Back from trip to Atlanta

(Free chocolate cake for my 26th birthday after a WONDERFUL meal at "On Main" in Conyers, GA.)

We're back from Georgia. It was a good trip despite the long drive there, trips to the hospital and getting sick. We had a great time, really! It was a lot different than years past, but overall we had a great time visiting with my parents and family. I hope to post a few more pictures and give a little more narration of our trip.


Me and "Raleigh" (mom & dad's adopted cat)- he isn't real keen on 'hugs'

Chocolate-covered Christmas Spirit

Look what I made on Sunday night - no Christmas is complete without chocolate covered goodies. My goodies are preztels and peanut butter & ritz crackers. I used some awesome chocolate chips and also cappaicino chips (the lighter color). They delicious (and were a bit of a mess to make!)

First winter storm for central NC

But thankfully, Raleigh has been spared for the most part. The freezing rain was fairly short lived, but came during rush hour this morning. I woke up a little after 5am and got into the shower. The temp was 31, but since it looked dry outside I figured I would be fine. In the short 10 minutes of my shower, a nice little layer of ice had fallen to the ground and covered just about every surface around the house - but thankfully not the road. I pondered my options and the decided to watch the news and finally get back into bed. I snoozed until about 7:30am only to see more insanity out on the roads, but for the most part the freezing rain was just rain. Every "fly-over" bridge was a sheet of ice and thus major traffic tie-ups. I held out until I saw the temp rise to just above 33 and then hit the road. Only a little bit of ice covered the bridges I had to pass over. Whew! Crisis averted!

However, the more western/central area (triad and west) has a big coat of ice on it. YUCK! Here's the view from the WLOS skycam this morning - check out the ice covered trees....

Time to stock up on milk & bread! :)

Special Weather Statement:

Expires 5:00 PM EST on December 14, 2005

Statement as of 11:08 AM EST on December 14, 2005

... Potential for a breif period of freezing rain over the central Piedmont of North Carolina late tonight through Thursday morning...

Precipitation will overspread central North Carolina from the south late tonight... and become heavier and more widespread during the day on Thursday. For portions of central and northeast Piedmont... northwest of a line from Albemarle and Troy to Sanford and Raleigh to Louisburg and Henderson... there may be a period of light freezing rain shortly before dawn til shortly after sunrise Thursday morning. While a widedspread thin coating of ice is not expected at this time... spotty patches of a thin glaze is possible on elevated surfaces... such as trees... power lines... radio towers... and bridges and overpasses before daybreak Thursday. Due to the critical timing of the onset of precipitation... the early morning commute on Thursday could be greatly impaired as the freezing rain begins enroute to your destination. Please allow yourself extra time to reach your traveling destination Thursday morning.

As southerly winds aloft increase after daybreak... rain water is expected to warm and the chances of additional ice accumulation will diminish by late morning on Thursday.

This is looking better for NC... but not for Paul's flight back from Philly.


And if the air wasn't so dry, we'd actually be seeing some snow right now!

Chilly morning on Pisgah

It looks like a very chilly morning atop Mt. Pisgah. It's chilly in Raleigh too with a high of only 41, a little cooler than December norms. I've got to bundle up and head over to campus with an armful of mail... yay.

Garfield winter funny

Still waiting on the 'white stuff to fall from the sky, but it won't keep me from drinking some hot chocolate!

Need a smile? Watch the pandas at the National Zoo

http://animal.discovery.com/cams/pandavidr.html

" You are watching live images of Mei Xiang, a giant panda, and her cub, Tai Shan, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The cub was born at 3:41 a.m. on Saturday, July 9. Zoo keepers were happy to see Mei Xiang cradling and cuddling her cub only two minutes after its birth.

Tai Shan received his name, which means "peaceful mountain," on Monday, Oct. 17. A total of 202,000 people voted in the naming contest, with "Tai Shan" earning 44 percent of the vote."

Umm, we're not ready for winter, really

Snow? Tomorrow? I'm not ready for this....

From WRAL:
"RALEIGH, N.C. -- The recent spring-like temperatures could soon give way to snow as the first fringes of a significant winter storm head toward North Carolina."

Pictures from our trip to Asheville

Yay, I have pictures from our Thanksgiving in Asheville. For some reason my camera's memory stick flipped out and made it difficult to download all the pictures, this caused much distress. Thankfully, we've got a few and here are a couple:

Aren't we cute?

Mom & Dad

Squinting at the sunset

Beaucatcher Mnt view of downtown Asheville


I've got a few more at Flickr, see them here.