Today. Yes, Today

Oh, yes. I could not wait any longer. I'm home alone right now. Kathie is flying Space Available back from Big D and may not make it today. This will be our first New Year's Eve separated in 31 years. So, I decided to give you Bella and Toe Mater. And just in case, I helped you know who was who (or is it whom was whom). Anyway, enjoy.

Still to come, our present from Bella's folks (I forget their names).

Little Women

I realized it has been too long since Bella or Kathie appeared in the blog. So, back by popular demand....

Here are the little women in my life, one for 30 years and one for 30 weeks.













Speaking of Bella, check out her haul. Still, she occasionally decided the box was the best part of some presents. Soon, I'll share Bella and Toe Mater with you. Not tonight, though. Not tonight.







Hey, Alison had some serious tooth work done today. (Trivia: did you know that they've shown that placing a tooth in a glass of Coke will cause the tooth to disintegrate? Hey, maybe that's what happened to Dad?) Luckily, her mom was there right now to drive her home. Tomorrow, Kathie is heading down to Corsicana to see her mom. She comes back to me on Sunday afternoon.

BTW, remind me to tell you about Kyle and Lyndsay's Christmas present to us. Not tonight, though. Not tonight.

He's Baaaaaaaack

Season's Greeting and Merry Christmas to all. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at least in Denver, Chicago, and Pahrump. It feels like a desert Christmas here since we are down to like 60 during the day. Whew! Where is my jacket?


Since we last talked, Kyle finished college and joined the full-time working ranks. Now, he sells glasses and since his major was History, he can tell them about the first glasses, Ben Franklin's glasses, John Lennon's glasses, etc. I guess as long as it helps him sell, huh?





What else? The multi-church Chorale that the folks and I sing in performed our last concert of 2006 with a small orchestra. It was nice, if I do say so myself. Kathie agrees. She attended.

I have begun to read some of your blogs. Sorry for my extended absence. I can offer no excuses other than I just did not take the time. I read no blogs, did not update mine, did not even read email at home. I guess I had an IZ reaction. You know, an Inverse-Zachary reaction where I leaned away from technology instead of toward it.


Here's our house duded up for the holidays.


And our 2006 tree...with 2000 lights. And by that, I mean the number of lights, not when they were purchased. By 2006, I mean the year, not the cost. And by ..., I mean to emphasize the large quantity of lights, comprised of 1000 white and 1000 lights in color.


And Kyle and Lyndsay's tree...with much fewer lights. And by much fewer, I mean something less than 2000

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day to all family and friends. I have not posted in a while, and I do not have time to do so now. More later.

Is Lyndsay Getting Enough Greens?

Even though I did not tell you before, we made it out to Pahrump and back last weekend. We sang OK and I listened really hard for an "Amen," and I might have heard one. Thanks to the Walkers for taking us and to the Walkers for letting us be part of their service.



While we were there, we ate a green salad so pretty that Kathie wanted a photo of it. Here you go, Hon! By the way, the preacher cooked the meat. I think he went all I King 1:12 on me. And he knew he was safe because he is not yet 50.






Now that we are back, we went to see Lyndsay and Kyle's new house. OK, so remember when I thanked her for helping choose our colors for the den? Check out what she is doing to Bella's room. I know it will turn out cute, but right now, it certainly looks green.

Pahrump Postulations and Pixelations

We are in Pahrump with Preacher Bro and bunches o' family. We spent the evening at a Halloweenish carnival at their church right behind their house. A good time and too much sweets had by all. Check out the way my brother dresses when he isn't preaching.



Tomorrow, the 5 guys are singing in their 2 morning services. One of the services starts at 8 am. What time does God get up? Oh, and since we are in NV, we get an extra hour of sleep. We lose it, though, once we reenter AZ.

Kathie has her annual(?) performance review with the state on Tuesday. Please pray that she will do well.

Well, I don't have any Bella photos right now, so let's leave you with a look at Caleb and Lauri at home.

Too Long Since A Post

There is no way I went that long without a post. What was I thinking?

Well, let's start with Bella learning to crawl. Take a look.




We've also been doing a bit of painting. And before you ask, of course we are getting advice. Well, Kathie may not need any, but I certainly do. So, Lyndsay picked out colors that I would not have looked twice at, but it works. Here is some of the clay-colored wall and a yellowish wall. Oh yeah, check out the new pony wall that Dad built. He also built the top and used the same Formica as the countertops.




We are off to Pahrump this weekend with the folks. Some of them are singing the song on the blog. I might join them, although I would enjoy sitting and listening. I'll decide once I get there. We had tickets for Mercy Me on Friday night, but these opportunities don't come very often. So, I sold them and we'll catch them next time.

Posting, but nothing to say

Photo in honor of a granddaughter.


Music in honor of preacherbrother.

Cool Website

Check out your name or your kid's name or your grandbaby's name to see how popular it has been over the years.

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

And let's not end without a Bella sighting.

Little Punkins

We took Isabella (oh yeah, and Kyle and Lyndsay) to the Pumpkin Festival yesterday. We discovered that Bella is deathly afraid of pumpkins. We tested that theory with some fake pumpkins back at the apartment. Sure enough, she does not like them. We have not extended the test to pumpkin pie yet, but stay tuned.

Stinkin' Riddle

I am stuck on Level 14. I don't know if I can forgive Brenda for doing this to me. Because of her, I have also cursed two people at work with it, also.

weffriddles.com

Walt, Bella, Alison, and Me

Well, both kids and families are at Disney resorts. Alison and James have gone to Walt Disney World for the week to celebrate their first anniversary and probably her birthday. Lyndsay and Kyle and Bella are at Disneyland with her Dad's family. Kyle said Bella is loving it.

For us, we are here in nice, warm PHX. Today, Dad and I are working on our kitchen counter and pony wall. No, we did not horse around. Neigh, I mean nay. We've got the long wall up and drywalled. Dad said he'd come back Monday for the next steps.



And now, here's a Bella fix for the day. She got some new toys Thursday night and was having a grand, old time.

Vocations, not Vacations

Take a look at our granddaughter. She is thinking about becoming a professional Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. Here she is with Nana practicing one of the moves.



So, what does the post heading mean? Well, Bella has a chance at a fun vocation, cheering on the Boys in Blue...America's Team...God's Team. Anyway, it seems that my project at work has a due date towards the end of Kathie's Fall Break, so I cannot take off that week. We were planning on Niagara Falls, but now, we're just going to hold the hose over the pool and watch the water fall.

Elementary, My Dear Watson

Well, I don't know what Watson would have thought, but two classrooms were vandalized at Kathie's school. One of them was hers. We got a call at 9:30 or so saying we needed to come to the school. The rooms are ugly and vulgar, but it could have been much worse. There was a mess of us amateur CSI-types there waiting on the police, so I took my photos and reviewed the crime scene. Here are a couple of them.

I will not be posting those with crude remarks about students (as if swatikas weren't bad enough)





The police arrived at around 11. It certainly makes the teachers a little more leery of working off-hours. In my estimation, based on the way the shaving creme was drying, it occurred around 5am today. Some teachers got there at 5:45am for a sports field event, so I think the vandals were interrupted or it could have been much worse. I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express in the past. And I do watch all 3 CSI shows each week.

Luckily, no destructive vandalism was involved, so it will mostly be a cleanup effort. We are glad that the cleaning team found it today instead of Monday morning when nothing could have been done before students arrived.

B&B - BeatleMania Live 'n' Bella

Well, it was time for our annual trek to BeatleMania Live at a local casino. However, our usual partners, K&L, were both out of town. So, we invited a couple from our breakfast place to go with us. We already knew he was a Beatle fanatic, having painted a workroom and his garage with Beatle images. We had a great time, as always. And, they changed their playlist a bit, which is always fun. Here it is:

I Want to Hold Your Hand, From Me to You, All My Loving, Do You Want to Know a Secret, Please Please Me, This Boy, Hard Days Night, Tell Me Why, Eight Days a Week, Can't Buy Me Love, Help, Michelle, Yesterday, In My Life, We Can Work It Out, Ticket Ride, Roll Over Beethoven, I Feel Fine, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There, Twist and Shout, Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band, A Little Help From My Friends, Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields Forever, Yellow Submarine, Nowhere Man, Day Tripper, Got to Get You Into My Life, Imagine, Back in the U.S.S.R., Come Together, Something, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Get Back, Revolution, Hey Jude.

Plus, Isabella's back! And she can remain sitting up now. She's really close to crawling.

Plus, it's Alison's birthday. Happy 25th, Ali!

Pre-Birthday Blues

No, not my birthday. It's still months away. I'm talking about Isabella's six-month birthday. She's up in Indiana and her birthday is Sunday.What am I gonna do? I'll have to try and call her. Now if I can just remember her phone number.

Everything will be better next week. Bella will be back, and Alison's birthday is Wednesday. That should take care of those birthday blues.

All-ee All-ee In Come Free

Hey! Where did everybody go? Most importantly, where did Bella go?

Hmm. It seems that Kyle had a vision conference in Las Vegas this week. Lyndsay did not really want to have Isabella in that noisy, smoky environment all week, so they flew up to Indiana to visit Courtney. Now, the folks are heading up to Alaska. And Kathie decided to go.... No, not really. Kathie's still here, but all them others did leave. Nobody left to go to my last Sunday at Light In The Desert. Oh well.

Crazy week. How about y'all?

Time For a New Church?

Well, on Sunday afternoon, the pastors and I agreed that it is time for them to look for a full-time music person. As long as I am there, the church is content to let me stay in the position. However, it is time to start working on Christmas music, so I would like to have either stayed through the season or leave now and let the acting music leader (one of the two pastors) pick and prepare the musical. So, this coming Sunday is my last at Light In The Desert. It is a bittersweet feeling, although not so bitter that I want to become their music minister. Luckily, I still have the Tuesday night Chorale for my singing fix.

Now, Kathie and I need to look for a church to attend. The Baptist church we attended for years is looking for a pastor, and the Nazarene church we went to during 2005 has decided not to have a choir anymore. So, we will begin the search in a couple of weeks. You can pray that God will show us where we can worship and participate.

New Look for the Kitchen

Well, Dad and I replaced our old countertop with a new countertop. Yup, we tried to work it without one, but things keep falling into our cabinets without the countertop in place. So, here it is. I cannot remember the name of the Formica pattern, but it looks good next to our backsplash tiles.

Something New!

This time, I scooped Lyndsay and got the picture up on my blog before she could post it on hers. Ha ha. We babysat last night while Kyle and Lyndsay went to the movie, and we captured some new baby shots. So, for your viewing pleasure, here is a sleeping beauty letting her Pops and Eeyore support her. Isn't she lovely? Isn't she beautiful?






Also, the new countertops are waiting in the garage for Dad and I to install them. Thanks for reminding me. I will take photos of the before and after and maybe share them here in A Legend In My Own Mind.

Nothing New

Fine, Caleb. Here's a post. I didn't wanta do it. This is gonna be as bad as Jay's HOT posting.

The countertops are on order. I'll let you see them when we get through installing them.

Well, Lyndsay put up the next photo I wanted of Bella - namely, her sleeping with Eeyore. It is my fault, though, because I did not have my camera that night, so she took a picture for me. So, I've got nothin' new. Here's a photo from San Antonio last summer while we were there for Alison and James' wedding. I saw this looking backwards on a trip on the Riverwalk. So, enjoy.

Nana and Bella

Well, Isabella has graduated to solid food. So, when we over there this past Friday, Nana fed some banana-rice cereal to her. Mm-mm, it must have been tasty. Isabella ate most of her bowl. Well, she didn't really eat the bowl, but you know what I mean.









After eating, certain individuals were a bit messy. So, bath time. Bella still fits in the kitchen sink, and that makes it even easier since we don't have to bend down over the tub.

Bella Wrestling an Angel

Well, OK, so Isabella is not really wrestling with an angel, but an Eeyore doll. And probably, the doll will not give her a new name even if she wrestles it all night. I have not seen it yet, but Kathie tells me it is great. I hope to see her do it tonight when we go over for dinner. Kyle, you HAVE video taped her doing it, right? After all, that's why you got the camera, and you only have a short time during which she might be doing it.

We Were Trippin'

Another jaunt completed. We went back to the San Jose/Salinas/Monterey area. Their high temperature was still lower than the lowest temp in PHX. We rented a Chevrolet HHR and enjoyed it. It was a fun little car.

We did not get on the first flight Friday night. Luckily, we made the last one (First Class...Yee Haw) and got to San Jose at 11:15. By the time we got to Salinas, went to the store to replace all the things you cannot bring on a plane, and got back to the room, it was 2am. Monterey Aquarium was the order of the day. It was really cool. We loved the sea otters. Dinner was there in Cannery Row. Then, a drive down the coast a bit towards a lighthouse and near 17-mile Drive.

Oh wait. I almost forgot seeing Forrest Gump at Bubba Gump's. He talked a bit to my beloved and congratulated us on our anniversary. He looked A LOT like Tom Hanks. He said things like "When you married him, I bet he was a young man, and now, he's an old codger, huh?" "I'm sure you have stayed married because Randy learned to keep his mouth shut and his wallet open." "You spell Kathie with a K or a C? My Momma told me that Kathies with a K are smarter."

Today, we ended up sleeping in until almost 9am. No wonder, since I got up at 4am to check us in. And in order not to miss our flight, we didn't do any sightseeing.

The big stinkeroo about the weekend was my camera, or rather my lack of camera. I forgot it. So, I bought a little disposable, but I couldn't adjust distance or time exposure on it. I think we need to go back at least one more time.


Plus, we need to eat at Isabella's in Fisherman's Wharf.

And then, maybe, Fresno and Yosemite.

Anniversary Trip

Well, we are scheduled to travel to San Jose tomorrow for our 30th anniversary weekend. The arrests overnight make it a little more inconvenient. No makeup, shampoo, deodorant. Plus security will take longer. We will be heading over to the Monterey Aquarium on Sat and maybe driving down into Big Sur on Sun. It could make for some new pictures, though. That's always nice.

Patience Is A Virtue

Can you believe Kathie has put up with me for 30 years as of today? Would you have been that patient? I know that I wouldn't. Thanks, hon. God truly blessed me all those years ago when He brought you to me.

Seeing Isabella Like Her Grandparents Do

Well, it's time that we let you see our granddaughter the way we do. Everything around seems to fade away when Bella is around. Here. Take a look.

Filter Out of Kilter...or The Not Cool Pool

My pool filter blew up last week. Dad helped fix it. Then, the pool company fixed what Dad fixed. What??

OK, full story. The filter was over 15 years old, and the pool company had warned me it needed to be replaced. Still, I didn't expect it to physically split all the way across the top. K and I went to breakfast and when we returned, the pool was 3/4 empty. So, we had to race against time since Dad was heading to the mountains soon and the pool can get yucky really quickly in this heat. . So, we chose a filter with guidance from the internet and Dad had to rebuild the PVC stuff to fit the new size. He got it set up and we got it running. Yeah, although a bit of algae had built up.

Well, it wasn't clearing and we couldn't figure out why. I added extra chlorine and an algaecide. Well, last Friday night, I noticed the pool level looked low. THE NEW FILTER HAD A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM. Dad was leaving the next morning. Not good. So, I dug all the sand out and planned to return it the next day after Dad left. The store was very nice and replaced it with no questions. I ran it for the next 3 days and still, no clearing.

Amazingly, I had already scheduled a visit from the pool company because the popups were not rotating for some months. When they came out, they said (a) the filter is a little undersized because we did not know that popup pools require a larger size due to the additional pressure to drive them, and (b) the backwash filter was upside down. No way! Dad wouldn't make that mistake. OK, he did. Why? Well,the instructions WERE unclear. Also, it was plumbed correctly for a DE filter like he has, but reverse what a sand filter needed. So, they fixed it and it is clear now.

However, the stupid popups still are not working. I'll worry about that another day. Fiddle-dee-dee.

No Photo, No Filter, No Concert, No Skipping Out

Fans, you are correct. There has been a Bella-less drought of photos on my blog. Luckily, Lyndsay's new entry shows a precious picture of my granddaughter. Jump over there real quick and check her out. You can also see her weird daddy.

G-Dad, thanks for helping replace the pool filter. Hopefully, it will clear up the water by tomorrow morning. And Rick, thanks for getting fiberglass on yourself so I know not to stick my arm down into the filter in the future. I have the same one you do now.

I had to skip out on our Chorale concert tonight. I've got a sore throat that prevents singing. I had to miss my solo, too.

OK, y'all turn up the volume on your machine and listen to my song. I think those of you who work or have worked in cubicles will appreciate The Cubicle Song.

Do the Hustle

Come on. Admit it. Even you young'uns must have heard that classic disco song "Do The Hustle." No? What about you old fogeys in the back?

Anyway, I was checking the amctv website for info about when (or if) reruns of the TV show Hustle are scheduled. Yes, it looks like a few are to be replayed in Aug. While there, I found their rules for husting and thought you'd like to know them. For most of you, rule #1 should protect you from this crew.

1. You can’t con an honest man.
2. Feed the greed.
3. Always give a mark an out.
4. Never give a sucker an even break.
5. It’s all in the detail.
6. Don’t have anything in your life that you cannot walk away from.
7. Always look out for #1.
8. It’s not just about the money.

Voicing My Opinions and Losing My Voice

OK, we'll start with losing my voice. Yup, all I can do tonight is croak and cough. Luckily, or more likely thanks to God, I sang this morning with the folks at Light In The Desert. We did well, and the church seemed to enjoy it. I might have even heard an amen.

Now, it's time for opinions. One, anyway. Lady In The Water, the new M. Night Shyamalan film. It was OK. It was maybe not even as good as The Village which wasn't great.

Kyle, you were correct. I did enjoy Hustle and have set the TiVo to record it each week (on AMC if y'all wonder). It is like Mission:Impossible for Con Artists. Plus, it has the original Man From Uncle.

The stinking pool filter died this weekend. A crack appeared across the entire top of the unit. However, it did so while we were at Lady In The Water (did I mentioned I was disappointed in that?). So, it drained 3/4 of the pool before we got home. Dad is going to help rig a filter bypass tomorrow so I can run the pump and hopefully avoid an major algae infestation.

Memories In Color

When I am playing on the computer, I am usually trying things in Photoshop Elements. Here's a flower from a garden in Scotland. I forgot my camera last night when we ate over at K&L's place, so no Bella shots to release.


Hey, did y'all here we reached 118 today? It is in the top 10 of all time for PHX. Yeah, it is a dry heat, but that's still a lot of heat.

Where Have I Been The Last 6 Days?

Has it been almost a week since I last posted? Obviously it has, or my title and first sentence are both pointless. OK, let me think. I know I saw Bella a couple of times since then. We went to see Pirates last Saturday. I thought it was good, but not as good as the first. Caleb and Lauri were here, and then Preacher Bro and wife came to get them, and so we visited a bit.

Kathie starts school next week! Where did the summer go? Judging from the stinking heat, it's still here.

Hey, it's been over a year since I was laid off. Amazing how different things are now. God was certainly working things out, huh? I'm glad I didn't get in His way.

Almost Bella Time

Oh yeah. Happiness washes over me like the surf did on C and L. I'm heading over to Bellaland.



I need to come up with some new ideas for photo manipulation. Whatcha think?

The Perils of Traveling Non-Revenue

We're back! Did you miss us? Well, we traveled to Big D to see Kathie's mom in the hospital. She seems to not have been eating well or enough, probably due to the pain from her cancer treatments. So, her blood sugars got messed up and they couldn't control them remotely. She is looking better already than she did when we first arrived on Saturday.

Anyway, we got to Dallas on Friday and drove in Alison's car down to Corsicana on Saturday morning. She came with us and we had a good visit with Pa and Grandma and Jim. We drove back to Arlington and had dinner with James and Ali that night. We tried to go see either Pirates or Prada, but everything at this theater was sold out. So, we watched Big Momma's House at their apartment. Our flight was Sunday at noon. Well, our *scheduled* flight. It was sold out. We waited on every flight until the last at 9pm. No deal. OK, I called to rescheduled for Monday. No deal. Everything was oversold. What about Tuesday? We got on the 6am flight! Since we were stuck in Dallas, we drove back down to Corsicana on Monday and had a nice vist with the Hagles. Please continue to pray for Kathie's mom. The family has some decisions about ongoing care to make, too.

Sorry we had no time for Walker and crew. Hopefully, we can catch y'all next time. I want to see Lindsay's tattoo, also.

I have just learned some shocking news. More photo censoring has occurred. Yup, Stumpy was excised from a photo at Rick's house. Luckily, I found the original. Take a look.

Where's Bella 2

OK, I give up. No more reading blogs until I get a Bella fix. Have a Happy Fourth!

Where's Bella

I have not seen my granddaughter in almost a week. I miss her greatly. In fact, I feel like I am seeing her everywhere. I just got through checking everyone's blog for updates and they all made me think of her.











Hopefully, I will see her today and things can get back to normal.

Superman Returned

Superman returned to the movie screens this past week. We decided to take a chance that we could see it on Saturday morning. We could, so we did. In fact, the theater was less than half full (or was it half empty?).

It was good. There were only a few blantantly obvious digital effects. And it wasn't too chick-flick-ish. For me, however, Lex Luthor was the scene stealer. Spacey is a better bad guy that Gene Hackman was in the original. Maybe not quite as funny, but more cerebral.

I'm ready for Pirates next weekend, but we may have to wait a week if we are in TX. And we still have Prada to see, also. And the next weekend is Lady in the Water, the new Shyamalan film. Miami Vice opens the following weekend. And then Talladega Nights.

How do I know all these things? Well, I am not as smart as Lex Luthor, so I looked in up on www.comingsoon.net.

The Truth Rick Tried to Hide

As you can see, somehow Rick retouched the photo when Walker was standing on his hand and edited Kathie and I out! The real picture is shown above, and is even MORE amazing than his little parlor trick.

Curses, Ali

Alison Nicole! What were you thinking? I've got so much stuff I ought to be doing at night. And yet, you got me hooked on Treasure Hunters, Monday nights on NBC. It is Amazing Race with puzzles. There is a great family (from TX?) with mullets and everything. So, folks, once upon a time, I tried to save you from the snare of 24. Now, I'll try to do the same with Treasure Hunters.

New Bella Sighting

Dinner over at the Walker's place yielded another photo of Isabella. Here she is, looking all of 100 days old. That's right! Happy 100-day birthday, Bella!


Oh, and I found out that I am over 1.5 billion seconds. Yup. I passed that milestone back in July of 2001. Luckily, I am still 2 years away from being 20,000 weeks old. Cool.

Maybe K&J Are Not So Weird

At first, I thought Katie and Jay looked weird in their photos, but it looks like the iMacs just take weird photos. Or maybe we all really do look that weird. I don't know. You decide.

Photos Flickr'd and Anniversary Celebrated

OK, I posted a few photos from our San Diego trip over in Flickr. You can get there by clicking on the more photos button on the right side of the screen.

Also, as of 7pm or so tonight, Kyle and Lyndsay actually completed their first year of marriage. Can you believe it? And yesterday was Bella's three month birthday. So today is her unbirthday. Isabella, A Very Merry Unbirthday to You (to her?). Hey Lyndsay, be sure and tell us about Love in Las Vegas on the blog.

Another Whirlwind Day

Well, we headed over to San Diego for the day. First up, Point Loma lighthouse, right beside the airport.


Then, we stopped by the USS Midway for a look around 3 different decks.


And finally, we cruised over to see the Hotel del Coronado. Nice little place, and apparently has been for over 100 years.


More photos to be uploaded to Flickr soon.

Hint: if you're getting a rental wherever you are going, don't trust that you will get the same deal if you did not reserve early to grab the great internet deal. I waited. I paid for it. Learn from your Crazy Uncle.

Happy Birthday, Kyle

It's Kyle's birthday. Why don't y'all drop by his blog and wish him a happy one? It's also Flag Day, so hang out a flag. It's also Wednesday, so we are halfway through this week.

One More Thing

Lindsay, thanks for the birthday wish for Kathie.

Point Sur Lighthouse

Sunday, we went to Point Sur Lighthouse down south of Marina, CA. It was a 3-hour tour...a 3-hour tour.



When we started, it was clear, but by the time we reached the lighthouse, we were fog-bound.



Still, we had a good time. We enjoyed being cold, knowing that when we got home Sunday night, it would be 112. Hmm, when can we get back?

More photos over in Flickr. Enjoy!

Dallas Fans, I Congratulate You

Well, you beat the Suns fair and square. Now, I hope the Mavs go all the way.

Susan, I Apologize

Susan, sorry we had to run before the wedding started. As I told you, we had a plane to catch. So, since you started almost an hour late, our whole time available was already used. I do have a few pictures that I'll give you soon. I hope it went well.

Pictures, As Promised

OK, I put up some photos over in Flickr. Go take a look.

We've got a wedding to attend on Friday afternoon, then a flight to San Jose, CA, to meet family. Good time to be leaving, just as we reach out first 110+ weekend.

Hey, check out the video at http://www.pistolwimp.com/media/46300/. Who do you think would win between Kirk and Picard? If you don't recognize those names, don't bother to go over there. Caleb, you should go for sure.

Did you check out the photos? Can you believe how big Bella's gotten? Next thing you know, she'll be driving and everything. In fact, I just found out Carey got her Driver's License. Wow!

Hey, all, drop Kathie a note. Her birthday is Monday.

Pictures Tomorrow

I've got to do some uploading tomorrow night to maximize my use of upload space on Flickr. So, I'll do it tomorrow. I promise.

We had a good visit with Alison and James this weekend. No trouble getting on the flight out here, but Alison should blog about trying to get home.


Kyle and Lyndsay, thanks for the surprise party for Kathie. I'm sorry none of her teacher friends could attend, but it was a nice family get together. And good food, as always when Lyndsay cooks. Ooo, I liked that fruit salsa.

Suns win! Suns win!

Heading to the coast next weekend. That'll be fun, even with Caleb there. I guess I'd better research flights and internet cafes in Santa Cruz. Why internet cafes? Because we need to check in 12 hrs before our return flight.

Time For Our Next US Airways Trip

Well, I reckon we are going to travel up to Monterey, CA, around Kathie's birthday. It just so happens that the folks and the Preacher Bro family will be there at the same time. Talk about a co-inky-dinky. Hey, y'all, wait for us for the aquarium. This is the dawning of the day of aquarium.

Nana went to see Isabella tonight. Kyle and Lyndsay were there also. I was not. I went straight from work to church. Yes, I know that I cannot serve them both. If things don't lighten up, I will love the one and hate the other. Whew!

Alison and James come in this weekend. That is, assuming that the travel web site stays functional long enough. That'll be fun.

Where Does The Time Go?

Has it been almost a week since my last post? Wow! It seems like only ... OK, it does seem like a week. Sorry, Dad.

Went to Les Miserables tonight. Great Val Jean and Javert. I did not like either 'Ponine or Cosette. Fantine wasn't bad. Oh, and Marius didn't seem like as much of a wimp as he has in past productions. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was reminded again why this is my favorite musical. It's like Indiana Jones at Disneyland. Always something new to notice and enjoy. Thanks, Dad.

Stinking Employee Travel System is down...again. This is not good. And, it means Dad can't plan his travel yet. Sorry, Dad.

I haven't seen Bella in a few days. We will probably catch her sometime over the weekend, but you never know. In fact, the folks might have seen her since me. You're lucky, Dad.

First Mother's Day as Grandparents

Well, I guess everyone made it through Isabella's first Mother's Day, Lyndsay's first as a mother, and Kathie first as a grandmother. I took a few pics and will get them up "real soon now."

At church, we sang a choir special of God, Give Us Christian Homes. We were very nearly in unison. Hey, the new Baptist Hymnal has a changed word in the mother verse. It says caring quest instead of queenly quest.

Kathie and I went to Lowe's, but did not take Bella. I don't want to overload her in her second month of life. We'll save the competing home store for another day.

We went to see Neen today. I'm still her favorite grandson. Well, I was the favorite to go see her today.She mouthed the words to a few hymns as we sang. It would have been really cool if it had been the same hymn we were singing, but beggars can't be choosers. No, of course she was mouthing along with us. Mom said she doesn't sing much anymore, but she obviously still can remember the songs. That is truly a blessing.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms that read this.

Mind-blowingly Important

Kathie and Lyndsay went shopping for some Mother's Day stuff, so I got to watch Isabella. Bella was certainly excited to have some one-on-one time with her Pops. I wanted to build memories, so we went shopping, too. What? Yup, it was her idea, so we went to...Home Depot! Oh, she was so happy. We checked out kid-friendly flooring, looked at electrical outlet protectors, rolled around in insulation because it's so soft. OK, maybe not, but we did fine. It wasn't like movies and TV, though. Nobody hit on me. Well, maybe one weird dude in the light bulb section.

I forgot my camera, though. So, no documentation of this seminal event in my granddaughter's life. I know, I'm bummed, too.

Beatlemania comes back Sept 13. We missed the last one, so I reckon I'd better grab some tickets. After all, they might have 2-3 new songs this time.

Miscellanea

Can you believe it? I've already used 64% of my Flickr upload capacity for the month. I may have to create a second account and link to them both. We'll see.






A few more SF photos.












And what about Isabella? More of that over in Flickr.