some fun, get inspired, and validate another person’s existence, then it’s done its job!

Keep Unwrapping The Mysteries of Life!

This weekend I lost a very special friend.

Mercury, who I considered to be my feline soulmate in many ways, was killed by a car right outside our house.

I didn’t want her to be an outdoor cat, even the part-time status she had, for that very reason.  But Mercury had a free spirit and a mind of her own, and she demanded again and again to go outside after we moved to the new house.

We let her out to make her happy, first thinking we had the yard adequately blocked off so she would stay within our fences.

That turned out to be not the case, as she immediately figured out how to jump over it… but she adapted so well, and was so at peace when she was allowed outside, that we couldn’t say no — no matter how much I tried to.

It’s that age-old dilemma: do you try to protect what you love by keeping it close, possibly smothering it in the process… or do you let it be free, both to happily do what it loves, and to also possibly make mistakes?

Well, we also knew that with Konan on the way, it would never work to force Mercury to stay indoors.  She would either demand more attention than we were able to give her with a new baby in the house, or be miserable, or both.

So we let her have her way.

And despite how it turned out, I know she appreciated it very much…

>>> CONTINUE READING Farewell, My Special Friend…

The due date was November 9, but I always had a feeling he’d come early… maybe even as early as October so he could have his own birth month (my birthday is November 18, and I was sure he wouldn’t want to share it).

I even made sure everyone knew he could come as early as October 19, since that’s when I’d be 37 weeks pregnant, and the baby would be considered full term.

But it still took us by surprise when, on October 19, I really did go into labor… or at least start the process.

Yup, it was a classic yet rare instance where the water broke before reaching the hospital, but it wasn’t a big gush like in the movies, and it didn’t trigger labor so they had to induce it.

And on Monday, October 20 at 5:30pm (almost 24 hours after checking into the hospital) our beautiful son Konan Brody Goss was born.

Here he is, arriving home from the hospital for the first time yesterday.

Yes, he was three weeks early (another rarity for first-time moms) but still a hefty and healthy 8 lbs, 3 oz.

Obviously this guy is meant to be a super-achiever, and not a procrastinator!

I am filled with wonder, intrigue and fascination over the journey ahead, both for him and for Barry and I, as first time parents.

What will his future hold?  How can we ensure it’s the best it can be?  And what will he do with the infinite possibilities that are now before him?

One thing’s definite, we’re going to make sure he follows his birthright to be a super manifestor.

His birthday is 10-20… and if 10-10 was perfect to get married, then 10-20 must be twice as good a day to be born.

For someone so small, he sure carries and elicits a lot of love.  And he looks a lot like his dad, which gives me even more to love because I now have two special guys.

In only a few days of life, he has completely changed our lives, and we’re sure he’ll change many more lives in the future.

After all, if he’s anything like Barry and I… he’ll have a similar purpose of changing lives for the better, one person at a time.

Welcome to the world, Konan!

Keep Unwrapping The Mysteries of Life!

My soulmate Barry and I got married today on the perfect day… 10-10 (October 10).

That represents a “10″ rating for the wedding, AND a “10″ rating for the marriage.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

It also happens to be Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, and that represents all that we have to be thankful for in our relationship together.

And it’s Columbus Day weekend in the US, so that represents our desire to explore.  We explore life together, we explore metaphysical concepts together, we explore ways that people can improve their lives together.

And in a few weeks, we’ll be exploring parenthood together!

It was a pretty simple wedding, with about 10 guests — mostly family members and neighbors — in our own backyard.

But it was heartfelt, emotional, and very meaningful, and we found the perfect non-denominational minister who likes to explore and teach the same sorts of metaphysical concepts that we do!

She also let us customize the vows, the ring exchange, the readings and blessings, for a very special ceremony that included poems we wrote to each other.

All in all, it was definitely a perfect 10… and we couldn’t have picked a more perfect day.

By the way, it’s officially Heather Vale Goss now… but I’ll still answer to Heather Vale as well.

Keep Unwrapping The Mysteries of Life!

It’s official…

Barry proposed to me today!

Yes, even though we’ve been talking about getting married for some time now… even though it already feels like we ARE married (and a lot of people assume we are)… I was holding out for a real, old-fashioned proposal.

I’ve never been proposed to before, and it’s an experience I wanted to enjoy.

Okay, that’s not entirely true.  Marilyn Manson (yes, the goth-inspired singer) did propose to me once at a bar that I was bartending at, and he was hanging out at with a mutual buddy, one of the radio DJs from the local alternative music station.  But his two different eyes kinda freaked me out, and besides, I was already married at the time, so… I had to turn him down gently.

And the reason I was previously married without ever being proposed to was that I had read an article in the paper about Sadie Hawkins Day (Feb. 29) one leap year.  The tradition said that if a woman proposed to a man on Sadie Hawkins Day, he either had to say yes or buy her a red dress.  I figured there was nothing to lose (red was my favorite color and I could have used a new dress!) so I did it — no fanfare, no forethought, just an off-the-cuff question — and the rest was history (except that it took another six and a half years to actually get married, but that’s a different story).

Anyhow, I didn’t want any repeating patterns in this relationship, so just “getting married” wasn’t in the cards.  Turns out Barry’s a romantic, too, and wanted to do something special when he proposed, so he decided to wait for that opportune unique and memorable moment…

>>> CONTINUE READING The Interrupted Proposal…

This weekend, Barry and I met my parents for a little adventure — the Northern California coastline, the Southern Oregon coastline, and the Redwood forests.

Yes, that one little pocket of the world contains sandy beaches, rocky shorelines, and awe-inspiring trees, all within a few miles of each other.

Here’s Barry with my parents by the California beach…

And Dad’s taking my picture as I take theirs!

You’d never know it was North instead of South… this is the type of beautiful beach that you could find and enjoy in nearly any warm climate area in the world.

If you blindfolded someone and brought them here, they’d probably never guess where they were!

Then we moved further North up the coastline, where it turns rockier (and windier! Wow!) but just as beautiful.

This is me above the point where the sand and rocks meet… like teeny rocks that have been formed from what the big rocks once were.

Millions of years of history can be seen in a place like this — and it’s amazing that we get to experience it.

I like to imagine it 100 years ago. Did it look the same?

What about 1,000 years ago?

How many people have stood, just like me, above the beach with the wind whipping all around them?

Things like that make me stop and contemplate the world we live in, and the way it has unfolded over time.

It also makes me enjoy the moment, even as I think fleetingly about other moments that have also been enjoyed in that very same spot.

After that we headed back south and went through the Redwood forests, on a small trail off the beaten path (literally — it’s just a dirt road), stopping every now and then to take a short hike into the huge trees.

This picture gives you some idea of the size of the giant Redwoods, as Barry walked behind the rest of us… but for some reason, none of the pictures we took really did them justice.

The awe-factor somehow seemed to go missing as soon as the 3-D world was captured on a 2-D photo.

This really makes me think about our significance (or rather, insignificance) in the vastness of the Universe.

It makes me appreciate everything we’ve created, everything we co-exist with, and everything that defines what we call home.

And of course, it makes me appreciate those I love that were there to experience it with me.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

My parents came to visit a few days ago… they’re here for almost a 2-week stay, and they’re planning to see as much of the area as they can during that time.

They’ve never been to Oregon, but it’s strangely reminiscent of Ontario in a lot of ways (besides both starting with an “O”)… for instance, both have beautiful rivers and tree-filled scenery, and both have Shakespearean festivals that are among the top in the world.

So Barry and I thought they’d enjoy going to a play here at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland… and I decided on A Comedy of Errors, which was presented as a Western musical.

Yes, Shakespeare, Western twangs, and song-and-dance — all in the same play.

This picture of us is one Barry took a few hours before the show, walking around the quaint historic downtown Ashland. And since my Dad is a retired history professor, we knew he’d like the old-time aspects of the town, and also the local school — so we took him to explore the campus of Southern Oregon University.

It’s interesting how things happen in patterns in life… and no matter where we go, we find things that remind us of home.

It reminds me of the saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

I moved 3,000 miles across the continent, and to a different country, almost a year ago… to follow my heart.

And here I am.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!

Brian Johnson, our marketing assistant at LWL Worldwide, sent us an interesting article yesterday.

It’s about a placebo pill developed by a woman who wanted to control her niece’s hypochondria by giving her some kind of pill — preferably not a drug, since her mother-in-law (also a nurse) had suggested Motrin.

Since placebos were not readily available at the drug store, she decided to develop one for kids called Obecalp (“placebo” spelled backwards). Basically a gummy candy that’s meant to taste bad so children think it’s medicine.

The whole article in the NY Times is here.

Okay, hold on a second… I sense good intentions from the inventor — after all, she didn’t want to give her children or her niece REAL drugs — but, come on! What the heck are we trying to teach our kids with this kind of “solution”?

>>> CONTINUE READING Placating Our Kids With Placebos?…

Well, for the past several months Barry and I have been looking at EVERY house in the local market that fell within a certain price range.

But we’re picky… we need somewhere we can live and work together 24/7, since we work out of the home. We need a place that has room for two offices (we work separately because when one of us is on the phone, interviewing someone or chatting up business associates and JV partners, or recording audios or screen-capture videos, both of us need to be able to concentrate, and not be interrupted).

And of course, we also need someplace with a separate bedroom for the baby that’s both near our bedroom, and my office, so he/she (we’re now affectionately calling the baby Mango instead of Peanut since that’s about the size he/she is) can get immediate attention when required, and when not sleeping right beside me.

We need a nice yard, where we can work outside if we want, or get some fresh air while still having privacy, or meditate and connect with nature… and we need to be away from noisy streets for sanity, and so we don’t have traffic noises in every recording we do.

We also need room for our home gym and our video studio. We need a big walk-in closet (yes, NEED, or else we have to live in an uninspiring mess). And we need modern bathroom and kitchen facilities, with a double sink in the master (because that’s what we’re used to) and granite or tile counter tops in the kitchen, including an island in the middle (because that’s what we like).

Yup, we need the perfect house… but we want this champagne-grade house on a beer budget.

And finally we found it… or, perhaps, it found us…

>>> CONTINUE READING We Manifested A Dream House!…