Only because I drove!

Last night for Young Woman's we did a service project. But not just any service project it was a "Heart Attack" for the inactive girls. (Why this wasn't done a few weeks ago- ??? Who knows!)
We got out the big long church tables- you all know what ones I'm talking about- all LDS chapels have them. And covered them in pink and red construction paper. We wrote the 6 girls names on the board and they all began decorating and cutting out hearts.

I kinda felt like I was running a sweat shop! "Keep it up!" "More for Marcy" "Lets go!" I was running around collecting each heart as the girls would shout out when they were done. "Here's one more Sister Young" "Sister Young here you go" "Hurry take this one!" It was quite the ordeal. I even felt a little sweaty! (maybe that's why I thought it was a sweat shop! okay- sorry. Bad joke!) I was a little nervous that I was getting the heart piles confused! Hopefully little Samantha didn't get any hearts with Julie's name on it! Oh well- maybe she'll think it's a little pet name we gave her!

Then it was on to decorating the cookies. Yumm!!! They turned out cute and I thought " If I was inactive I would TOTALLY come back if I got some of these cookies." It was also a good bonding moment as a few of my mia maids and I wrote some of the girls poems. I'm not sure if you know this about me, but get me in the right mood and I become a rhyming diva!!! I think that the girls were impressed! One of the most favorite lines "We miss you here, in our hood. Seeing your face would feel so good!" I know. Hallmark is try to recruit me.

Then it was the moment of truth. The delivery. The rules went as follows. Put the cut out hearts all over the porch around the plate of cookies, ring the doorbell and RUN!!! Now that sounds like fun huh! It was weird for me to remember that I am a LEADER not just one of the girls. I needed to be responsible here! So because of Charlie there were lots of girls that wanted to go with me. (He is a handsome car!) I told them that there was really no reason to fight over us because there was a HIGH probability that we would get lost. I had no idea where the 2 girls that we were delivering them to even lived. But even with the warning, 4 girls still decided to risk it!

We said goodbye to everyone else and the 5 of us were on our own! Thats when the real adventure began. Have any of you been around 12 year old girls lately? Did you know that it is really hard to be sly and quiet when you're 12? Well...I had forgotten about that and was very quickly reminded of it on the first house we went to. We found it (luckily) and I parked a few houses away. The girls jumped out and we were all so excited. We turned the corner and that's when I saw a car coming. Very calmly I said "Just act natural". Apparently "natural" means squealing and running into each other. "Oh us?! We're not doing anything. Can't you tell? We're so natural!" It was funny. But THEN as the car gets closer we realized that it was pulling into the house where we were going- and it was the girl and her boyfriend! What are the odds? Wow- then all sorts of "natural" came from the girls. They forgot how to whisper and just did not know what to do . We must have looked like a circus. Even though I kept repeating- "Just keep walking". They were skipping, walking in circles and trying to just get out of the area! Just watching them was making giggle. I could barley hold it in!

We went a few houses down and hid behind some cars- waiting for him to drop her off and leave. Which he wasn't doing very fast. The girls were sure that they were kissing and thought that they should sneak up and make sure. I quickly shot that idea down and we decided to stay where we were and wait just a few more minutes. She did end up getting out of the car, but they just kept talking outside the house. I was hunched over right next to one of the girls. She must have gotten a great idea of something to say to me because she turned her head around real fast and BAM! Our heads collided. You know those times when you have to be really quiet, but something super funny just happened and you're doing everything in your power to hold it in? Then your checks and your stomach begin to hurt and then the tears start coming because your body wants to just let out a big roaring laugh? Yeah that was both of us. It took a lot to gain composure.

Well, the girl and her man stayed outside chating and I decided that we were not waiting around for them any longer. The problem was my car was on the other side of her house from where we were. Since the girl doesn't know me, I just told the girls to wait for me - and just be quiet...No more of this acting natural stuff! I made it to the car, picked up the girls anxiously awaiting me and we were able to go to the other house (without any problems I might add! Except for the noise. We need to practice our whispering skills!) Then we returned to house #1. The boy was gone and we were able to get it done!

Thankfully no cops were called (that we know of), we didn't get huge bumps on our heads where they hit, and we all had a great time!

Enough!

You know there comes a time in every kids life when they get sick. It happens. Its inevitable. Sometimes... they get so sick that hospitalization is needed. I am thankful for hospitals that are there to help make kids gets well and move on with their lives.

When I became a child life specialist I knew that I would be working with kids in the hospital and that I would have to get used to seeing them sick, scared and unsure. However, never did I think that I would have to be seeing my own nieces and nephews in the same situations that I deal with on a daily basis and as often as I have lately.

It all started a few years ago when I was in my internship at Primary Children's. One of my nephews had a bump on his face. We had no idea what it was. My sister took him to the clinic where I was at for the doctor to look at and take care of it. The doctor ended up having to use this little piece of equipment to squeeze out what was inside. Lets just say that as much as I had seen that happen with other kids, I did not cope well seeing my little nephew have to go through it. I almost had to leave the room. One good thing that came out of that experience was that my empathy for patients and their families grew a lot that day! Luckily he hasn't had to go back since!

Then we move onto the next encounter. My sweet little niece had to have not only 1 but 2 operations on her leg because of that stupid rock that attacked her. Not only did we have to all deal with the accident itself, but then there was the ambulance ride, the IV start, the surgery and then the wheelchair/cast afterwards. Talk about Trauma!!! After we got through the cast removal we thought we were in the clear (You like how I talk about this as if I was there! John, Laura, and Lucille you rock for all that you went through and how you handled it! :) )Then to top it all off she had to do it all again! Well, not the accident or ambulance ride- thankfully- but the surgery and cast. My heart broke the night they called me about another surgery. It was weird how when Laura asked "What do we tell her?" and my first thought was "I don't know! Are you SURE she has to do this again?" It's weird how when you're emotionally connected, all your training and things that you do and say DAILY leave you mind so quickly. Luckily, my brain came back to me and we were able to get Lucille prepared properly for her surgery. I hear she was and still is a rock star! But after this cast comes off- NO MORE hospitalizations for you young lady! :) You've had enough for a life time! However, again- a positive that I got from through this experience was that I have noticed that I take my surgery tours much more seriously now. (Not that I wasn't before, but they mean more to me now). And again now that I have been on the other side, I am much more empathetic to the families when they come in.

Now we come to tonight. I got a text this morning from my brother saying that P-dog was in the ER with a flare up of his asthma. When I got home from church I was informed that he was going to be admitted to the hospital since it just wasn't getting better. Since P-dog had to be transferred to another hospital, I was really hoping that they would go to Scottsdale Healthcare where I work because I know everyone there, but according to Jeff "That's halfway to Salt Lake!" so they opted to go to another hospital. - ( It's only an hour from his house! Whats the big deal?! :) ) Anywho- I went to see him while they were still in the ER waiting for the ambulance. We were able to talk about what the IV was and what it would be like in a hospital over night etc. But again, it hurt my heart to see my little guy like that! He was a trooper though and he kept me laughing all night. Some of my favorite quotes were: He told me that he liked the hospital food but, "I didn't eat the soup though. It looked like my barf looked but with beans and lettuce in it!" SICK!!! Then when I mentioned how tired Allison looked he said "At least when you cough your lower intestine doesnt hurt!" Interesting choice of words! And finally I told him it was too bad that it was Sunday and I couldn't buy him anything to help him get well- he said "Well, you can bring me a present tomorrow!" He's so funny. Then they strapped him on the stretcher and started wheeling him to the ambulance. Again I was struck at how weird it was to see P-dog on a stretcher- Something that I see daily, but not with someone that I love so much! I didn't like it! Not one bit! Hopefully it is just an over night stay and he can go home tomorrow!

And not to mention all of the many times daddy-o has been through the hospital in the last couple of years!!!

So here's the deal-eo- Listen up all you members of the Young family. After this Wednesday when Dad has his LAST surgery there will be NO MORE visits to the ER or needing to get admitted or needing more surgeries! Are we clear?! Good. And hey- If I need to use bubble wrap on everyone I will! :)