Watch and Get Happy

This beautiful video from my friend Gayle at www.godblesshumanity.com makes me happy whenever I watch it. Sit back, relax, and enjoy beauty........

Living from my Handbag

These last days have been crazy, and I feel as if I am living out of my small handbag. Cell phone, cereal bars, camera, glasses (that seem to get swallowed in there), wallet. I usually carry the hobo size purse, but am trying to force myself to collect less clutter by taking this mini bag. So I am carrying a small bag stuffed to the seams with my stuff......

This "spirited" week will end on Monday, right after our tax man leaves. The reason I get so crazy is because I procrastinate. Every year I SWEAR I will get organized, file my receipts, keep track of expenses monthly, stay off of this damn computer, and voila', every year I post the same thing.

I AM GOING CRAZY!!

I am also preparing for a show this weekend. I must say, I seem to perform much better under pressure...the last few goddesses are GORGEOUS! My daughter keeps trying to gamble the Wolf Goddess away from the selling block.

We took our Hooptie van for a ride up the mountain this weekend, to Gold Country. It was truely beautiful. We ventured to Daffodil Hill, because I have been wanting to run through the ACRES of daffodils for 3 years now.

SNORT!

I will post pictures tomorrow and show you the difference of what you "imagine", and reality.

Salute'!



Wolf Goddess, Spring Goddess, Owl Goddess, and Tree Goddess, in the making :).

Eeeeek! Another Meme!

meme: (pron. 'meem') A contagious idea that replicates like a virus, passed on from mind to mind. Memes function the same way genes and viruses do, propagating through communication networks and face-to-face contact between people. The root of the word "memetics," a field of study which postulates that the meme is the basic unit of cultural evolution. Examples of memes include melodies, icons, fashion statements and phrases.

Wow. And I thought it was a derivation of "Me! Me!"...

:)

I have this LOVE/HATE relationship with these "meme's". Crazy little things. I love reading them, sometimes I like writing them, as they bring up things I have forgotten. I admit, I hate the "tagging" part, it just drains me. So, as I always do, I have decided to make this meme more enjoyable for myself, and hopefully for you, by "tweaking" it a bit :).

I was tagged by the fabulous magic food maker at Frutto Della Passione.


What I was doing 10 years ago:

Work: Working for a travel wholesaler.

Life: Trying to figure out how I was going to raise this baby girl I just had, and reinventing myself.

Five things on my to-do list today:

1.
Make more goddesses for a show on the 30th. (not done)
2.
Laundry (not done).
3.
Start preparing my tax stuff for our prepare (not done).
4.
Go to the bookstore (not done).
5.
Meet some friends in the park and play (done).
(well, at least I have my priorities straight!)

Snacks I enjoy:
Guacamole, and anything with melted cheese.

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:

First, I would charter a jet and take us all (Rex too)to Italy, and fly my friends and family in Germany there too. My husband and I would then take two weeks to contemplate what we want/need.

I would find a house while we are there, not too big, but with land. Space for my dog and his new companions, space for my son's chickens, close enough to a city for my daughter, and with a B&B area for my husband :).

I would give money to those who help abused children and animals.

I would open a divine women's center, the one that I am carrying my head for the last 5-8 years. It would be a fabulous haven for women, and their children.

I would enjoy life to its fullest, travel the world with my family, enjoy my kids, and not worry anymore.

Three of my bad habits:

1.
I procrastinate (just copied that one!!)
2.
Too many ideas, not enough stamina.
3.
Spend too much money. Always.
I have so many more!!! But I will stick with this rule......

Five places I have lived:

1.
Germany
2.
U.S.
I am boring.

Five jobs I have had:

1.
Bartender/Waitress
2.
Airline Ticket/Gate Agent
3.
Airline Customer Service/ Lost & Found Agent (yes, I am the one you yelled at when we lost your bags in NY when you were taking your European vacation :)...)
4.
Travel Agent
5.
Sales Director for a caribean luxury hotel chain

This is where I stop :)....

Instead of tagging, please feel invited to copy and answer these questions! I would love to get to know you better.

Geesh, I hope I am not jinxed for breaking the chain???

xoxoxo!

And the winner is.........

I ran a little contest during the 5 Minutes for Mom Blog Party for a copy of my book :). Welcome to all the new subscribers, and greetings to all the existing ones! I hope I can bring a belly laugh to your day!

Drumrooooooooooooollllllllllllllllll!

The winner of "Goddess in the Groove ~ Musings From the Goddess Within" is:


Alexandra!

Congratulations!!

This girl likes to spread some love, so if you did not win today but WANT a copy, I am extending a 10% discount to all my subscribers :). Just send me an email at info38 (at) goddessinthegroove.com, and I will send you a discounted invoice...and the book will be in your hot little hands in a matter of days!

To end this wonderful day, here is a funny moment out of my life:
My 90lbs dog just low-crawled on the couch next to me (which he is NEVER allowed to be on!), and hid his head under the pillow so that I don't see him. He keeps peeking out from underneath to see if I have discovered him...I will give me one more minute before I have to do the butt bump, since he made me laugh....

No Blogiquette??

I have a fabulous friend, who also happens to have a fabulous blog. It seems as if her "bloggifans" are just sitting in the start holes, anticipating a new post. Soon after she posts, there are 20+ comments to her post. Don't get me wrong, I love her and she is truely FABULOUS, but she could post "I SUCK!" and her bloggifans would be right there to pull her out of her misery :).

Today I asked her (she happens to a voice friend too!!) how she does it?? I have my own little circle of bloggifans who I adore, but I am feeling a challenge coming on. I want more bloggifans!!

Her response: "You have no Blogger Etiquette."

Huh?

OMG, there is a Blogiquette (my new word!!), and I have rudely ignored it? Please, save me from further ignorance, educate me!

Post your favorite Blogiquette "must do".

P.S. Let's see if my FRIEND really reads my blog and follows her own rule: You should always visit your friends' blog and comment. ha! I am watching you......... :)

Green Eggs, No Ham

Spring Greetings!

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite ways to welcome Spring!

Frankfurter Grüne Soße

This yummy concoction is not only super healthy, it is easy to make. When I was able to buy the Grüne Soße herbs packaged in newspaper at the fruit stand, I knew Spring was official :).

One of my favorite stories to tell with this meal is that the poor farmers collected these wild and free herbs in the pastures, serving them over the two things they had readily available: Potatoes and eggs. It is also tradition to serve this on the Thursday before Easter, for good health for the year.

Pokey Shmokey, here's the recipe:

Chop up parsley, (each one bunch), chives,chervil,cress, dandelion, pimpinelle, sorrel, borage (if you live close to me, I have borage coming out of my ears in my backyard....)
Put in mixer. Add 1 garlic clove, and enough thick (greek style) joghurt to make a thick sauce. Add some mustard, lemon, and salt & pepper to taste.

So you can use sour cream instead of joghurt.

Serve over new potatoes and hard boiled eggs.
YUM!

In honor of this Spring day, meet Spring Goddess #2:

Treasure Hunter and Dream Seeker

This one is long, but grab a glass of wine and stay with me.

Almost 6 months ago a friend told me about "compactors", people who sign a contract and vow not buy anything new for 1 year. What a fabulous idea! I mulled over this some time, discussed it with the family, and we ventured into our own version of compacting. I joined our local Freecycle group, and the adventure began!

If you are wondering why I did not join and sign the compact contract, well, it is because I do not do well with rules, so I would never voluntarily inflict them on myself. And I don't buy used shoes. And, even though some of the posts on the compact yahoo list were very helpful and informative, as with every group online, there are always a few assholes to spoil the fun.

I have always been a thrift store queen. I LOVE thrift stores...Seriously. The thought of making a great deal and saving the environment, and at the same time kicking consumerism and debt in the ass is so empowering and bitchin' :). Finding Freecycle and a few other resource unknown to me was great. Now, when we need something big, like a drum, a dryer, 1000 legos, a watering can, a lawn mower, etc, we go to Freecycle (these are all things we have WANTED, and RECEIVED.) When I find things in my house I would never give away, but I don't need, I put them on Freecycyle and find the perfect, thankful owner for them! My kids live in breathe in the environment, and they see Freecycle as our personal department store.

To get to the reason for this long intro: I wanted to share some keypoints of my day with you. My brain ramble will come together somewhere down there!

This morning my kids had piano and guitar lessons with our fabulous Ms.Lisa
who is just awesome! She is teaching my daughter to play the blues on the guitar, so B.B. King watch out! My 6yr old has written 2 Rexi songs for his dog and is playing them on the piano.

While they are making wonderful music, I am preparing my package to send to Oprah. Yes, that Oprah. :)...I wrap up my book and a Goddess that my kids deemed the "Oprah Goddess" in a magical little package. Now I am manifesting the package becomes invisible to all the screeners and looky-loos, and ends up in Oprah's hands. I want to go on Oprah, that's that. She personafies everything I want to be. Anyways, the kids were done, we sprinkled our package with magic invisi powder, and right before we walk out the door, I run to check something on the computer.

There is an email from one of my favorite thrift stores that says: TODAY ONLY ALL CLOTHES 50% OFF! OMG, my heart races!!

So off we go to the post office, then of course to the thrift store. We were like three treasure hunters, making our way through the crowd. We unearthed:

3 pairs of Levi's for me (My ass is special. Only certain jeans fit my ass, and I never find any. Today I found 3..so I had to buy them all. If I would have found 10, I would have bought them too....)
1 pair of jeans for Mr. Heike
1 pair of shorts for Mr. Heike
1 pair of capris for me, and 1 pair for Heike Jr.
1 bathing suit for me, and 1 bathing suit for Heike Jr.
4 long sleeved cotton shirts
1 blouse
1 dress (notice I am not writing who gets what...)
1 hand crochet blanket for my fabulous vacation van
, or future home.
1 salad spinner and 1 vegetable cutter
1 pair of shoes
1 beautiful goddess jewelry box, brand new, for Heike Jr because she is so wonderful.
1 truck for Heike Jr. #2, because he is so wonderful.
My total? $46 with tax!!!!
Whew! Let me fan myself!!!

:)
To celebrate our finds, we went to Haggin's and had our first fruit freezes for the year. You know, to acclimate ourselves for the summer.

I ended this successful day with salmon, wine, 2 hours on the phone with long-time-not-seen-friends-who-are-fabulous-and-inspiring, and a little teary-eyed blogging (see buttons to your right under my goddesses, and check these women out! Let's send out some cyber love!!)

Almost fini.

P.S. I want to mention the BLOGHER ad you see on the sidebar. BlogHer is a women owned company, and I am honored to be on their blogger roll. I am talking quality info and ads, I never have to worry that you will see kacka. Plus, you can see what some other bloggers are doing :). Now they are asking for YOUR opinion, to make the network even better. And you can win prizes (Nothing like like a surprise prize for this mama!). So please take a moment to check out http://deploy.ztelligence.com/start/index.jsp?PIN=139XYXPQ6HWYW

Fini.

Twice in 5 minutes!

Today I HAD to go grocery shopping. I don't enjoy that at all. I always buy too much, and since we only eat non-chemical, mostly organic food, our grocery bill is downright depressing. Makes me always go home and have a beer!

After a grueling 45 minutes of: "No, we don't eat that." "No, that is too much." "No, last time I threw it away, we still have some, we don't need it, etc.." I am checking out. While I keep telling the check out girl to use my reusable bags to the max (which I never seem to bring enough of!) before she switches to paper, my daughter takes over some packing.

A man behind me says:"You have such well mannered children."

I ignore him because I know he can't mean me.

Again, he says: "You have such well mannered children."

Oh, he does mean me. I turn around and start laughing. "Why, thank you!"

I walk out and my kids are smirking at me. We start packing up the truck, my son jumps in back to situate the bags. A woman says:"Wow, what great helpers you have!"

My daughter looks at me and starts laughing. "Twice in 5 minutes!!"

Who took my kids??? I will enjoy it while it lasts, before they bring my little devils back :).

Another Meme

I’ve been tagged by A Bag of Olives! Here are the rules:

Rules are:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I want to fast, but can't give up coffee, cheese, and wine (in that order).
2. I love big dogs. The bigger the better. No, I am not from Texas :).
3. The older I get, the more I like glittery, kitschy things. I love those little kitsch boxes from Mexico, and wish I could get organized enough to put my kitsch in a themed box.
4. I want to go on Oprah.
5. My kids hardly get candy, and have been taught that chemically colored foods are BAD...but I whenever I go on long roads trips, I have to eat red licorice. It is magic.
6. I am learning Italian, again.
7. I don't like memes...really :). I like reading others, but my concentration is too short to fulfill them...plus, I can never think of enough people to send them to!

...and a little bonus, I don't think I even know 7 people to tag them. Here goes:

Creatress's Creations

Watching Clouds

Writer Mommy

Frutto della Passione


Lisette

There, that's all.
Fini

You are now HEALED! Not.

I had to break down and go to the doctor last week and get my leg checked. After spending 9 months and then some in the hospital after my accident 16 years ago, I have an aversion against doctors. Don't get me wrong, I love them, respect them, as they saved my life. But, I would rather drink vinegar, walk down the street naked, eat worms, than go to the doctor.

If you know my story (it is in my book, chapter "Blessed With Two Miracles"), you know that the accident I had literally broke my back. It also severed a bunch of nerves, leaving parts of my right leg numb. Over the years my lazy butt took over, and the leg got weaker and weaker. So now we have it.

As my son says as we are walking to the doctor's office: "I know why your leg hurts, mama. You are old."

There.

The visit was quite useless, as the doctor basically told me the same thing. Age, and the lack of rigorous leg exercise, have take their toll. Now that I know that my cold, blue feet are not going to fall off, I can get to work.

Old my ass.

It is time to call my roots. I am getting ready to do an herbal cleanse to rid my body of toxins. I have also started to take COLD showers to get that circulation going. BRRR! It takes some cojones to take cold showers, and there is an art to it. Being German, I remember the Kneipp water pools with warm and cold water, now I wish I had some here!

If you are short on time, but want to exercise, Heike to the rescue! Try the 5 Tibetan Rites. Not only does it work every main muscle, once you have it down pat, it is supposed to make you YOUNGER!!

:)

Seriously, I am a mess. The other day I woke up and my body hurt. I think it is giving me a sign. Of course, I am not as diligent as I could be. The perfect scenario would be to change my diet for 3 weeks to really balance my insides.

I can handle no meat, no sugar, no yeast, and no preservatives or "color". But no coffee, wine, CHEESE (my only soulfood, melted cheese!!)?

Oh hell no!

So we (my body and I) will start slowly and keep y'all posted!

Wordless Monday ~ Guess What?

5 Minutes for Mom Party!

Welcome to my party! Thank you for 5 Minutes for Mom for sponsoring this fabulous palooza! I will introduce myself quickly for those who have never been here:

Hello, my name is Heike, and I am the owner of Goddess in the Groove, a website for women with opinions :). I started this website when my daughter was just a baby, because I realized how much work it would take to raise a strong, inspired, intelligent, non-judgmental, and proud little girl in this society. I decided the first step was to create a caring and non-judgemental place for strong, inspired, intelligent, and proud women to congregate and help me out :).

This blog is an extension of my website, a chatter place. This is where I connect, share, laugh, and learn. Enjoy, explore, and sign up for the email feeder to your right(right under the cover of my book :)..) to join my community!


I love a surprise! Everyone who signs up for my email notification during the party week, March 7-14, will be entered into a raffle to win a copy of my new book "Goddess in the Groove ~ Musings From the Goddess Within"! All you have to do to enter is sign up to your right (under the cover of my book).

Enjoy the little Party Announcement from my kids by clicking on the link below!




My favorite impromptu party recipe:

1 Cream Cheese (put on a pretty plate)
1 Jar of Pineapple Salsa (pour over cheese)
Crunchy chips

Dip in! Heavenly!!

P.S. If you have not checked out the divine prizes, do so now :)!
My favorites, picked by my daughter, are:

103 — 7 Pink Brick Box Play Sets
Provided by: LEGO

91 — Burt’s Bees Naturally Ageless skin care line
Provided by: Geggie

136 — Knitting Goody Bag
Provided by: Craftymom

It was hard…THANK YOU!

Is he buried in the backyard?

My friends are asking me if I buried dh in the backyard, since they never see him anymore (maybe they secretly think he finally left me, but burying him seems the nicer thing to ask??).

My kids' new friends have asked if my kids have a dad? :)

On the homefront, I received a complaint: "Why am I never in a picture on your blog?".

Meet Mr. Heike:


And no, I did not just pick up a dark handsome stranger at My Place of Worship and ask him to pose as Mr. Heike for this picture. Look, he has my dog.

My Place of Worship

It is Sunday, and it is only befitting that I share our Place of Worship with you.

~ Our Place is non-denominational, and accepts anyone. Really.
~ Our Place renews your Spirit, and makes your Soul dance.
~ Our Place loves children, and they can enjoy by your side. Even dogs are welcome!
~ Our Place is filled with happy, friendly people who talk to strangers.
~ Our Place does not take appointments. You come when you need to be there.
~ Our Place accepts donations of love and respect, and appreciates when you leave with ALL your belongings.
~ Our Place is open 24/7
~ When you leave Our Place of Worship, you will be one with Mother Earth and your Creator, whoever they may be.........

Blessings!

Goddess of the week

Following the example of a very talented artist I know, I am posting the first Goddess of the Week: