Cruel and unusual punishment...

She's probably heard it a hundred times...

"Bet that was fun to try to spell in kindergarten!"

I greeted Tuesday's senior at our door with a piqued curiosity as to how she pronounced her unique name.

Tyieshia.

How would YOU say it?   Be honest.

My best guess woulda been something along the lines of Tie-EE-shuh.

Negative.

The correct pronunciation:   TAY-shuh.    As in rhymes with Asia.

So... I promptly said it three times to commit it to memory... and then came the second bit of interesting info...

The middle name.

Unique as well... Mama Sheryl COULD have just gone with the more familiar version that most of us associate with a luxury automobile... but OH no...  If you're gonna do something... go big or go home, right?

Musta been Sheryl's thought because Tyieshia is followed up with Mersadiz.

You've heard of guys compensating for inadequacies by driving a big ol' pick up truck?   Well... perhaps having a last name with just three letters entitles one to have a totally difficult to spell first and middle name, then!

Tyieshia and Sheryl know I'm just razzin 'em.   And in fact... I think they almost kinda like the questions and hard time I gave them about it.   Almost wearing it like a badge of honor.

So, once we got the name thing out of the way, the Arp ladies and I were off to enjoy a nearly perfect afternoon of weather for our rowdy redheaded senior from South Tama.

It was a big departure from Tyieshia's original session date which was the week prior.   A blustery combo of rain and wind prompted Team Arp to postpone... and boy did we hit the jackpot on the second attempt.

It was the perfect backdrop for Tyieshia and I to discuss our country music concert snobbery (it's either pit/floor or bust, right girlfriend?) as well as much talk of her summer activities, future plans and how I just might get to photograph her a couple more times this year... (stay tuned Team Trojan... the news is coming...)

As I usually do, I asked the senior parent how many children she had (with the specific intention of finding out whether there could be OTHER potential seniors coming down the pike in years to come).   Unfortunately, I didn't get the answer that I wanted (which would've gone something like:  "Oh yes... I've got eight kids, Bryan... and Tyieshia is the OLDEST!)    Instead, Miss Arp was the third and last of Sheryl's kids... I'm sure Tyieshia would argue that the best was saved for last... I'll just say that we finished strong.   Fair enough?  :)