Just Simply Holly

We’re on the verge of taking on a fourth dog. Now, before you say “OMG, ARE YOU FREAKING INSANE”, let me tell you that we’re not, honestly. Although I’m sure there are many people who know us who would argue otherwise! It’s not a done deal and it still may not happen, but there’s a pretty good chance it will! And before you ask, no, I don’t have a picture of our soon to be family member, well, I do, but it’s not just of her, it’s her other two sisters as well.

But as you and I both might question my sanity about taking on a fourth dog, I would suggest you read THIS story! It appears that an elderly couple in Arizona came to the conclusion that no one could care for the puppies that they had, so they just kept them, litter, after litter, after litter. Until they ended up with almost 800 dogs in their home. Yes fold, you read that right, EIGHT HUNDRED DOGS in one home. But, as they say in the infomercials, BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!!!! Not only did they have 800 dogs, they also had 82 parrots! All in a triple wide mobile home. Granted, that is a pretty decent sized home, but when you read in the story that the dogs were given free run of the house and there was urine and feces EVERYWHERE!

So, I don’t feel quite as insane anymore! LOL

As a parent of 2 teenagers, I have been through many things with my kids. Through their school years we have had some rough moments and I’ve even had times where I’ve gotten into arguments with school administrators because I felt my child was being treated unfairly or punished for something that shouldn’t have been punished for. But I cannot even imagine how the parents of THIS child felt when their 13 year old daughter was given 2 days of detention for hugging 2 friends goodbye at the end of a school day.

People wonder why kids are the way they are today. Although I acknowledge that there are many factors behind today’s “bad” kids, teaching children that hugging is wrong is simply, well, WRONG! Yes, I know that there are many kids in today’s society that do not care to be hugged, and some even view it as a form of sexual harassment. But a quote from the story tells the school districts exact policy on hugging

“Displays of affection should not occur on the school campus at any time. It is in poor taste, reflects poor judgment, and brings discredit to the school and to the persons involved.”

How does a student hugging their friends, who are willing recipients of said hugs, bring discredit to a school? If I were to see something like that as I were driving by a school my thought would not be “Oh my God, that school must be horrible”, my thoughts would be that the school promotes a feeling of happiness and friendliness that supports friendships.

If we, as a society, continue to punish children for showing their peers that they care, what kind of adults are they going to grow up to be?  In my opinion, uncaring and selfish adults!  Do I feel that a child should be willing to give a child a hug that doesn’t want one?  NO, absolutely not.  But a child should be able to show care and affection to peers who are mutually agreeable to receiving said care and affection without the fear of being punished for it!

I’m an avid watcher of The Today Show, I tune it in every morning at 7:00 a.m. without hesitation!  They just did a segment on teens and sleep that I think was great, but one thing that was said really caught my attention.  First, you can read the Newsweek article HERE, it’s a great read that I highly recommend!

What was said on The Today Show that caught my interest and made me start paying attention to the segment was “Teens need at least nine hours of sleep a night”.  OK, I know that I technically only have one teenager and that he is a young teen that is not quite 15, but between him and his 12 year old sister, I still feel I “qualify” as a parent of teens.  My opinion on the 9 hours of sleep is that it is fairly accurate, I know that my own children function much better on more sleep.  I also know that my husband and myself are early risers, so we do get to bed at a decent hour on most nights, and the kids know that when we go to bed, they also go to bed.  Our average bed time around here is 10:00 p.m., with some nights being as early as 9:00, but usually rarely later than 10:00.  On school/work mornings my hubby is up at 4:45 a.m., I am usually up shortly after that and the kids get up around 6:00.  It is not possible for them to get up later than that and be ready to get to the bus in time, so there is no possibility of making their wake up time any later.  So in order for my teens to get 9 hours of sleep a night it would be necessary for them to be asleep by 9:00 p.m., not just in bed, but actually sleeping.  I don’t know any teen that goes to bed early enough to be fully asleep by 9:00 p.m., as a matter of fact, most kids that are the same age(s) as mine are usually are up later.  My sister has a 13 yr old daughter, and I know that it’s rare that she’s in bed BEFORE 10:00 p.m.

A s young teens get older, you add jobs to their school/sports/extra circular activities schedule.  Which means that it’s rare that they can do their homework immediately following school, making homework time after work, making the possibility of them getting 6 hours of sleep a complete miracle, and the possibility of 9 hours of sleep completely impossible.  It’s no wonder you seen teens chugging down energy drinks like they’re going out of style these days!  It scares me to think that I am not too far away from having a child in this stage of their life.

Anyway, I don’t know what my point is anymore, other than to post the article and get peoples feedback.  I think it’s a great thought, the 9 hours of sleep, but I don’t think it’s something that is physically possible for the vast majority of teens!

We have a BP refinery here in my area, so when I find or see stories about BP, they are of interest to me. Being a parent, I worry about what the future holds for my children, so when I read things like the BP Whiting Refinery Fact Sheet, it makes me feel good to know that BP is taking the right measures to make sure that their refineries aren’t going to harm the environment any more than necessary.

The fact sheet states that BP will invest more than $3 billion dollars to modernize the Whiting Refinery. On top of that the only water that is released from their refinery into Lake Michigan is 99.9% water and does not contain sludge. All sludge is treated separately and never enters Lake Michigan. I like hearing this fact because I’ve heard all my life about how the Great Lakes are being harmed by factories that allow unacceptable products to be released into the Great Lakes. I think The Great Lakes are very special and important and what can be done to keep them clean needs to be done.

The Chicago Tribune recently wrote an article about The Whiting Refinery that seems to have misrepresented many of the facts behind a recent decision allowing BP to release pollutants into Lake Michigan. While I’m not thrilled about this being able to be done, another story in the News-Sentiel explains the reasons why this is being done and why, even though we may not agree with it, it is something that is important.

Sometimes in life we have to do things that we may not be happy about doing, but we know that in the end, it is something that is for the best. That is what I feel BP and its companies are doing what they are doing at The Whiting Refinery. They are trying to take steps to help the US relieve their dependence on crude oil from the Mid East, which I think is something that is very important. They are going to be using a heavier crude oil that they are going to be getting from Canada.
I look forward to reading more about BP’s Whiting Refinery and the steps that it is taking and I will be sure to keep an eye out to make sure that BP is doing what they said they would do because I think this is a step in the right direction for our country.

During my evening news snooping, I ran across and interesting article on Yahoo news titled Americans Don’t Understand Others that made me go “DUH”.

The article talks about a study that was done that shows Rugged Individualism could hinder out ability to understand other people. Read more…