Not a cookie!!

Normally Olivia just does her own thing while Joseph and Ruth have their after school snack. But lately she's just not that into being a toddler. She absolutely HAS to do everything the big people do - exactly how they do it! So naturally, while her siblings are sitting down to eat she has to sit at the table with them.

Now, I know full well the child isn't hungry; because she had a snack at 2:00 before the other kids came home.

I sit her down and give her a coloring book and some crayons. Unacceptable! She just flung them across the room. So I offer her a toy to play with. That wasn't to her liking either. Fine. I let her sit there and watch as we talk about our day. Next thing I know, she reaches over and snatches Ruth's jelly toast right out of her hand!! I take it away and give it back to Ruth. Here we go - her Scream. It's not even a scream really, it's more like she's WAILING!! So I give her a spoon & let her attempt to open the jelly while I toast her bread. She obviously saw right through my attempt to distract her and proceeded to throw her spoon at her brother's head in protest!! Poor Joseph is crying. This girl's got an arm!

Finally, the toast  is done! I quickly grab a butter knife, smear the jelly and hand the toast to Olivia.


"NO!!! Not a cookie!!" she says, climbs down from her perch and leaves the kitchen.

The calm before the storm

Olivia has some kind of weird bond with my Aunt D.
Every time Olivia sees her walk in/out of the door, she screams at the top of her lungs until she gets some lovin'.

   So this afternoon my aunt heads out the door just to go to the store across the street and Olivia starts hollerin' "I WANNA GO!!!! ME! I GO TOO!!" So D takes her with. (No stroller!! What a brave woman...) Walking around, you'd never known there was an almost 2 yr old in the store. She behaved like a big girl and didn't grab at things walking through the aisles. Candy aisle; nothing... Cookie aisle; silence...Potato chips, soda, cereal; not a sound. WOW!!! Olivia is just astounding Aunt D with her behavior!

As they pass the refrigerated section, something catches Olivia's eye. She stops dead in her tracks and here it comes- the tantrum- she found something she wants...."CHEEECKUUNNN!!!!" Dumbfounded, Aunt D takes out a box of frozen chicken & Olivia stops crying. Noticing that the box is partially open & torn, she puts the box back & Olivia starts screaming at the top of her lungs"NOOO!!!!! MINE!! MINE!! MIIIINNNNEE!!!" Aunt D takes out another box & hands it to Olivia.

The battle is won. Olivia happily carries her box of chicken through the store to check out.
Awesome.

Whales, Scientists and Common Sense

For those of you who aren't up to date with current events; on Tuesday morning an infant Humpback Whale (thought to be about a year or less) beached himself on Main Beach in Long Island, NY.  For three days this poor animal was stranded in pain and starving while "experts" and onlookers watched without taking action. It was believed that the baby whale was sick and its mother's whereabouts was unknown. Marine scientists said that, even in excellent health, the baby whale would not be able to survive on it's own due to it's young age. In addition, they claim that it was not feasible to feed, euthanize nor offer any other comfort(s) to the animal as an act of caution to animal rescue workers/volunteers. (It could have conceivably thrashed it's body and injured/killed someone)

Now I'm no marine biologist but, being blessed with common sense, this is what I think.

• The largest male Killer Whale on record was 9.8 metres (32 ft), weighing over 10 tonnes (9.8 LT; 11 ST), while the largest female was 8.5 metres (28 ft), weighing 7.5 tonnes (7.4 LT; 8.3 ST).  **thanks wikipedia**

• One of the larger rorqual species, Humpback Whale adults range in length from 12–16 metres (39–52 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb).**again; thanks to wikipedia**

• September 27, 2008 ;  a beached Orca (Killer Whale) is rescued on Papamoa Beach, New Zealand ( I tried to embed the video but youtube wouldn't let me)

I know it isn't a killer whale in this case (and since I did my HW on Wikipedia before posting my blog; I realize the irony of comparing the humpback to its predator), but follow my thought process for a minute. Orcas are toothed whales; they eat fish, penguins and other smaller mammals or whales. Humpbacks are baleen whales, they basically have long thick strands of hair instead of teeth. They swallow large amounts of water and close their mouths before spitting the water back out. The baleen acts as a filter and prevents the krill, salmon, herring or other small schooling fish they swallow from being expectorated along with the water.

Now if a fully grown predatory whale known to be aggressive even in captivity (think back to Sea World Feb. 24, 2010) can be rescued after beaching itself without risking harm to rescue personnel; why is it that a less than 1 yr. old baby humpback whale could not have been sedated and then transported to one of at least three aquariums (that I know of at least) within reasonable distance where it could have been diagnosed, FED!!!!!!!!, and - in my own high hopes - offered rehabilitation???

Even if it needed to be transported from the original hosting facility to a better equipped facility willing to take on this remarkable creature. I'm confident that if this animal had been given a better opportunity at being rescued it's chance of survival would have been greater. Even in these trying times we have seen people rally together for a common interest. Surely the finances would have become available in the interest of saving a baby humpback whale (especially since this species just barely upgraded from vulnerable to least concern in 2008).


I'm just sayin........

"Here I Come!!"

So it's Friday evening and I'm trying to catch up with email; job searches (and, of course, harvesting my crops on FB). This is supposed to be my "down time". The kids have been fed. Homework is done (yes my children get hw over the weekend). Joseph (8) and Ruth (6) are playing some odd made up game even though they're supposed to be on a time out for fighting. I've tuned the t.v. to Nick J.R. so Olivia (my 20 mo. old wonder) can sit quietly on her little blanket while I type away.

Here I am typing/clicking away when hear;

Ruth "Something's wrong with baby!!!"

Joseph "What did you do? Why is she in the corner?!? MOOOOOMM!!! Ruth put Olivia in time-out!!"

As I come down the hall, I see Olivia facing the corner leaned into her arms. Before I can reach down to pick her up her little voice says

"six, eight, ele-en, ten!! Geejaa!! (translation; Ginger - the dog) Here I come!!!"

LOL!!! She was playing hide and seek with the dog!!!

WTF??

In honor of my best friend "D" (and her many VERY interesting life stories...) I've decided to pose this question I'm sure others have pondered.

Why is it that when you owe money to a creditor they're sure to tack on an extra fee (which they like to call "interest")? Now on the flip side; if you should happen to make an overpayment these same creditors take their leisurely time in sending a refund check (in some cases, several years!). What I'M "interested" in knowing is this.... Can I charge interest on an overdue payment from said creditor? Better yet, I think I'd rather turn the matter over to a collections agency and have them garnish wages until all debts (including interest) have been paid to me in full!!!

Just a thought...........

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Thanks for visiting my blog. Feel free to comment or leave feedback. Any advise/constructive criticism is welcome in the interest of improving my new endeavor.

Mojo