It's official: I'm raising Curious George

January 20, 2008

It was a busy Sunday. Sai had been home in St. George with us for 1 week between finishing his work at Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu and heading to Aspen, Colorado to start a new job at The Gant resort. After sending him off that morning, we attended church. Later in the evening, I was just getting ready to attend an enrichment meeting. I went to the bathroom, and as all mothers should know – that is when the chaos struck!

I came from the bathroom into the kitchen to discover 2 ½ year old Aisea on the counter, with the cupboard open, Aunt Lisa’s pill tray out and colored powder on his lips. It took a couple of seconds to sink in, then I started shouting for my mom, whom I was so grateful was still in town!!!

She came running and filled in as my brain for the next 24 hours.

My sister, Michelle got on the phone to Poison Control. Between mom and Michelle, they were able to tell the Poison Control that he had taken just 1 pill and what kind it was - a blood pressure medication. Luckily for us, the pills were laid out in a daily dose container and so it was easy to see which one he had eaten – lots better than if he’d been in a bottle of pills.

Meanwhile, I had Aisea at the sink and he was acting weird, sticking his tongue out and trying to wipe it with his fingers. I guess the powder and taste of the pill was not appetizing (THANK HEAVENS!!!) He was kind of crying, more like whining, like he was frustrated or irritated. He said it was burning. He kept asking for water. Mom told me to gag him. I tried twice, but nothing happened. Then, in a calm moment. Aisea just leaned over the sink, stuck 3 fingers WAY down his throat, and threw up. There was half of the pill. I had to look away and spray it all down the sink to avoid throwing up myself. Watching others vomit without dry heaving myself is not exactly my strength.
I felt more at ease, but was still a little concerned that he may have consumed more than we thought.
Aunt Shell was still on the phone and soon the Poison Control operator directed us to take him to the ER.
At the hospital, my dad and our home teacher, Greg Abbott, gave Aisea a blessing. He was acting normal by this point, just tired. He was interested in the toys in the waiting room.

Trying to convince Aisea that the heart monitor cords were like Spiderman webs went over fairly well. As long as I kept making up stories and keeping his eyes and mind occupied, he let the medical personnel manhandle him. They decided to keep him overnight and transferred him (1st ambulance ride) to the pediatrics campus.

Everything turned out well in the end, absolutely no effects were apparent. My mom came to the hospital whenever Maika woke up and needed to be fed. She would stay with Aisea while I ran home to do the feeding. (Handy that we live just 1 block away!)

The following day, after we were home and all of the adults’ nerves were returning to normal, my mom tells me, “Last night when I was with Aisea, trying to get him to sleep, I was rubbing his arm and noticed a tourniquet still on his upper arm, underneath his shirt sleeve. His arm was considerably darker than the rest of his skin.” She said she ran out to the nurses desk to alert them and they were in the room before she knew it. And they removed it.

This made my heart sink! The poor little boy, goes to the hospital to HAVE something happen to him!?! The nurse at the ER had put the tourniquet on to find a vein to insert the IV and left it there. It was maybe 2 hours that he was wearing it. I’m so grateful for my mom! I may not have noticed it!!!!!

In the end, all was well.

SAY-GO-BE-DO

What is a, “SAY-GO-BE-DO?”
It is just ONE of the life-changing principles that is impacting my family this year.

Here’s the story:
My friend, Tiffany, was in church, singing the hymn, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go.” Feeling inspired, she began to jot down key words while she sang. When she looked at her paper, she saw the words, “SAY-GO-BE-DO.”

Tiffany and others have developed this word chain into a phrase that is changing lives! It is the theme for an annual youth conference called, “Youth For America.”

Here’s what it means:
Whenever you SAY (with your mind, heart, or mouth), that you should do something, want to do something, could or ought to do something, then you STOP AND TAKE NOTICE!
Next, you GO! You ACT on that thought.
Then you BEcome who you were prompted to become, and
You DO what it was you were supposed to do.

You may have heard similar thoughts, such as, “Listen to the still, small voice. “ Or “Follow the promptings of the Spirit.” BUT HOW OFTEN DO WE DO THAT?

How many times in a day do you think, “I should call that person?” “I should take my kids there.” “I should tell my spouse how much I love him.” And on and on….
How often do you have “good ideas” that would benefit your ward, family, or community? But the ideas fly out of your mind as quickly as they seemed to enter.

If we “SAY-GO-BE-DO,” then these thoughts will continue to come with greater intensity and purpose.

Just one moment this week when I put this into practice.
I was running around my neighborhood in the evening and contemplating the profound concept of “SAY-GO-BE-DO.” When I looked up and noticed I was passing a house, just across the street from my own, where I’d recently learned that a non-LDS family had moved into (in the years since I’ve lived at home.) I had been SAYING – “I should go introduce myself to them,” for several weeks. I had even thought, “I’ll take them a cheese ball for Christmas.” BUT I did NOT “SAY-GO-BE-DO.” It just died right after the SAY part.

So there I was, sweaty, stinky, and on-the-spot. Unfortunately, “SAY-GO-BE-DO” does not have a “sweaty, stinky” exemption clause.
I said a quick prayer and approached the door.
I spoke with the woman of the house for a little while. We had a great conversation, she was very amiable. But of all the miracles – come to find out, she has just taken up running!
I can’t help but wonder, if I hadn’t done my “SAY-GO-BE-DO,” at that moment, would running ever have come up in our conversation? Would I have been able to begin a relationship of trust built on a common denominator?
What matters is that I did follow that prompting and I felt so GRATEFUL that I did.

D&C 30: 5, 11
5 Behold, I say unto you, …for the time has come that it is expedient in me that you shall open your mouth to declare my gospel; therefore, fear not, but give heed unto the words and advice of your brother, which he shall give you.
• • •
11 And your whole labor shall be in Zion, with all your soul, from henceforth; yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you. Amen.

It's like LIGHTENING!

I am super excited about a few new things in life - I don't know which strand to address first, but I am so ENERGIZED by them, I just have to share. It's like LIGHTENING to my SOUL and BODY!

First, a BIG FAT THANKS to Kami Mitchell - On New Year's Eve she introduced me to the practice of gratitude.

It is SO different from the simple prayer statements of, "Thank you for ...."

This is WAKING UP and saying, "I AM GRATEFUL FOR ________" and then continuing with at leat 5 things, each time saying the complete phrase, ""I AM GRATEFUL FOR ________."

And then, getting into your "Gratitude Journal" and writing down what you're grateful for TODAY, then writing what you want to have come into your life and already feeling grateful for.

I was in a total FUNK (definition: A trendy word for "Depression.") for a while over the holidays. While I was having some great times, I felt a decrease in energy and motivation (hmmm, lots of extra sugar, no exercise, lots of gatherings with germy relatives, I wonder what was behind the fatigue?)

But on New Year's Eve, thanks to Kami's mentoring, I was able to RENEW my desire to RUN again. And so....

On New Year's Day at 5:00 a.m. when I thought I wanted to stay in bed, I said, "I'm grateful to be breathing." As I got dressed and headed out into the cold, dark air, I could honestly say, "I'm grateful that my legs work. I'm grateful that there is NO SNOW in St. George..." and on from there.

SURPRISINGLY - Can I just say - I felt a physical release - a loosness in my body, especially my shoulders and chest after saying these gratitude statements aloud and literally envisioning them coming right out of my heart! woa! And I ran 3 miles.

Suddenly - I was transformed out of my FUNK and into my CHI. (Definition: trendy term for being in tune with your mind/body/spirit connection). I have been running since Jan 1 and will run 10 miles tomorrow! NO JOKE! I have more energy during the days and feel recognizably more optimistic, patient, loving and GRATEFUL all day long.

Go Ahead - try it - And then tell me about YOUR EXPERIENCE!

(At night I've been telling my boys, "I'm grateful that you spent time with me today." "I'm grateful that you helped me make dinner." Etc. It's revolutionary!)

WHY RUN A MARATHON?

HAVE YOU EVER RUN A MARATHON?
HAVE YOU EVER WANTED TO RUN A MARATHON?
HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT, "NEVER, NO WAY, IT'S NOT FOR ME." ?
WATCH THIS VIDEO - THIS IS MY FAVORITE ADDICTION!
SLC MARATHON APRIL 19, 2008 ---- HERE I COME BABY!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-8XSit8XyeM

ADDICTION

I have heard and ignored whisperings of the spirit for sometime now.

It's at the end of the day, when I lay down to sleep, that my mind starts to unwind and I think of things other than who is hungry, who needs to be changed, when I'm going to get the shopping done, what we're going to eat for each meal (etc....you all know the routine). Time and time again during these "unlaxing" moments I have had subtle thoughts come to me about the urgency of delving deeper into consistent scripture study. I respond to these promptings with, "Scriptures! Who has time for scriptures? Let alone my Sunday lesson manuals, good grief! I'm too tired at night to even see straight, the mornings are too hectic, and I'm running all day from child to child answering never ending summons!"

And then, during one particular "justification session," a humbling realization hit me.

I have an ADDICTION.

Then the following questions entered my mind like a courthouse interrogation:

"Do you have time to answer the cell phone during the day?"

"Do you have time to read and compose emails?"

The answers to each were an obvious, "Yes."

A final question came, "How is it you have plenty of TIME to communicate with so many other people and you have no time for the Lord?"

From this humbling call to repentence, I began to evaluate how and when I use the internet. While I thought I was not obsessed or addicted, because I so honestly log on only "when kids are sleeping or spending quality time with someone else", (uh, huh) I came to realize that it is my preferred form of escape and entertainment, all disguised by the cloak of "I'm just keeping in touch with friends and family."

I decided to challenge myself -

I WILL NOT LOG ON TO EMAIL OR ANSWER A CELL PHONE UNTIL I HAVE READ MY SCRIPTURES EACH DAY.

Some interesting things have occurred - I was surprised at my own addictive behaviors and responses.

While immersed in the scriptures, guess what I've discovered? They're screaming with prophecies and warnings that apply to our time!

I've had to ask myself, "Great and Spacious Building or Iron Rod....Where do I stand?"

This will be a fabulous new year!