First Library Visit

Well, we took Bella for her first visit to the Tempe Library (I think). Our kids practically grew up there. Well, we'd sometimes let them come home to change clothes, but otherwise, we left them there. No, I guess we'd also occasionally take them to the Dobson Ranch Library because they used to enjoy playing at the playground outside.

Anyway, before you ask, she is indeed laughing and not crying. No, she saved the crying for waking up with Pops in the room. Both last visit and this one, when she wakes in the morning and Nana goes for coffee or a shower, Bella cries constantly until she returns. Maybe I look different without glasses on? Maybe I'm just a scary dude? After showering and with glasses and clothes on, she seems to recognize me as Pops. I'm glad.

WORK UPDATE:

As an aside, whew! What a couple of weeks it has been. We converted an additional 9000 employees from the old US Airways to the new US Airways payroll system. We had a few problems and it took 12 days to fix them. We had to hurry because they get paid again starting Monday. So, many of us spent many hours working on what we needed to fix and how to accomplish it. Luckily, the team is very dedicated and they got there.

Spending the Night

Bella specifically asked if she could spend some quality time with Nana and Pops. Here is a photo of her when we said she could stay her Saturday night.

Well, actually, this was taken when she came over with Kyle when he was searching for a job. Check out the prize-winning smile.

Pickled Bella

Bella has had unique tastes since she started consuming things other than a bottle. For instance, she can suck on a lemon and not even squint. Well, now it turns out she has a food item in common with her Nana. That's right. Dill Pickles!





So, what's next? Well, you'll have to stay tuned. Even if I knew, I cannot reveal it since this post is about pickles and granddaughters.

Football Trivia for the Playoffs

The football huddle was invented at Gallaudet University in 1894 when team captain Paul Hubbard worried that other teams were stealing his hand signals.

Did you know that the players are assigned certain numbers to represent their positions.
* 1 to 19 for quarterbacks and kickers
* 20 to 49 for running backs and defensive backs
* 50 to 59 for centers and linebackers
* 60 to 79 for linemen
* 80 to 89 for wide receivers and tight ends
* Centers may also be assigned numbers up to 79 and defensive linemen and linebackers, 90 to 99
* Defensive players can have any number.

Love, Love, Love

All you need is love. In fact, Love is what Kyle and Lyndsay and Bella gave us for Chirstmas. What is it? It is the newest Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas. It uses a soundtrack by longtime Beatle's arranger George Martin using original tapes.The CD is available now at your local music store. Go get one. I'll wait.... While we are waiting, check out K and I clowning while waiting for the show.

The show was awesome.







While we were there, we saw Richard Belzer from Law and Order and Sean Hayes from Will and Grace.

Check out this photo of the famous Bellagio fountains.


Nope, no photo. The stinking things were shut down due to high winds. We have NEVER seen them. Speaking of high winds, as we were landing when coming in, the plane was near touching down when we took off again. Wind shear made it dangerous. Kathie, who doesn't fly well, did not like that. Luckily, we did land on the second attempt.

Here is a watercolored photo of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Casino. The Tower is a 1/2 scale model of the real thing overseas somewhere. There is also a two-thirds size Arc de Triomphe, but I did not catch a good picture of it. There were also some full-size Frenchmen, but I did not take a picture of them, either.