Kids

I LOVE being a mom. At this age I have a never-ending buddy. This weekend we went to a women's conference, got free samples of stuff, talked to people, bought books etc. We went on a great bicycle adventure this morning and hit every dead-end in our neighborhood. Guess what we found? A Horse. Yup, a horse at a dead-end in East Hartford.

We went to Old Navy and tried on clothes, but when faced with the option of clothes or a toy, the toy was chosen and the clothes were put back. GOT TO LOVE BEING 6!

We went to the studio, Jade helped me put together a table (pressed the drill button), water plants, organize my space and paint some boxes. We then went grocery shopping and my buddie helped pick out dinner options, snacks and ate potato chips and string cheese while riding in the cart.

We got home, I was making dinner and Jade helped with the salad. She washed it with soap, I put it down the garbage disposal and made some more. And now we sit, in my home office and she in her home office and I can't imagine life being ANY better than it is right at this moment. I absolutely LOVE being a mother. Of course, it helps when you have the coolest kid on the planet.

Life is great!

Selfish Explorations

So how much is too much? Oprah built her brand on her image, it was plastered everywhere. On the cover of her magazine, on her TV ads and on her website. We saw her happy, sad, dancing, in jammies etc. Fast forward a couple of years our buddie Chris Karr is doing he same thing, launching her new brand with her beautiful healthy face all over the place. Then I check out the Happiness Project blog and Gretchen is plugging her book every second she gets. It make me feel conflicted (but I'm still happy!)

We were taught to be humble, not to be "braggy", verbose and/or ask for too much attention. So as a woman looking to promote her business a.k.a and extension of herself, how do you do it without looking self centered, braggy etc. Do you think people really want people as brands? Do people really want to see you in every situation to determine if they want to buy your greeting card? I don't know.

Also too, I struggle with the blog idea. I have 4 of them. Fifishead, Creative juice project, casey update and this one. I also created a facebook store location for aileen designs. What do people want to hear from me? Do they really want to know what I'm reading, that I'm training for the Disney 1/2 marathon, that I'm having a bad day? I DON'T KNOW. It all seems pretty selfish and boring to me.

The one thing the ladies I mentioned above do is to provide useful and fun information. So maybe it's all about them, but them they turn it into something that's all about you. Which could be why it works. So if you followed an artist who blogs, who gives you a sneak peek into the creative process and her life, what could she give you that you would find valuable?

Happiness Project

Suzie - I bought the book yesterday and started reading it. WOW, it's awesome. I LOVE it.

After the first chapter I gained a very important insight. I'm looking for Fred's approval, that is the cause of my unhappiness -- I need to be recognized by others to feel validated! Friends, Collegues, family members - WOW.

So this week, in addition to "don't worry, be happy" I'm going to focus on how I FEEL about my accomplishments, because as Gretchen points out, it's our movement forward (I'm taking liberties here) that provides the food for happiness. Not looking to other people to validate your worth.

Amazing.

I also really liked her commandments and list of things she was going to work on to be happy. I think you and I should launch our own Happiness project. I am a bit like her in that I like to chart and graph progress, so her process would work well for me. What do you think?

Mr. Sunshine

Yes you are so right....everything is always great! He is happiness on 2 legs! How lucky are we!

Oscar Wilde said "One is not always happy when one is good; but one is always good when one is happy." Another thing about happiness is that it is scientifically proven to be contagious, so the lesson here is surround yourself with people who are happy! Be happy and your family will be happy!

Busy week this week!!Mr. Sunshine begins swimming, Cakie has dance, Fred's to Washington and it is National Fall Prevention Week at Work, and we have our Volley Ball Tournament on Friday along with Boy Scouts and Baseball! It's all FUN! Send some FUN vibes to the Jay Man he is sad leaving Jackie and his buddies, I would venture to say Jackie more but, it was a lot of fun out at Penn State and its hard to come home to Rutgers! Another Mr. Happy is Paulie!! Can't wait to see him and Molly next week!

Love ya!

Motto for the week "Don't worry be Happy!" :)

William Weiss

You have a budding "happiness project" in your own home. Mr. Wilson, willie T, william tallis weiss.

We all need to learn from him - ask for what you want, be persistant, ask questions, hold hands even tho friends your age don't anymore.

Nuff said! I love that kid!!! He is happiness personified.
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Happiness: Husbands, Bosses, and Guys Named William

Good morning!!

 

As I continue to read the Happiness Project I am reminded of another book I read on Happiness called Stumbling on Happiness. In this book...I should tell you who the author is but I am too lazy to get my but off the stool I am sitting on at my kitchen table, Ms. Rubin refers to the same book in The Happiness Project, but basically like beauty happiness in the heart of the beholder. We have a good Happiness foundation, we must! Look at dad! 

I know you like me love to be Happy. I would rather laugh than cry or laugh so hard I cry. That's why I loving being with you because you have always made me laugh, although sometimes its been dangerous..I could have fractured my neck the night my toe socked feet flew over my head and fell off the bed backwards! I am lucky I didn't aspirate the milk that came through my nose and end up with pneumonia or meningitis or something like that and that happened more than once!! So here are a few quotes to consider:

About husbands: "There is no love only proofs of love" Pierre Reverdy. Ms. Rubin interprets this to mean that whatever love one feels in there heart cannot be seen and is only evident by ones actions. So I guess you could say that love is expressed in action not just thought. I mention that about husbands because men and women express love differently and we all need to understand that. Ms Rubin seeks a lot of validation for her hard work as a mom and mother, sister and daughter but often feels she does not get it. But by expressing her love in actions others ie., her husband started doing this more as well.

And about ass hole bosses: Act the way I want to feel....so act damn happy and confident and take the Scott Casey approach and piss the Fucker off!!!!

 

 

And Finally........................:)

"Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing not that, but simply growth. We are happy when we are growing." William Butler Yeats. You gotta listen to a guy named William!!

Love ya!!

Happiness

Great post Suzie!

My day yesterday was awesome! I got jadie off to school, jogged for a half hour (2 miles, 17 minute mile) and then went to the Studio, putzed around (organized a bit) and then wrote two of the 6 columns I want to pitch to the Pink Papers. I also applied for 3 or 4 jobs on line so the wheels are set in motion. I am going to be open to any and all possibilities, I want this to be an experiment of how open I can be. I think we were raised to be very cautious, to not stand out. To keep a low profile and be "lucky" for what we get. I'm busting up that old routine. I want to be different, I want to explore everything and not be held back by assholes who think they know better.

Here's a really weird thing - the folks who have treated me horribly at work are the ones that have pushed me to do different things, to change, to get out of dodge. So I might have set up the pattern, that in order for me to take the next step I need an asshole to push me. I'm going to change that pattern too!

The happiness project sounds awesome. I think you and I are happy by default, versus others that are not. I think that's another issue we face at work and with friends and stuff. I've had people in my life ask me "how can you always be so happy?" and I think people like my current boss, have NO clue how to be happy. So we are the weird ones, the ones to be poked, to be prodded into miserable moods. The nasty people test us by trying to ruin our happiness. To prove that we are fakers, and confirm their unhappiness. F#$K them!

My big struggle is that I would never tell anyone they suck, and yet I've had some bosses do that to me. No matter how happy I am, or confident I am in my abilities that type of feedback does impact me. I know there is always room for improvement so when I get that type of feedback I figure some element of it is true. Where's the balance? I don't know. A jerk is a jerk, and I suppose when feedback paralyzes you (because it's not balanced) that's a bad thing. If folks have issues with what we do, then they can criticize but more importantly, they need to provide guidance and some input on how to improve/make things better. Otherwise it is completely unhealthy and unfair. How can you meet expectations when no guidance is given. YUCK.

So I guess for now I've got to deal with the unpleasantness of my work situation, which takes a TON of energy and then build my life outside of the "pit" to be large and beautiful and fun. My studio ROCKS and has such a FANTASTIC vibe to it, I LOVE being there.

I ordered a bunch of boxes that I'm going to paint, I have two stools that I'm going to paint and I'm going to buy a small cabinet and paint that too. Once that stuff is done I'm going to go after two other shops to carry my art. I also have pulled together my marketing plan. I'm gonna get a mobile hot spot versus cable installed in my studio. The hot spot is portable and will allow me to connect to the Internet from anywhere.

Ok - so it's been all about me . . .what about you dear sister!!! Where are your goals, and yes you can write, you just wrote two awesome blog posts! what are your thoughts about living your life large and juicy!!! Want to write a column for the Pink Paper??? Lay it on me sister!!!

I love you very much and thank you for listening to my constant complaining :). You are an inspiration!!!

 

Work Shmirk!

So how ya do' in!!!?? Hope your day was productive!! I have to say you need to create the thought and follow your bliss. So anyway the happiness project is proving to be cool. The author is a little intense but that's apparently the way authors are. Writers, thought I aspire to be one, and perhaps this why I am not, are so intense. I can be intense but unfortunately the more intense I become the less focused I am. SO who knows!! Any way... you need to start new....use YOUR studio to follow your bliss, talent, and possibilities...go work at whole foods once you get 4 consulting jobs and sue the F bastard for harassment, he'll let you go with money to spare!!! That will be a sign to him that you can't get away with treating people like dog s#!@.

Tomorrow I will post some great quotes about happiness and aspects of happiness. Then we can discuss the quotes.

Love you!

SUEZ

Happiness project

You comment about ...essentially work life balance...and we are not balanced. In this world today.... work often defines us, along with who did you marry, are you still married to them, how many kids do you you have, what are your hobbies, where do you vacation...if you are fortunate to vacation at all, what else do you do...other than the boring day by day...sounds like a musical...stuff.. But the past comes to us..day by day oh dear lord do I pray... The happiness project talks about living each day like you mean it and that it is how you should live every day. How you live daily is what really makes you who you are not just the planned events like parties, vacations and occasions. Can you have energy, love and happiness everyday...not just when you are say in Disney World? Happiness does take work and planning, meeting your bank account on a regular basis, making sacrifices to have those family vacations in special places, as we were so fortunate to do this summer. SO what defines us is our day to day attitude and how we approach life. Happiness means positive and it is what we need to focus on. And as far as those in our lives who bring us down, I say take the Scott Casey road piss em off until they can't stand it any longer, and drive them insane. WE are nice people but don't piss us off!...be nice or leave... damn it!

Yahoo

Great post Suzie - very inspiring and true. I want to expand on one of the things you said - time moving so quickly - cuz I feel the same way too. It makes me anxious sometimes becuase I am so aware of time and I don't want to waste it. SO, I'm thinking lets create a process where we can actually slow down the time so we can enjoy it more. I think we can do that!! With all of the technology that's out there and the busy lives we lead I think we all feel that if we are not functioning at 100% of capacity at all times we will be left behind. I think that if we believe that, we have absoluely NO capacity to do anything well or to make room for our dreams. That perspective is actually allowing "time" to dictate what we do and not allowing us to choose how we want to spend our time. OK so the big challange for both of us is our demanding jobs (that kind of suck a bit). More on that later (I've got to think about that, cuz it's really all about how we deal with the people and not the work). But for now, outside of work, how can we expand time? I'm going to think about that today and will post something later. I love you! You ar emy inspiration sister!!!

Summertime and goodtimes!

WOW! Where the heck did summer go? It was an excellent summer highlighted by our family vacation to Disney World to celebrate Paul's first Birthday with Molly and Clayton, aka, Paul's mom and dad along with the family from the North  Jade and Aunt Dee Dee, Robin and Allie, Mom and Dad  (GG and GPP)...double yeah!, and the crazy Weiss Clan with the exception of JJ who stayed in New Jersey to Guard the Beaches of Harvey Cedars!! It was awesome! So Awesome we decided to return in January 2013 for a Fitcation or Exceration ....neither of these sound that great but the idea is to combine fitness with your vacation.... as I have been referring to it to run several races the weekend of the Disney Marathon!!

School has started, JJ is at Rutgers, all moved in. He completed his first week of classes and will attend the football game tonight against Howard. Cailee and William are back to school, 8th and 5th grade respectively...lovin it!!

Life is just moving so fast and while I want to live life every day I can't help but be excited for the special times we all spend together!! Wether it be a big vacation or simple weekend!! Those, to me are the days I feel most happy!! So I am going to try to make every day a prep day for those times! And stick to my motto of trying to make somewhere or someone look better, or feel better before I leave.

At work we have been asked to keep a positive journal...every night write down three things that were positive that day. We have to do this for 2 weeks straight. It is said this make a person feel better and sleep better. Almost as if they have had a vacation which... by the way... it takes 3 days for you to get into vacation mode, so by the time most people get into vacation mode it is almost over and if you use your vacation time for long weekends it is really of little benefit. We have also been asked to consider random acts of kindness, to carry them out not only for the benefit of the person we are kind to but for ourselves, kindness is beneficial for everyone! I have committed to this, I am going to have my family do it too.

 

TTFN!!!

 

Heading to work after a really nice vacation

AHHH - this is tough. I had a great and productive vacation and heading back to work is always a bummer. But I don't want it to be that way anymore! I want to be able to bounce out of bed in the morning EXCITED to get to work REGARDLESS of what I do for a living. If you think about it, the things that bum me out about work are not the things I need to do/get done, its totally the people. What they expect, how they react, how they work to get things done. Hum, makes you think! So if I can get to the point of truly not letting what people do/say/think get in the way of my feeling great about what I do I can win, and can bounce out of bed everyday excited to get to work. What do you think about that? I'm gonna tap on that one!! Wish me luck! Love ya! Deed

You go girl!

Ok, you put the goals out there sister! Now you are cookin! Love ya goal sister!
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Happy Sunday Suzie! We love you!!!

blah blah blah blah blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

So happy Saturday! I love Saturdays! Remember the Carpenter's song about Saturdays! Saturday isn't the same as other days! I think I also liked it because Richard Carpenter sang it and I had a tween crush on him! Any wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Saw the pictures of your studio! Awesome...can you have the office next door too!!!!!!! :)  And of course your beautiful face in my face this morning with my coffee was WONDERFUL! You are great!

 

Aileen Casey

 

Get Your Life Back On Course 101:    A++++++

 

 

Susan Weiss

 

Get Your Life Back On Course 101:   F  (But I optional, Incomplete)

 

 

So:

 

Investigated Law School. Really not advised due to expense, time and the fact that there are so many lawyers unemployed. Get that... so I figured I would study the law that applies to my job and signed up for a legal news letter. I will also reinvestigate the courses that I took at Yale and see if other places offer similar courses.

 

The other thing I am planning on doing is getting politically active again. So much going on drugs, mental health, health care law, elder care issues. Between what I see at work and jury duty it is inexcusable the way we, as a society, have placed our heads in the sand about the mental health needs of our citizens. Some where along the line the mind became disconnected from the brain, heart and other vital organs. When did the phisiology above the neck become different from that below it!?

 

I am also going to attack my work as a risk manager and learn all I can. I like it, it is diverse and very portable so I need to learn all I can!! And this too is where the law will come in. I also plan on becoming a Joint Commission Expert! This will take a while but again another invaluable and very portable skill set.

 

Well that's all for now!

 

Love Ya!!

 

Happy Saturday!

 

 

Testing, Testing one, two, three, dorkeeeeee

Studio 3 of 3

The door to the right will be closed off. That leads to the office next to mine.
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Studio 2 of 3

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Studio 1 of 3

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My Door Policy

I have a door, a beautiful door to my soul

I have a door and I have a choice. Who shall I let through the door? What will I invite into my experience? Who will I not allow to cross the threshold?

Having a door - and a choice - does not mean that you shut out what you don't want. It just means that you become aware of what is coming through, and then decide to let it in or not.

When feelings of anger, worry, doubt etc. come knocking at my door, I talk to them for a while to see what's going on, what's creating those feelings and I then focus on changing them to feelings of love, encouragement and confidence. POW! My door is open, come on in and join the party!

What's your door policy? Do you need a bouncer to help? What about a red rope, an alarm system? Whatever it is, put it into place to help you recognize what's causing the feelings that make you feel anxious, fearful, worried etc. Having a door is a great way to process all of the negative stuff and to invite only the positive stuff into your life. I have a door, a beautiful door to my soul . . . .

Suzie - I took this video this morning, on the last day of my first vacation this summer! Am I lucky or what!!?? What a great way to start the day!!!! Enjoy!

Fw: What an awesome way to start the summer!!

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Thank you sister for buying 33 dollar glasses of wine at the Beach Boys concert. You always take great care of me!!!!

This is going to be a great summer, full of fun, great health and opportunity!

A year from now we are gonna look back and saw "WOW"!!

I love you!!!
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Feelin' LAZY

Last day of kindergarten. The new "first grader".

I'm at a standstill. I have a ton of things I can be/should be doing and I don't want to do ANYTHING. Ever feel like that? I always think "I should be doing this and that to get ahead" and I couldn't be the least bit interested in getting ahead, with anything! Lose weight, create some art, pay bills, draft a really cool sales plan for work - NAH. I'd rather sit back, check emails, listen to music, think and drink wine.

Yup, that's where I am in this particular moment. My daughter just finished Kindergarten. She is now "officially" a first grader - oooh, ahhhh. "mommy, do I look seven?" she's been asking lately. I tell her, "don't rush it sweetie". But deep down inside it is rushing like a freaking tornado. Just yesterday she was 10 months old, eating peas and yogurt, then she was four sooooo happy to be turning five and now she is finished with kindergarten, and hoping to look like a seven year old. 

I can't keep up. I actually don't want to keep up, I'd like time to stand still for a little while. Let me eek out some more time with my baby, before she completely grows up and moves on. It's crazy how kids absolutely make life magical and then in the next moment they make life so short. They grow and change so quickly that  it can take your breath away. And it usually does take my breath away.

I suppose that's why I'm feeling the way I do today. I just want to slow things down a bit, squeeze a bit more out of my time with my soon to be seven year old because before you know it, she's going to be 30 and with a family of her own. But I get ahead of myself. I have this beautiful 6 year old, asleep in my bed (in MY spot) after a fun last day of kindergarten waiting for me to join her. So for tonight, I'm gonna crawl into bed, get kicked and punched by my six year old in her sleep, and freaking LOVE EVERY SECOND of it. Yeah baby! Bring it on!

The Crazy Bitch inside all of us

Standing here beside myself

OK -I hate the Bitch. She visits me when I'm tired, overworked, hungry and bored. She is a major party pooper and will usually show up (uninvited) when I have had a string of good news, good things happen or a couple if great days in a row. She doesn't like to have a good time so she tries very hard to make sure you don't either. Ever! She's that nagging little voice in the background saying "you are not worthy, you are not good enough, you are old, fat" etc. Gosh, she can drive you completely insane.

So what do you do when you are standing there beside your (crazy Bitch) self? LOVE HER! She needs attention, she needs to be comforted, she needs to be told "it's all good!", "everything is going to work out fine", "you ARE beautiful!", "you are smart, healthy, good at what you do" etc. Giving her the love and attention she needs gives you the love and attention you need!

My inner crazy bitch teaches me to slow down and take inventory when she shows up. I think "why is she here? What is she nagging me about? Is there a message she is trying to convey?". Then I take a deep breath and start to think about what actions I need to take to get her to go home! Sometimes it's as simple as telling her, "you can go now" and other times we walk hand in hand trying to figure out what    steps I need to take to feel better (i.e. sticking to my exercise routine, eating well, cutting myself a break etc.). I hate to admit it, but the crazy bitch does serve a purpose for me, she exposes areas of opportunity for not only building my self confidence but also building the love I have for myself. Which is really what she's all about!

Standing There Beside Myself

This was an out of body week! I wanted out of mine because I was making myself crazy! Negativity prevailed and got worse. Stress is my new neighbor! Gona take the weekend to try to get out and over my big nasty self! Gona go to the beach and think!

BEALIVE

Love it! Your brain made your hands write what your heart and mind really wants! Awesome!!! 

Be-alive in yourself

Speaking of "Irish" typos, I just realized that one of the "motivational" notes I have taped to my computer screen has a typo. It says "Bealive in yourself" - I meant to write "Believe in yourself", but obviously did not. Was some other message I needed to hear coming through? I think so! It's amazing how stuff like that happens without really thinking about it.

"Be-Alive in yourself", what does that mean? For starters I think it reminds me to be present in every moment, focus on how I FEEL about things and take the appropriate action but mostly, to live every second of my life like I mean it - BE ALIVE! Breath the air, smell the smells, take in all of the beauty that surrounds me! Find the fun in everything I do, enjoy the company of the people I surround myself with, and to say a little prayer for those I don't (ha, ha, ha)!

Being alive is a great tonic to the "every day routine" most of us get stuck in, It also changes your perspective on life. We are not meant to "toil", "worry", "stress" about life 100% of the time, which a lot of us do. Sure there are hard times to face in this lifetime, but mostly we are here to ENJOY, LIVE, LOVE, SHARE and most of all to have fun! BE-ALIVE in your self and see the beauty this life has to offer. It will create many more "good times" and will certainly get you through the tough times! I'm off to go on a pre-school/work bicycle adventure with my daughter. BE-ALIVE!!!

MakeEveryday Saturday!

Sorry for the spelling error! Of course it is very Irishy! :)

Make eerday Saturday

I hate Sundays! My favorite day of the week is Saturday! Our usual plan included something fun, family and something recreational! I love the feeling of waking up on Saturday morning knowing that although I might have a lot to do within specific time constraints, its still up to me how long I sleep, if I wash my face, if I change my clothes. There is a freedom on Saturday! What I love most about the weekend, especially Saturday is the time I spend with my family! So I have decided I am going to approach everyday like Saturday! I am lucky to like my job and I work for a great company. Someday soon I hope to love my job but for now I am still learning and have a lot of fear, but that's another story. My frustration is balance. Saturday offers me the freedom to achieve balance. So I am going to approach everyday like Saturday. Focus on accomplishing my goals at work so I can spend as much time with my family as possible. Approach everyday with joy and thanks for all the blessings I have.

 

So there...take that to the bathroom!!!

Positive Vibes Worksheet

Suzie, here's the "positive vibes" worksheet. Hopefully you can print it out and fill it in (double click on it). it's fun! Thank you for the lovely post yesterday! it was great hanging out with you too and talking about living our dreams. I can't wait to start working on your book. I'm looking forward to creating your workbook pages!!! So get crackin' sister!!!

Love ya!!

Happy Week!

Good morning!

 

Had a great weekend watching you little beauty in her gymnastics show! She was glowing with happiness! Sunday was beautiful talking and relaxing by the pool! You're a crazy mama for braving the 67 degree water in your wet suite!! Stay focused and inspired, you have great talent and you are moving on. Get the space and create the magic, it won't be hard you have a lot of art already completed, the magic will just unfold! 

 

Love you!

 

Starfish

I love the star fish and I got the assignment!!See you soon!

Suzie this is the "Safety Starfish" - the bubbles are the 5 bubbles of safety, we can create icons and you can use them in your training material. We can also create "friends" for the starfish - Crabby Kathy (who doesnt like to follow rules, Fanny Fish who LOVES to go with the flow etc.)

Money meditation

Suzie this is my morning meditation on MONEY - use it!