I Be Strokin'

 The doctor suggested that I try something to help with stress. I don't know why she thinks I would need to do that. LOL! I've tried my hand at painting a couple of times now. The first was a friend's birthday party. It was at a place called Painting With A Twist. They are all over the country and you can find a location near you. The instructor stands in front of you and tells you exactly what to do. We all painted this cross during her party. It took me a while to relax. Which is probably why they encourage you to drink wine during the experience. It is, however, bring your own alcohol. I didn't drink, but the longer I painted the more I relaxed. The more I relaxed the better I painted. The better I painted, the more I relaxed. So painting must be relaxing, right? I wasn't please with my first product, but it has grown on me over time.

My second trip to Painting With A Twist was at a different location with my mom. I had told her about it and we wanted to go together. But this time we chose an Open Canvas night. That meant that you chose your painting. There was no instructor telling you what to do which made it much harder. They did walk around the room and tell you what to do step by step if you needed help. I needed lots of help. I had chosen a peacock and the body was presketched onto the canvas for me. I was not as uptight as the first time, but it still took me time to relax. It took me so long that by the time I had relaxed enough to get the body painted correctly I had to hurry to complete the tail feathers before the class ended. This time I was much more pleased with my finished product even though I had chosen a much harder piece. I want to keep going back because I really enjoy it.

Yay for Delays!

We are thanking God for a few more weeks with Quito!!! several keys members were missing from today's hearing which included a visiting judge so they weren't real anxious to move him. CPS said they want to integrate him into the home by increasing his visits, two 8 hour visits and a weekend visit. We are still hoping it's a slow miracle.

Fear of Falling

As many of you know we are foster parents. We've had our Paquito since he was 5 days old when we brought him home from the hospital. We thought he would be ours forever. But CPS is giving custody to his grandmother. It is always the goal of CPS to reunite a foster child with relatives. In his case, he had a blood relative willing to take him and capable of passing a home study. The court date is May 22nd and we expect him to leave that same day. He will be 9 months old. We will be broken. There is nothing I can write to express to grief I am feeling, the pain in my heart. I am concerned that the Fibromyalgia will contribute to my grieving process. I don't want to fall into the black abyss of depression. How do I keep from falling? How can I lose a child and not die inside?

I wish you could really see how cute he is, but we're not allowed to post pics that identify him.