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!

Merry Christmas! Season’s Greetings! Happy Hanukah! Joyous Kwanzaa! Happy Festivus!

Did I miss any?

Barry and I posted our special Christmas wishes to you on the LWL Worldwide blog last night…

Go here to get your e-card and video message!

(Baby Konan makes a video appearance, too!)

Keep Unwrapping The Happiness in 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…

Animals are dumb sometimes.

And Barry thinks ours are the dumbest of all.  I’m not sure I agree with that, but I see his point, because they sure do some dumb and crazy things sometimes.  Far too many to mention here!

But then again, their small brains often allow them to do things that we humans only wish we could… if only we could stop thinking about the drawbacks of it.

Last night our hamster, Mars, escaped from his cage for the second time.

The first time, he just worked and worked at the cage door, and eventually pushed it right open.  I found him the next morning hiding behind some books on the bottom shelf of one of my bookcases.

See, his cage is in my office, and I keep the door closed at night… so even though he had chewed away some bits of carpet in an attempt to get out of the room, apparently he couldn’t dig a hole big enough to squeeze under the door… so he found the most convenient hiding spot.

Why did he do it?

Because unlike us, he’s not confined to his comfort zone…

>>> CONTINUE READING The Peanut Perimeter…

Since today is Barry’s birthday, I’d like to share something very private with you.

Saturday night when I went to bed, Barry said he was right behind me… but instead, he got distracted by something special.

Yesterday morning he surprised me with a video that moved both of us to tears (yes, even Barry, often seen as the big tough guy around here, has a soft side!)

It was not only heart-warming, but synchronistic on many levels, and reminded me how magical the past year has been.

During that time, as we’ve been living together permanently, I’ve gotten to know Barry intimately in many different ways, and that has allowed me to see that my original pre-conceived notions about him were a little off too.

See, we weren’t a couple when we recorded and released Masters of the Secret. We were business partners who argued as much as we synced up (that’s what often happens when two super-passionate, vision-minded and driven people collaborate on something).

And even after we fell in love, he made it clear that he didn’t really like cats (something I loved) and that he loved sports (something I didn’t care for very much).

But perhaps it’s because he’s a Leo (and his 39th birthday is today — starting his last final year in his 30s, and a time of reflection for all humans as we question what’s important or not) but he has grown to not only like, but love our two cats (Mercury, who I brought with me from Toronto, and Jupiter, who we picked out together here).

He goes out of his way to do special things for them, and only gets angry at them when they show a stubborn streak — which, I suppose, is some twisted feline version of the mirror effect since, as a Leo, he has the same feline-inspired stubbornness.

That’s probably why he connected with this video in a way that never would have phased him a year ago.

Today’s also the anniversary of the day I left a lot behind (including a city I adored and some very special cats) in order to follow my heart.

Yes, it hurt — and sometimes the saying “No pain, no gain” is true, because we have to sacrifice something we love for the greater good, or so that we can move forward in other areas.

Now we have something even more amazing coming our way in three months — a little being that we created together.

And in the course of this whole process, I’ve learned that love truly has no limits — as shown in this moving video.

Grab a box of tissues, and go to the next page to check it out:

>>> CONTINUE READING Love Without Limits… Even in the Animal Kingdom…

For the past few weeks, Barry and I have been moving into our new house (the yellow color has already grown on him, and is starting to grow on me too).

Yes, we did the bulk of it already, but there have been some smaller things that we had to go back for as we’ve been slowly settling in around our normal routine.

It has certainly disrupted our business a bit (okay, actually a lot) because we’ve had to spend so much time away from the computers, buying new things that we need, fixing things up, taking care of the yard and garden, etc…

But we love the house, the 10-foot ceilings, the expansive square footage, the yard, the huge kitchen — everything about it.

And definitely, being in a more prosperous and expansive mindset is going to help us in many more ways down the road.

A couple of days ago, while taking a quick break from moving stuff (honestly, he’s doing all the heavy lifting and I’m just helping organize and clean) we were watching our new satellite TV service and a show came on about the wildlife in Toronto.

They featured raccoons and squirrels, both of which I used to raise from babies as a foster parent for the Humane Society, whenever they were orphaned and brought in to the shelter.

Funny thing though, I just assumed the three color types of Eastern Grey Squirrel (grey, black and brindle, which is halfway between the two) were available wherever squirrels lived.

I’ve been living in Oregon for a year, and have seen many grey squirrels — and really just didn’t give it a second thought as to why I hadn’t seen black ones, because they’re so ingrained in my reality that I thought they must be here too.

Turns out, those are unique to Toronto and surrounding area, and tourists love to stop and look at the black squirrels that hang out around the provincial parliament buildings (about two blocks from where I used to live).

Barry says he’s never seen a black squirrel before in his life. Wow!

Just one more of those instances where it pays to never assume (it makes an ASS out of U and ME).

It’s amazing how we go through life with blinders at times, not really noticing what’s around us, seeing what we want to see rather than what’s there, and taking things for granted.

I’m taking a vow not to do that with our new house. I love so much about it, that I’m going to appreciate those things as much as I can.

I love to eat my breakfast out on the deck, overlooking the English style garden. I feel grateful every morning to be able to watch the birds and the flowers, and the little creek that will have water in it during the winter.

And that’s the way to enjoy life… with eyes wide open, appreciating and loving what we have, and experiencing what’s there rather than what we assume must be.

Keep Unwrapping the Mysteries of Life!