Foster 4.0

"Come to my babies blessing"

Yesterday I was in my room folding laundry, when Audrey came in and told me to come to her babies blessing. I followed her into her room where she had lined all of her chairs up in a row and told me to sit. She then stood up in front of me with her baby doll, Stella, and said, in a really loud voice, ( I think she was yelling because of the microphone at church) and yelled, "Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, bless this baby to be strong. Amen."
Is that not just the cutest thing. This girl loves church, actually she is giving her "wesson"(lesson) right now in her play room. And just whispered, "I'm now in the library" She and her babies are just the best of friends! Hell, this girl needs a sibling.

A little R & R...

This week I've decided that I'm going to to make everything Rachel Ray makes on her show for our dinner.  If you know me, and/or Trav, you'll know that I'm not a very great cook and Trav doesn't LOVE my cooking like I think he should (or at least like I think that he should pretend to) 

So, I'm going grocery shopping for the items for the whole week and each day I'll up-date on how I did...If anyone wants to do this with me that would be fun too.

I'll write exactly Trav's comments, and he is just the most honest about how my food tastes. I know that if Rachel were to make it it would be great but for some reason nothing I make seems to work out. It's a mystery to me.

Why I love it...

This is exactly why I love my job.

A last week a woman came to me who was referred from her husband, who has been my client for many months. She has been getting massage weekly for almost 1 year and just can't seem to get her pain and/or discomfort under control.  Her back and shoulders (traps) were like a rock and I just went as deep as I thought I needed to. I worked on her pretty hard but made sure I checked in often because I could tell that she would most likely be sore the next day, but she assured me through out the massage that "the pressure was fine." Well "fine" doesn't really tell me anything and by the way she said it I had NO idea if she was hating the massage the whole time. I just couldn't read the woman!

Anyway, 2 days later I saw her name on my schedule again and was pretty shocked. As soon as I met her at the door she said, "I was really sore yesterday, and didn't like it...I've never felt like that, so I thought I'd come in again to see if it made things worse or better." I was pretty nervous because it seemed like she was testing me.

As soon as we started working I couldn't believe it. It was like working on a different person. There wasn't a knot to be found and she actually enjoying her massage. She seemed just as shocked as I was relieved. She was so happy and scheduled for 1 month out to come in instead of each week.  It's already been 3 and I still haven't seen her and to me that's amazing.

I'm not sharing this story to toot my own horn or anything, but to say that, that is the reason I love what I do. I love the fact that I can help another persons quality of life. I can make  a difference in the lives of people by doing something that I love!  

A Parents Prayer

O Master, make me a better parent.

Teach me to understand my children, to listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all the questions kindly.  Keep me from interrupting them, talking back to them, and contradicting them. make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.  Give me the courage to confess my sins against my children as to ask them forgiveness, when I know that I have done them a wrong.

May I not vainly hurt the feelings of my children. Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame and ridicule as a punishment.  Let me not tempt my child to lie and steal. So guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness. 

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.  May I cease to nag; and when I am out or sorts, help me to hold my tongue. 

Blind me to the little errors of  children and help me to see the good things that they do.  Give me a ready word for honest praise. 

Help me grow up with my children, to treat them as would those of their own age; but let me not exact them in judgment and conventions of adults.  Allow me not to rob them of the opportunity to wait upon them selves, to think, to choose, and to make decisions.

Forbid that I should ever punish them for my selfish satisfaction.  May I grant them all their wishes that are reasonable, and have the courage always to withhold a privilege which I know will do them harm.

Make me so fair and just, so considerate and companionable to my children, that they will have a genuine esteem for me. Fit me to be loved and imitated.

With all Thy gifts, O great Master, give me calm, poise, and self-control.

                                                                                       By Garry Cleveland Myers,Ph.D

Travis' grandma Sereal gave us this when Audrey was born. It has been a great poem for me to refer back to through out the years.  I really do feel like Audrey has a wise soul.  She is already so friendly, loving and remembers everything about everyone, and it seems as if she genuinely cares about people. Even at two. I really try to treat her like we were best friends in heaven and that we just loved each other so much that we just HAD to be together again.  But sometimes the fact that she is a crazy person gets in the way of my being on my best behavior all of the time and I sometimes find myself getting embarrassed.

My grandma Brown told me once, when I was like seven, that she felt like I had an "old soul" and that my spirit may even be older than she is. She said that we may have been great friends in heaven she just chose to come down at an earlier time, but that because we were such great friends I really wanted to be close to her when it was my turn so I came down as her granddaughter. 

My grandmother and I really have a lot in common and have always been close. I have found that I really relate to her. I was the first grand child to be born and I really do think that it wasn't by chance. I do believe that we don't necessarily "choose" our parents, but I do believe that sometimes we do. I do believe that we developed great relationships in the life before this and some of the people that are in our families are there because we couldn't get through life with out them, and a chance couldn't be taken that we would at some point meet.

Kinda deep for a blog entry, but like I said in the disclaimer of this blog...this is a pseudo journal. And a place to bounce ideas off of etc...

Remember how

Remember how I finally got to go out to a movie with my girlfriends and only 15 min. into it the whole entire movie theater was evacuated?! Remember how much that SUCKED! I don't think I've seen a movie for at least 6 or 8 months. Just our luck...

Oh and remember how when Trav came home to day he carried in Guitar Hero 3? Remember how he's so funny. I love that guy. Whatever makes him happy, right? 

Books

I thought I'd follow Brit's lead and show the books that are on my night stand at the moment. To start with we have...

For one more day This book I've heard, and am finding out, to be a really great book. I bought it for multiple people on my Christmas list this year and I think it's a message we can all learn from.

Eat, Pray, Love I saw an Oprah with this author as the topic of the show.  She told a great story and I'm sure that the book will be even better. Then when Brit said that it may have changed her life I just had to get it. I'm actually reading this at the same time as For One More Day. We'll see which one really captures my attention.

The Nature of Wisdom My sister-in-law, Mindy, gave this to me for Christmas. It has the most incredible picture's in it. It's a book of beautiful nature inspired photography.

The Anatomy of the Spirit Trav gave this to me for my birthday and it is a great book that I will read again and again. It talks about how your biography will become your biology, meaning that the way that you think, the things and people you surround your self will be internalized and manifest it's self in your body. It's an amazing concept and one that I truly believe.

The Football Book I bought Travis this book for Christmas because, well because Trav is a "FOOTBALL FOR LIFE" kind of a guy. And I thought that if I somewhat attempt to become educated on the sport that I may actually learn to love the game too. Hey, if I did it would end most of the fights that we have. So that 's another new years resolution;learning to love the game that my husband eats, sleeps and drinks.