Tag Archives: Weather

I Don’t Think I’ve Thought about Anything but Taxes and Weddings for a Long Time

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Yesterday went smoothly, though it was pleasantly exhausting.  I love my job…have I mentioned that before?  Seeing the joy in someone’s face as they know they won’t have to pay as much as $500 to get their money back is priceless.  I also have had several returning clients get so excited to find out that I’m still here as they want me to do their taxes again!  Makes your day to be wanted like that.

This’ll be a short week as tomorrow night I’ll be flying out of here (barring snow!…though it’s not in the forecast).  The last two times I’ve tried to leave the state, the weather has changed my plans.  On top of that, it thundered here on Sunday, and people here in North Carolina say that means that it’ll snow in 7 days.  Have you heard that saying?  I haven’t, and neither had my friend who’s from Pennsylvania.  Is it just a North Carolina thing or have you heard of it, too?

I’m looking forward to this trip as almost all my extended family will be there.  While obviously my brother Riley and Amanda will be in focus as the groom and bride (I know that we don’t say it that way usually, but if I say it the other way, it’ll look like I’m calling my brother the bride!), we’ll also get some good family time in, too.  I took good notes on how to be a good Maid of Honor at my last wedding, so I hope I’m up to snuff!

More Wedding Weekend Details

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* Because of the potential wrinkle of snow/ice, we left for Georgia at 7 AM on Friday.  It was 37 degrees when we left Raleigh.  When we arrived in Newnan, Georgia at 3 PM, it was 26 degrees.  We went from North to South, from the coldest part of the day to the warmest, and we lost 11 degrees.

* Even with the cold and the snow on the ground in Newnan (just a dusting, but it was too cold to melt) I still wore flip flops the morning of the wedding.

* I know this’ll sound vain, but my hair looked GOOD.  All it took from my usual hairstyle was a couple of crystal-studded bobby pins.  I’m going to have to put my hair back like that with bobby pins more often, because it keeps the long curls around my face from looking droopy!

* Though I’m very thankful I didn’t trip, I did lose feeling in the entire bottom half of my feet during the ceremony.  Since the Lutheran service next week will be much longer than the Baptist one, I’m going to have to get creative on how I won’t lose feeling in my toes.  I think the key is not to wear the heels one minute longer than I have to before the wedding, which was a strategy I took up only after the wedding this time.

* It was nice to walk back down the aisle at the end of the wedding and actually recognize a couple of people.  This next wedding, I’ll recognize more than a couple…

* Not quite weekend-related, but I went to the doctor yesterday for a physical and was told that I’m significantly short on Vitamin D.  I cut out tanning last year for health reasons, but it seems like it’s had the opposite affect!  The good thing is that while I haven’t had any noticeable symptoms, it was caught so I can be treated.  I think my body’s been telling me all along that I need the sun.  Low Vitamin D levels have been linked with fatigue and joint pain, so I’m hoping getting back to adequate levels will give me more energy and help the pain in my knees.

* Also, my glucose is high, so I now have doctor’s orders to exercise and cut out some carbs…something I knew I should have been doing anyway.  Having the doctor tell me, though, is what I needed to actually do it!

Live Update: Here I Am Again

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Okay, had  a chance to get back on a compy.  Today’s been a good day as well, and not as emotional which is thankful after the last two days.  I’m still enjoying it and getting a better vision as to how I can continue to love on my friends while I’m not here.

Yesterday we did get to do a scavenger hunt.  In my group we had two small children, so we were a bit limited as to how we could  complete the tasks.  We decided some creative interpretation was in order.  For example, for “have your shoes shined” one of my teammates shined another’s shoes and for “buy a pack of tissues” one teammate bought some from another.  We were very liberal in our interpretations, but most importantly it kept us from having to drink the fermented beet juice given to the loser.

The weather has been interesting: very stormy.  Last night we had an awful storm with lightning that lasted a very long time.  When we were out walking today, we looked up and noticed a nasty dark gray cloud almost over us, so we hurried and ducked into a shop to get some dessert.  It rained and hailed so hard that the street was a river for a good 30 minutes.  Since that storm it’s been cold, though until now it’s been unseasonably warm.

Well, I have plenty more to share (including pictures I’ll try to steal from my teammates) but thank you for thinking about us!

Tuesday’s Tidbits

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1.  The snow is melting nicely, though it’s C-O-L-D.  Twenty degrees might have been a normal low when I lived in Kansas, but I’m certainly not used to it here!  I’m looking forward to the spring weather we’re expecting this weekend…and Daylight Saving Time!

2.  Over on the Book Nook, I’m giving away one book of the winner’s choice off a list of the Book Nook’s favorites.  Stop by and enter in!

3.  Has anyone else noticed Dunkin’ Donuts new slogan?  It’s “You kin’ do it.”  Kin’?  Really?  What is the apostrophe there for?  What letter is missing at the end of the word “kin,” considering they changed the spelling of “can” to be…cutesy?  I don’t care how you say it, the word is “can.”

4.  This past weekend I did nothing productive in any sense of the word, except laundry.  I don’t necessarily have to be as productive on my weekends as when I was a student, but I didn’t even do any reading or writing to speak of.  Ugh.  It’s definitely motivating me to have a plan for this coming weekend.  There are books to read, people!  I can’t just sit around and watch TV!

Snow ‘n’ Letters

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Ugh.  I totally had pictures to go along with this post, but they’re not uploading.

It snowed again last night.  What is up with this place?  It’s not supposed to snow this much!  I think a move to Miami might be in order.

Seriously though, I’ll enjoy it while I can…from inside.  I’ll have to venture out to go to work this afternoon, but until then I’ll enjoy a mini-snow day.

I was reading an article in Newsweek last night called “The Curse of Cursive.”  The author was arguing that there is no need for kids to learn cursive and that it’s good that penmanship is essentially dead.

Now, I love email and other electronic communication.  It has made my cross-country move reasonable.  There’s nothing like an email from someone you love…except a handwritten letter.

I don’t have a problem with the argument against cursive.  Writing changes through the years, and that’s fine.   However, I don’t think the written letter should die with it.  I love to receive letters, and try to write a letter or note at least once a week. 

There’s just something special about it, probably because you know the person took extra time to think of you.

Anti-Snow Indeed

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I should have known better than to believe the weather reports that we were actually going to get accumulated snow here in Raleigh.  I guess our last snow, the only substantial snow in all of my 4 winters here, threw me off. 

We did get a dusting of snow last night, but nothing this morning like we were expected to.  Though the roads are perfectly clear, the schools are on on a 2-hour delay, which made the commute easier.  I’m glad that we didn’t get snow so that today can go off as planned, with all my appointments!

The Anti-Snow Day

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A couple of weeks ago, the Triangle (the cool name for Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) got blasted with snow, and I was able to stay home from work.  Of course, this was when the tax season was still a wee baby, so it wasn’t hard to hold back the people wanting you to file their taxes now to get their refund back ASAP, because most people didn’t even have all their documents anyway.

Tonight we’re expected to get another coat of snow (what’s the deal? there’s a reason to live in NC, and it’s not because of snowfall), and I had thought that I could make tomorrow another snow day.  That was when I thought that tomorrow was Thursday, a non-tax day.  I was probably thrown off by the fact that I spent today doing taxes, which is also a non-tax day.

So this snow day will never come to fruition, even if we get the snow predicted (and the crazy drivers to go along with it).  I have 7 tax appointments set up tomorrow that I have to keep.  Sure, some of them will cancel, but most of them probably won’t.   Regardless, I have to be there just in case.

So tomorrow, I’ll have to be one of the crazies.  It’s been a few years since I’ve driven on snow or ice, but hopefully I’ll manage!

Some Sweet Comments

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Time for comments of the week. Due to the serious subject this week, there were more serious-good ones than funny-good ones.  My favorite comment, though, comes from new blog friend, Laretha:

“I am so thankful to have found a kindred spirit in the blog world. It is so hard for us to imagine a conversation like this being so casual as it breaks our hearts to the core.  Thank you for sharing this with your readers. You have such a great heart for the unborn and I am appreciate you.”

Aww, thanks.

Joy had two comments that I really liked, but when pushed came to shove, lighthearted comments pale in site of our country’s serious tragedy.  She said about Thursday’s post on my story about the lady at Walmart buying pine shavings,

“That is a sad story. I had no idea. We’ve got to pray for women’s hearts to change. For our society to have higher morals and be truly educated about what an abortion is. The abortion industry thrives because they have customers and those customers are women.”

Brenda had to say on the same subject,

“I can feel your pain, Ronnica. How horrible, and to say it so flippantly right there in front of her daughter. I don’t think I could’ve held my composure. I probably would’ve started bawling. I’m emotional that way.”

On another topic, Karabeth commented about our rare snowfall:

“I just hope the drivers aren’t as crazy there in NC as they were when we lived in TN those 14 years. No one slowed down at all. And the salt truck was a flatbed truck that said “mosquito control” on the side of it. A man would stand on the back and shovel bits of salt and/or sand onto the roadway. Not much help!”

Oh, no, the drivers are crazy here in the snow, but our DOT was a little more prepared for the snow than that (primarily because 4 years ago drivers got stuck in traffic for hours during a bad ice storm).

Christy is in the same boat as me:

“I’m kinda at that point of the husband search too. I’ve hit thirty, no one in sight, and I’m kind of ok with that. I would LIKE a husband and kids, but I will be ok without one too. However if I do get married, I would probably have to learn to cook.”

Totally with you, sister.  Except I do know how to cook.  Ironing, however, I leave to professionals (or dryers).

Jessica:

“…just give us fair warning if husband-material tries to steal you away. (I’ll need time to grab my kleenex.)”

Don’t worry.  If I was nearing that point, I wouldn’t help but leak it on the blog.  I might not mention a dude if it was a date or two, but I’m all about being transparent so you’ll know if it was more than that.  However, you can be assured that there’s really nothing to be transparent about…

Snow ‘n’ Stuff

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Yesterday was a historic day, wasn’t it?  I was so thankful that it was snowy and I had to work at home.  Thanks to Raleigh crazy drivers, I’ll be working from home again today.

I think it snowed about 3 or 4 inches here, something I definitely was not expecting when I moved here.  Though is crazy cold out there right now (15 degrees), the snow is melting in the sun.  I’m glad that my roommate and I had decided to go out and knock the snow off our cars yesterday when it would still be easy to get it off.  I just wish I had had the foresight to grab some Diet Dr. Pepper from my car (that’s where I keep it).  I’m going to have to bundle up here in a few minutes, which requires me to get out of my pj’s, and walk out to my car to retrieve the frozen Diet Dr. Pepper.  You wouldn’t expect me to go without, would you?

I had planned to write a post about the inauguration, so many of you have already done that and I don’t want to bore you poor readers.  I’ll just say that while I’m not crazy about several of Obama’s policies, I recognize the immense achievement this is for race relations in America.  I hopefully look forward to the future of our country, yet know that that is not where my hope lies.

So I’m off to work; have a wonderful day!

Snow Day!

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Yes, I took it right through my window screen. You didn't think I'd go outside, did you?

Yes, I took it right through my window screen. You didn't think I'd go outside, did you?

You saw that right.  It’s a snow day here in Raleigh!  Of course, it doesn’t mean the same thing as it did as a kid, but it does mean that I won’t be out driving to work but will work from home instead.  I’ve gotten to sleep in since the commute is so short, and I’ll get to work in my pj’s if I want.  There’s nothing inside me that wants to get out in the snow.

Being a Kansas girl, I’ve seen snow enough times.  When I was younger, it would snow a couple times a year, no more than 4 or 5 inches at a time.  Since then, they’ve gotten a lot more snow, but that’s how it goes, right?  Since moving to Oklahoma and then to North Carolina, it’s never snowed more than an inch where I’ve been living, though I’ve seen big snowfalls during that t ime in New Mexico, West Viriginia, Kansas, and most recently, Chicago.

I never expected this kind of snow here.  It’s fairly rare to get more than a dusting, though certainly not unheard of.  How much will we get?  I don’t know, there’s still more to come!