Christmas in suburbia/small town USA

In case you haven't noticed, it's almost Christmas. This time next week I'll be done with work and it'll be present opening, food gorging, jolly good times. We've been getting in the spirit here, despite the non-Christmasy weather (hello 80 degree days).

The first weekend of November was the neighborhood luminary lighting
(in night vision mode, so it's a bit odd looking, and well, not all the neighbors participated - some of our Christmas decorations were up)




Last weekend it was the local Christmas parade. It was pretty warm sitting in the afternoon sun, but it was so much fun! Check it out:


Lots and lots of fire trucks, new & old


Ladies in Civil War dress


Float


Parade Grand Marshal, The Mark Roberts (my favorite traffic guy, although he now does car commercials)


NC Agriculture "big" shopping cart, it is quite large, no?


MOMS club (mothers of multiples) - all the kids were dressed in large Christmas gift bags, too cute!


Super cute wagon "float"


Festive old car


Love the tree in the 'rumble seat'


The stoic Chick-Fil-A cow


Local 'store' float (Old time-y gas station I pass everyday)


Dancers en'float


Our mayor


Ponies (and some poo)


A singing float


Sweet old car


Santa!


Yay for Santa!

That's all for now folks!

Planeguage

"The language of traveling by plane" (Delta's blog)

Delta airlines came up with a series of animated shorts to convey a humorous spin on plane etiquette. I have to say they a right on! Check them out for a smile :)

A season appropriate video called "Miracle"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsmGJdLYyYI

To view all the videos go to YouTube ("Shady Lady" and "Kidtastrophe" are awesome) (http://www.youtube.com/user/planeguage)

It's beginning to feel a lot like....... Christmas?!

Wow. It is warm. Too warm for December! Check it:

Statement as of 1:50 PM EST on December 10, 2007

... Record high temperature set at the Raleigh-Durham international
Airport today...

As of 150 PM... the Raleigh-Durham international Airport has reached
a high temperature of 80 degrees. This breaks the previous record for
December 10th of 76 degrees... last set in 1972. In addition... 80
degrees ties the record high temperature for the month of December
... Which was reached on 12/6/1998 and 12/7/1998. This product will
be updated later today once the official high temperature has been
reached.

The normal high temperature at the Raleigh-Durham international
Airport for December 10th is 55 degrees.

More winter weather?!?!?!

I'm blogging while eating breakfast because apparently we had/are experiencing some winter weather. It took everyone by surprise! I swear when we watched the news before bed there was NO MENTION of anything frozen falling from the sky.

Apparently it's a pretty big problem on the roads - especially ones with bridges. The local news is reporting that I-40 is just about shut down because of multiple accidents due to the SURPRISING slick roads. My commute includes 4 major bridges - 2 I never want to cross when slick (Neuse River bridge at Falls Lake damn and the Atlantic Avenue - up hill and curvy- bridge over the rail road tracks). So I'm going to wait until the sun comes up before going out.

Here's the latest winter weather advisory (although I think it will be extended beyond 7am because of the amount of precipitation and below freezing temps that hover over northern Wake county):

Statement as of 6:29 AM EST on December 07, 2007


... Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 7 am EST this
morning...

A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect until 7 am EST this
morning.

A fast moving upper level disturbance will cause scattered light
sleet or light freezing rain before daybreak. Though only trace
amounts of precipitation are expected... even trace amounts can
cause slippery conditions on roads... especially on bridges and
overpasses. Extreme caution is advised for early morning
motorists in the Highway 70 east corridor through the central
coastal plain and between Raleigh and Wilson.

A Winter Weather Advisory means that periods of frozen or
freezing precipitation will cause travel difficulties. Be
prepared for slippery roads and limited visibilities... and use
caution while driving.

UPDATE AT 7:30am:
70 accidents reported in the area