Kitty Litter

So this morning when I was cleaning the litter boxes I wondered "who invented kitty litter?" What would make someone even think about such a product and did people have indoor cats before kitty litter? If they did have indoor cats what did they use? This is what I found via the Internet:

Edward Lowe was born July 10, 1920 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lowe served in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1945. After the Navy, Lowe worked for his father selling industrial absorbents, including products such as sawdust and an absorbent clay called Fuller's Earth. Edward Lowe's neighbor Kay Draper asked for a replacement for the ashes she was using in her cat box. (George Plitt first packaging ashes from burned wood for cats to use.) Her cat was trailing ashy paw prints all over her home and she was hoping for a cleaner alternative. Ed Lowe suggested that she use absorbent clay, she did and loved it.

In 1947, Edward Lowe decided to package the clay in 5lb bags marked "kitty litter" to sell in a local pet store. The store owner did not think the product would sell for the asking price of sixty-five cents, sand for cat boxes was very cheap. Ed Lowe convinced the store owner to display his product and give it away. Soon, the customers were willing to pay for more kitty litter.

Thank you Edward Lowe!

Heavenly Father

This past Sunday was fast testimony meeting, a time when members of the congregation will get up and bear their testimony. A Sister was telling how her dog had this problem with eating things he shouldn't and now had a major blockage. They could pay a large some of money for a surgery or play the waiting game and hope for the best. The chance of the blockage taking care of itself wasn't likely so the family was trying to prepare for a loss. She decided to pray and fast-something she really didn't have a testimony of-she prayed to be able to handle the situation. When she arrived home from church she found the dog had managed pass the blockage on his own, something the vet said he had never seen happen before. What amazes me about this story is how our Heavenly Father teaches us lessons in unconventional ways. He knows that all of his children have different lessons to learn and need to be taught in different ways; what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. It is proof to me once again that he knows each of us individually and will give us what we need, when we need it, and how we need it.

Today

So today I went shopping-for clothes-the worst type of torture I can imagine. Nothing ever fits, EVERYTHING is too long. My feet are so small and fat I can’t just buy shoes like a normal person…Grrrrrr! However on my travels from one torture chamber to another I noticed how green the grass was, the new leaves on the trees, the temporary ponds with ducks and geese… I love spring, more daylight, warmer weather, and the bright promise of things to come.

Airline Check List

After every flight, pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that needs repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems as submitted by Qantas pilots and the solution recorded by maintenance engineers.

(P = The problem logged by the pilot.)
(S = The solution and action taken by the mechanics.)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're there for.

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget poundingon something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Team work

We had our second annual "Deck the Doors" contest at work and my team won!

You could get:

Best Overall Door
Best use of Humor
Best Representation of Department/Team.

We got Best Representation of Department/Team. I am so lucky to work with such a great group of people!

Big Julie

This was waiting for me when I returned from vacation. Excellent team work guys! My favorite part? The Donny necklace of course!

I bought the kit this year with the stencils and tools to do some more creative pumpkin carving; these are what Sean and I did. We also found out the hard way that you need to make sure you get "carving pumpkins" not "cooking pumpkins." Sean's was for cooking and much harder to carve!

Jew?

So Ian is telling me this story tonight about a sub in one of his classes... he says the sub "looked like a Jew." So I ask him "What does a Jew look like?" (My first thought was that he was making a judgement and I was going to set him straight if that was the case.) His response was "I don't know, but all my friends thought so too." Ah, the need to fit in!

Living in a lego house

Will we all survive?

Potter household:

One tween
One teenager
One peri-menopausal mom

Living on the edge of disaster!

Big Slip n Slide

Where does he come up with this stuff?

Last night Ian and I went school shopping, who would of thought a boy could be so indecisive? The goal was to get a couple t-shirts and a sweat shirt, we ended up with nothing. After the waste of time shopping trip we went to Finley's for dinner where I had this conversation with Ian:

Ian: "there's this guy at dad's I think you'd like."
Me: "why do you say that."
Ian: "because he's lost like you."
Me: "what do you mean?"
Ian: "you know he says these things that he thinks are funny and he laughs and nobody gets it but him."

What do you say to that? Thanks Ian I love you too!

Summer 2009 #2

The boys and I spent our traditional week up-north with my mom & dad. The boys went with my brother and his grand-daughter over to Torch lake for an afternoon and all the kids got swimmers itch-I looked up on the Internet and now that I know what it is I'm kinda creeped out!

My mom & dad buy some fireworks on clearance each year and one night we have a fire and light them. Much fun!

We went to Pirates Cove in Traverse City again this year, it's a really neat family activity place. We played a game of mini golf and drove go carts. This year they added a zip cord thing-we decided to wait until next year to try that one. They also had this rope climbing course that Ian & Sean did. They seemed to really enjoy it. Ian said this part in the picture was a bit nerve racking-but he did it!

Summer 2009

It's been a really different summer: The boy's dad has been laid off so he's had them more, there has been a lot of one on one-I've liked that part. What I haven't liked is the lack of routine, I don't really like not knowing which kid or kids will be home from day to day. None of them (Rob included) seem to understand they need to keep me in the loop and that they really should ask me if there is anything else going on. Grrrr

Rob did take the boys on a road trip; they went to Ohio, Maryland, DC, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky. They saw a lot of military stuff; battlegrounds, tanks, ships, etc.-Robs speciality. They also saw Mammoth Caves and the Smokey Mountains-now that stuff I like. (I hear Ian's favorite was the beach with the bikinied girls :)) They got to meet their great uncle Ray and his family-that was cool. All in all it was a good trip, but they were happy to come home which made a mom really missing her boys feel happy.

Extraordinary Mothers

Sunday Paper

I fear this will be me someday...


"WHERE is my SUNDAY paper?!" The irate customer calling the newspaper office, loudly demanded to know where her Sunday edition was.

"Madam", said the newspaper employee, "today is Saturday. The Sunday paper is not delivered until tomorrow, on SUNDAY".

There was quite a long pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a ray of recognition as she was heard to mutter, "Well, ****, so that's why no one was at church today."

We'll miss you Smokey Joe Potter

It's not like my emotions weren't running high as it was, I came home after work on Wednesday to find a very dehydrated cat, I knew right away we were in trouble... We went to Ian's graduation ceremony and as soon as we got home called the vet to take him in. You could tell right away that she knew we were in trouble too. They kept him over night tried to get some fluids in him and take some blood. The blood tests confirmed her fear-kidney failure. Bottom line, not much you can do. So this afternoon we let him go. Ian and I went to the vet to be with him, then Sean, Ian and I took him out to my mom & dads and buried him in their backyard. Sean made a cross of sorts for him-it's been a very sad day in the Potter household.

Ian's Big Day

Ian graduated from middle school Wednesday-(no really he did and without summer school!) Even with all the struggles this year it was still his best middle school year. He didn't want to go to the celebration at all, and all the way there told me how unfair it was that I was forcing him to go. He may or may not appreciate me making him go in later years, but at least he won't regret not going! I wasn't able to get any good pictures because the set-up was a little different and in Ian's eyes that would be "annoying". So I will post a partial picture as well as the balloons and cake just for the record. High School for this one next year!

Sean's Big Day

Sean graduated from 5th grade on Tuesday, on to middle school! They had a nice program, the 5th graders sang about 5 songs, then the 5th grade teachers gave them an advancement certificate. Remember how your parents said they grow-up really fast, enjoy each moment? They're right!

Watching out for John

Thursday night Sean and I went to Flap Jacks for dinner-I over heard the following conversation between the old guy in the booth behind me and another couple:

Couple: Hi John, how are you?
John: I'm doing well how are you?

Some additional conversation then:
John: How do I know you again?

Some additional conversation, John seems to know who they are now and they talk about friends they have in common, some alive, some not.

Couple: We haven't seen you in here recently.
John: I come in about once a week.
Couple: You used to come every night.
John: Maybe I still do.

Poor John-I hope someones keeping track of him.