Supah Dupah Ramblings

***ALERT*** This is a ridiculously lengthy post full of seemingly unrelated photos representing the randomness that is the World 'o Potts. So, if you opt to click the back button on your browser right now, I will only be a little bit offended.

Let me start by saying that my blood pressure would be so much lower if United Supermarkets would STOP doing their summer "Collect and WIN!!" game. For years I have been collecting and collecting and collecting but we have yet to actually "WIN!!" anything. Unless you count that can of beans from an instant winner ticket a couple years back. Which I don't. Yet here I am...immersed in another summer of licking and sticking those wretched little stamps because I know that the only guarantee is that if I don't play, then I definitely won't win. Sigh. That being said, I would greatly appreciate it if all of you would kindly refrain from playing the United game so there will be more tickets for me. It is SO irksome to get every prize section on the game board filled up to the point that you only need ONE more ticket to win then BAM! They run out of game pieces on July 28th and you're left standing there trying your darndest to not cuss out the teenager at the register for giving away all the tickets before you got there! ahem. Moving on...

Here begins the aforementioned stream of random pictures...

This kitty looks sweet, but he is BAD. He really likes eating whatever he finds on the floor and then yaking it back up for you later. And he is obsessed with liquids. Of all sorts. He meticulously licks all the water off the shower door when someone gets out, and if you're not fast enough, he'll lick it from your legs too. If you leave your drink unattended, or even turn your head away from it for a moment, he'll dunk a paw in and have a taste...this includes alcoholic beverages. The varmint has no shame. If he finds a glass left sitting on an elevated surface, but no one has been considerate enough to leave a drink for him, he will simply swipe it off onto the floor.

And don't get me started on his furry brother's penchant for shredding rolls of toilet paper. I threatened to kill the rascals today and Grant said, "If you do I'll just never forgive you and then you'll be sad!"

Dang.

Miscellaneous day at the park meets new photo app...

Spring sprang so we took a trip to the cookie store after school one day. Just because. Everybody should eat overpriced balloon and cake shaped cookies for no good reason every once in a while.

Then it was Easter. Oh the joy of trying to convince two little boys to dress nicely for just this one special day.

Grant: Mom! Can't I wear my t-ball jersey to church? Pleeeeeeeeeeease??!

Me: No.

Grant: But WHY did you pick out THIS shirt for me? This has GOT to be the STUPIDest color EVER!

Me: ...making a beeline for the paddle...

Jaden, on the other hand, was unusually cooperative. Of course, this was after a shopping trip that I made him go on so HE could pick out his Easter shirt since I knew he'd veto anything I chose for him myself. 6 stores and 2.5 hours later, we finally agreed on a shirt that had a collar (my requirement) and was not totally lame (his requirement). So we finally made it out the door to snap a quick Easter pic.

Attempt #1 -- Two smiles...yay! Eyes closed....boo!

Attempt #2...

Attempt #3....yeah right.

After Easter came my yearly trip to sunny SoCal. LOVE me some San Diego....especially when I fly through Austin to get there. If you've never been to Austin, you should go, simply so you can experience Amy's Ice Cream. There's one in the airport so you don't even have to rent a car. I pig out every time I go through there. Oh my sweet Lord. As if their Mexican Vanilla topped with hot fudge and praline wasn't delight enough, they had a Star Wars thing going on too. Check out this chalkboard!

And the sign on their tip jar...

Now I absolutely despise tip jars. Why in creation do I need to pay you another dollar or two when all you did was pull a donut out of the case/scoop my ice cream into a cup/do the job you were hired to do? And so, for all of you in cyberspace that I just totally offended, consider this. What would your first reaction be if you walked into your kid's classroom and saw a tip jar on the teachers desk? The bank tellers counter? On the checkers register at United? Okay...sorry. My soapbox slipped out. (bad soapbox! bad! get back in your closet!) But that's the joy of having your own platform for spewing nonsense now isn't it?! Which brings me back to my point, the tip jar sign. Who knew that a clever sign was all it took to knock me off my box and get me to drop some bills into not ONE, but BOTH tip jars?! (have to keep the force balanced you know)


After San Diego, the end of school came rushing in. Grant lost some teeth...

The planets aligned and I managed to snap a decent pic of two boys at the same time...

A few students left me lots of love on my board...

And then there were awards assemblies. Yay for the Potts boys! Grant received 3 awards: top kid in math, music, and citizenship. Now, I know you're thinking, "Citizenship? Really?" Yes. Really. He had an amazing kindergarten teacher and we will SO miss her next year!

Super proud of Jaden too for making the UIL Spelling team this year and for earning the 2nd most AR points in the entire third grade. He should've been in first place but AR was new to him this year (they didn't do it at his previous school) and for the entire first semester, I couldn't convince him that he was allowed to take AR tests on the books he read at home as well as the ones from school. Oh well. We're pleased as punch anyway.

Then there's the bad news...tornado season.

In Huntsville, my best friend and her family spent a day in hiding as a ridiculous number of tornados swept across the upper half of the state. Fortunately, they only had to endure several days without power. My cousin Randi and her husband Shawn were also ducking for cover in Tuscaloosa on this day. The tornado that tore through the town passed just a couple of blocks from their home. Thankfully they survived, uninjured, but lost a lot as a massive tree crashed into their house.

Then, the Sunday after school let out, we received a call that a tornado had ripped through Joplin, MO, and that Matts grandparents had been in its path. The F5 destroyed most everything, and 10 inches of rain the following day took a lot of the rest. But they too survived, uninjured. Matt, his brother, mom, and step-dad immediately hopped in the car and drove up to help out.

But these stories deserve blog entries of their own...maybe I can talk Matt and Randi into being guest writers so they can tell you firsthand what they experienced.

Please pray for the people of Joplin and Tuscaloosa as well as those in OK, KS, and MN.