Beautiful Dreamer...

I had quite a beautiful dream last night.

I dreamt that I came downstairs in the middle of the night to get a glass of water, and Tim McGraw was in the middle of my living room in all of his "cowboy sexiness" in an outfit remarkably similar to this one!

Crazy thing is, that's not the part that I found the most exciting.

As I tried to make sense of why this gorgeous man was in my living room, I suddenly noticed the smell of freshly-dried laundry, heard the dishwasher running, smelled the lemony-goodness of a newly-mopped kitchen floor, and realized that Mr. McGraw was in the process of running the vacuum over my living room floor! 

Let me tell you, there is nothing sexier than a man who can vacuum and leave perfectly symmetrical carpet lines. 

Kind of reminded me of my dream of a Lawnmower Man from years ago...  Somehow though, I think Tim McGraw may trump Sweaty Lawnmower Man.

It really was a good dream...  :-)



Thankful - Day Seven

(From Booger Bear's lifebook...)

Dear Booger Bear,

When I decided to try foster care, I never could have imagined how one little person could change my life so completely.  You stole my heart from the moment I opened my door and you flashed that two-toothed little smile at me.  I quickly learned that the best sounds in the world are your baby's laughter and the little "I Yuh You's."  I learned that baby hugs and kisses and "cuddle time" with your little boy can make a bad day turn around in an instant.  In the year that you were with me, I learned what it means to love unconditionally.  I learned what it means to be a mom.  


Day Seven:

I am unbelievably thankful for the little boy who came into my life and changed everything.  The year that he was "mine" was one of the best years of my life, and losing him was by far the most painful thing that I have ever gone through.

But...  "Everything happens for a reason."

Little did I know at the time, Booger Bear was brought into my life for so much more than I had originally thought.

Because of this little boy, I not only became a mother to a son, but I gained a "daughter."  I gained a "granddaughter."  I gained a very unique family tree in the sense that my son is my grandson and his Mommy is his sister.  (Let me tell you, that makes for some interesting conversations! ;-)

I gained a first-hand view of how foster care can work.  I think that was something that I desperately needed.  I honestly don't know if I could continue fostering if I had no hope at all that it could work.  But I see every day that Booger is loved and care for, and that gives me hope for all of the little ones who come into and out of my life.

I am so very thankful for every moment that I have with this little guy.  I am so grateful to his parents for including me in their lives and for truly making me feel like a special part of their family.  I realize how rare it is to be able to have such a close relationship with these children after they return home, and I know how blessed I am that I have that with Booger Bear.  He always has been...  and always will be...  my "very special boy."

Thankful - Day Six

I have an awesome family.  We're close.  We love being together.  We depend on each other for support, and we are there for each other.

Day Six:

Today, I am thankful for my sister.

Your siblings are the people you will know the longest in your life.  If you're lucky, you'll get one like mine.  :-)

Christy is the best friend I could ever ask for, and I have no idea how I would live without her!  We had a discussion once about that very subject and mentioned that we wished we "had a backup, just in case."  ;-)  The few years that we lived in different states were filled with multiple hour-long phones calls every day and constant emailing, and I think the distance and all of the talking helped bring us closer than we'd ever been up to that point.

We know and we keep each other's secrets. 

We know each other better than almost anyone.

We have the same mannerisms and tastes, and have been known to purchase the exact same items at the store during completely separate shopping trips, only to discover what we had done when we show up wearing the exact same outfit.  :-)

We continue to attempt sister roadtrips, even though we always have interesting "adventures" (or misadventures, as the case may be ;-).  We're just certain that if we try it enough times, we'll manage to get one drama-free trip before we're done!  :-)

We share our kids with each other, and love that we can brag about them to each other all we want because we know the other sister is just as invested in our kids as we are in theirs. 

Christy is an amazing mom, and I learn so much by watching her relationship with her kids every day.

We have been with and supported each other through the best and the worst times of our lives.  We listen to each other vent when we're angry, cry when we're sad, share our happiest moments, and laugh when we have our Bipolar Girl episodes (those tend to run in our family...  I'm more the "bipolar" one.  Christy is the "anxiety attack over something as simple as the balloons at her 3-year-olds' birthday party" one.  It's all good.  We know this about ourselves, so we can laugh it off later. ;-)

Christy is my best friend...  my constant support...  and quite honestly, one of my favorite people on the planet.  I love her like crazy, and I wouldn't change a thing about her.  She is strong, loving, determined, kind, outgoing, intelligent, funny, and the best sister anyone could ever ask for.  God really knew what He was doing when He put the two of us together for life, and I thank Him every day for giving me "my best friend...  my sister...  my other half!"  :-)

Thankful - Day Five

October is a big month for me when it comes to "special anniversaries."  It marks the anniversary of the month that I entered Foster/Adopt Land.  It is the month that my Little Miss came to my home.  But most importantly, it is the month that brought the young woman who I call my "daughter" into my life.  One year ago today (And by "today," I mean October 21st because I am a blogging slacker and didn't finish this post until today ;-), I opened my front door, and my life changed for the better.  :-)

Day Five:

Today, I thank Heaven for Heaven!  :-)

The day that Booger Bear left my arms, he went into hers, and I am forever thankful that she has loved that little boy every bit as much as I do. She calls him "ours," and the fact that she understands and acknowledges how I feel about him speaks volumes as to her maturity and the love that she has for him. I think that we initially bonded because we were both "mommies" to the same little boy who neither one of us gave birth to, but both love as if we had.   And the more I got to know her, the more I began to feel the same way about Heaven, so I've officially claimed her as "mine." (whether she likes it or not :-)

Little did I know that the day she walked through my door to drop off a bunch of clothes for Little Miss, I was not only meeting the young woman who had voluntarily put her own life on hold in order to be a mom to my Booger Bear...  I was meeting an amazingly kind, loving, strong, nurturing, thoughtful, funny, simply unbelievably awesome person who I couldn't imagine my life without!

She makes me smile.

She makes me feel needed and appreciated.

We have inside jokes and two great minds that think alike in so many ways.  ;-)

I'm probably overly-protective of her, but I think that's okay.  I think she secretly likes the fact that I go all "Mama Bear" every now and again on her behalf, and that I get all crazy and do the whole "I haven't heard from you in forever" thing when it's only been like 13 hours.  ;-)

In the past year, Heaven has given me so much more than I could ever give her.  She even gave me my first honorary granddaughter!  Banana is the smartest, cutest, most determined little thing, and I love being "Mimi" in the "I get to love her and spoil her absolutely rotten to the core and then send her home with Mama" kind of way.  ;-)  She's given me a continued close relationship with Booger.  She's given her heart to me, my nieces and nephews, and my entire family really...  And she's shared her family with mine.

So today, I am unbelievably thankful for my "daughter."  She may not realize how special she is, but I sure do.  And I plan to let her know it every day for the rest of her life.  :-)

Now on Facebook!!!

"I Must Be Trippin'" is now on Facebook!!!

Catch our status updates, discussions,
links to other foster/adopt pages, and more

HERE...

Like us, and share our page with your

foster/adopt friends!

I'd love to turn the FB page into a great resource

and support page for foster/adopt parents,

complete with a little bit of humor

and a lot of heart.

:-)