Snow... blah, blah, blah

Just because I always do some kinda of blog entry from snow, I'm posting this now. The stupid weather wrecked havoc on our weekend. We were down in Atlanta having a perfectly wonderful visit and baby shower when WHAM(!) snow enters the forecast. We had to cut our trip short after Delta canceled every flight to RDU today. We also decided to rent a car to drive home... in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I'm no fan of the cold, white, evil stuff right now. Paul and I are both operating on about 5 hours of sleep since waking Saturday morning and after driving 6.5 hours home (Paul did the driving).

It did end up snowing in Atlanta (between 2-6 inches across town) and the airport was a disaster. And it did end up raining almost as soon as we got home, so we beat the airport mess and the mess on the roads by getting home ASAP. Now we're just waiting to see what happens here overnight. I'm kinda hoping for a snow morning (not day) so I can sleep in a little. Goodness knows we need it! (the sleep, that is)

Winter storm warning details - - -
"Statement as of 3:53 PM EST on March 01, 2009

... Winter Storm Warning remains in effect until 9 am EST Monday...

A strong upper level low currently over eastern Georgia will
pivot northeast across central North Carolina tonight. As this
occurs... widespread precipitation is expected to redevelop across
the warning area. Although precipitation may initially begin as a
wintry mix... precipitation is expected to become all snow by
midnight. Locally heavy snowfall can be expected at times
overnight... with the heaviest snow most likely falling along the
Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 corridor from Chapel HIll... west
to Greensboro... and southwest to Charlotte.

Storm total snowfall amounts across the warning area are expected
to range from 3 to 6 inches... with locally higher amounts. The
heaviest amounts are expected to fall across The Triad and
western Piedmont... in locations such as Burlington... Greensboro...
Winston Salem... Asheboro... and Albemarle. The lightest amounts in
the warning area are expected to fall along and east of the
Highway 1 corridor... including locations such as Raleigh... and
Louisburg.

Despite the previous warm conditions... travel will likely become
treacherous late tonight as snowfall begins to accumulate on area
roads and highways during periods of moderate to heavy snow.
Travel on bridges and overpasses will be especially dangerous. In
addition... strong and gusty northerly winds are expected... and
wind chills could frequently drop into the teens tonight through
Monday morning.

Citizens of central North Carolina are urged to monitor the
latest forecasts and conditions... and to avoid travel tonight and
Monday morning if possible."

Weekend update

We had a delightful weekend - it was well deserved after an especially hectic work week for both of us. We started off the weekend with movies. In preparation for the new Indiana Jones movie, we bought the special edition pack of the previous 3 movies and watched "The Last Crusade." Lovely evening!

We continued our movie watching by going to see the latest Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on Saturday morning (11:50am showing!). It was quite good and I wished I had finished reading it before seeing it. Now I really have a fire to finish up the entire series, I think.

Saturday evening was filled with Mario Karting with Becky & Kevin. They may live hundreds of miles away but we can meet up to race on the Wii anytime. I don't know how those 2 hours went by so fast, but they did! It was a blast! They have skillz - for real! I've got to 'practice' this week so I can hold my own in a team race next time.

Finally, on Sunday we knew we had to get a new gas grill. Our beloved gas grill has not aged well and after taking a fatal spill over the patio retaining wall a few weeks ago, it was done with grilling. We've shopped around a lot and considered many different brands and even charcoal (which we love! but don't love the time it takes to heat up). We finally took a leap and bought a Weber gas grill. It is more amazing than we imagined!

It has stainless steel cooking grates and "flavorizer" bars that make a wonderful grilling experience. Seriously. It is an experience! We are ready to host a cook out at our house!


See? Ready for a cookout!


Our [happy/giddy] reflection


And finally, we had our regular weekend storm (I'm pretty sure this makes week #8 in a row!). It delayed our grilling on Sunday night, but we were not going to wait another day to try out the new grill. Then today we had super thunderstorms and HAIL. I was home alone when they struck and admit to feeling a bit uneasy. Thankfully my car was in the garage and the new grill was under the patio cover, so no damage!

Snow? An update

Time: 2:13pm

Weather status: light rain, 40ish degrees

Snow: none sighted in immediate area

Mood: grouchy! yet hungry.

Forecast:

Rainy day

I am thankful for the very rainy day we're experiencing today, but it has made me completely unproductive.

Keep on raining! I'll stay in my pj's all day :)

Thanksgiving (pt 2)

The weekend after Thanksgiving was spent in the [cold] mountains of Asheville. We decided to stay somewhere different and choose the Bent Creek Lodge. It is listed as a "Bed & Breakfast" but it is a wonderful, semi-rustic, cozy mountain lodge just south of Asheville (address is Arden). If the weather had been warmer/dryer and Paul's bike wasn't broken, it would have been the perfect place for us to mountain bike. We stayed in the "tree room" and enjoyed sitting by the fire, watching birds and eating the amazing breakfast. If you're looking for an alternative to the overpriced, under impressive hotels in Asheville, check out the Bent Creek Lodge.

Paul enjoying the fire & reading materials in the common room


While in Asheville, we did the usual things - eat at Apollo Flame, Tupelo Honey (buy honey to take home), walk around the Grove Arcade, visit UNCA, pay $6 to park/visit the NC Arboretum, you know the usual things we do. It's more fun to say it with pictures:



Interior of the Arcade


Exterior of the Arcade


Paul at the riveting NC Arboretum exhibit (the history of flowerpots, seriously)


Mom & Dad at the quilt garden


Yews are serious plants (ha!)


Bonsai Garden (the cold wind was sucking the life out of us, but it was an awesome garden)


Gates at the Bonsai garden


Size perspective


Can you tell we liked the Bonsai?


Visiting the Alma Mater (it has been 5 years since we graduated!) - check out the new science building being built next to the library - it is a MONSTER!






The University Seal - me squinty

Our different meal was SUSHI! with mom & dad. We ate the Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse in Biltmore Village. Their sushi was ok, nothing like our neighborhood sushi joint, but it sorta hit the spot. Mom, Paul and I split "sushi for 3" which means it comes out on a BIG BOAT (dad stuck with hibachi shrimp).






And our trip to Asheville wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Grove Park Inn. This time of year they host the "National Gingerbread House Competition" and it is one of my favorite things to go and see. This year did not disappoint. They only had the "top winners" on display at the Inn (other entries were around town, like at the Grove Arcade). I'm testing the slide show for these photos (let me know if it works for you and if you like it/not).

Gingerbread Houses at the Grove Park Inn (and other superfluous photos of us and the parents)


Want to see more pictures of the gingerbread houses? Go here (they aren't mine and show a little more detail)

Thanksgiving in the NC Mountains (pt 1)

Sunrise on Thanksgiving morning

This year we hit the road, with the other 11 million Americans, for Thanksgiving. We headed west on interstate 40 in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving morning. We were rewarded for waiting to travel - traffic was light!



We spent Thanksgiving Day in Marion with Paul's family. I had the honor of cooking with Margie - mixing/making the stuffing, chopping lots of fruit and roasting asparagus. Thanksgiving dinner was SO GOOD. After our meal, Paul and I took a walk around the property where he showed me all the old trails he and his brothers had made.


"The trail goes this way - no wait - that way - or over there..."

Quick picture taken before heading back up the house - an odd howling in the woods kept getting closer and closer...

Cool green stuff that covered the ground

We took a quick ride out around town and Paul showed me something new; the 1-lane Vein Mountain tunnel. We don't have such nostalgia in the big city.


Going in - waiting for the light to change


Coming back - a little like the twilight zone.


Sunset in Marion

On Friday morning we headed up to Asheville - once again traffic was fairly light and we saw some snow on the mountains.


Going up Old Fort Mountain - some color left on the trees


River Ridge exit of I-240

More to come! Christmas decorations and spring bulb planting calls!

Fall in the 'burbs

I think we can say that fall has officially arrived. We had a couple of hard frosts, all our garden plants have been pruned/cleared and we've had to turn the heat on. But I think the tree color changes really prove it - check them out:

View from the front door


View from the laundry room


On my drive to work last week - we actually had some rain! (the following pictures I did take while driving with the monster Sony camera - very, very carefully)


It cleared up by the time I headed home




In the 'hood



On Saturday, we took a little hike to Blue Jay Point County Park. We wanted to see some fall colors and the level of the lake. Let's just say that Falls Lake looks really, really low. We even saw one boat stuck on a 'sandbar.'







Paul surveying the low lake level


A bridge & choice of paths


Lots of color in the trees




Driving back on Highway 98 - looking at the really low lake