The latest events and adventures of Shelley and the latest enhancements to shelleypotts.com! http://shelleypotts.com What is going on!? In the past month there have been ~10, maybe more, significant wild fires w/n 100 miles of where we live. We've had 2 major heat waves, 1 major wind event, and 1 unusual thunderstorm aid in the inferno. Maybe this is "normal" for Californians, but this is brand new to me. I don't like it. This fire started up right across the bay near Watsonville Friday afternoon. And this is a colleague's perspective of the same fire from his back porch. *shakes head* -- Please note, to view available links, click on the main title. http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=171&tbl=Blog http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=171&tbl=Blog I took a trip to Ohio Father's Day weekend to see the family. Boy was it busy! I got to visit w/ 4 of my nieces and nephews, Elizabeth, Catherine, Hannah, and Gregory. Mike managed to make it to Ohio b/t trips. Nothing major to report, other than it was great seeing everyone again. W/ us being so spread apart, family visits never happen often enough. Awwww. -- Please note, to view available links, click on the main title. http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=170&tbl=Blog http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=170&tbl=Blog I took a long weekend to travel w/ Mike to MN to meet Kathy. She introduced us to geocaching and we dragged her to the Minnesota Science Museum. I also managed to visit the Mississippi Natl. River Rec. Area and get my passport book stamped. Thanks for the trip, Kathy!

When we returned I headed to the backyard to take care of some flower beds. We have some of the most god-awful "flowers" growing back there, Dragon Arums. I tried like hell last year to kill them all off for this season, but it was in vain. They popped back up this year. Mike and I picked them all this afternoon and I made the most fitting "flower" arrangement in the best "vase" ever, our yard waste garbage bin!! -- Please note, to view available links, click on the main title. http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=169&tbl=Blog http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=169&tbl=Blog In light of the latest crunch at the gas pump, I thought I'd add a few funnies to my collection: gas funnies (scroll toward the bottom) -- Please note, to view available links, click on the main title. http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=64&tbl=Update http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=64&tbl=Update Hot on the heels of my hypermiling case study results, learn why Mike and I never "aspire" to own a home in California. Housing Market Disparity -- Please note, to view available links, click on the main title. http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=63&tbl=Update http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=63&tbl=Update The much anticipated addendum to my muse about driving economically is finally complete. I gathered fuel and mileage data on my car from March 2007 to March 2008. Read on to see how much I saved over the course of year by simply adopting a few painless economical driving habits! -- Please note, to view available links, click on the main title. http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=61&tbl=Update http://shelleypotts.com/content.php?id=61&tbl=Update