The World According to Leslie

All week, the weather forecasters called for snow. Some called for 4"; others called for 8". In reality, according to the weather reports this morning, we got about 2-3". A "cone of warm air" snuck in and pushed the higher totals of snow to the north. Surprise! Surprise! It snowed more to the north than at my house!! Well, at least we got snow! It's beautiful outside! It is still snowing a little bit now. That will all be gone before noon today. I went out on the front porch earlier when I got up to get some pictures. It never fails when it snows that someone decides to walk through MY snow!!  It's MY yard! It's MY snow!  But, someone always walks through it before we get outside. That's why I went out earlier for pictures. :)  I got ahead of them this time. :) I am a "snow-fectionist".  I want the snow to stay pretty and pristine without footprints in it. I always ask Tony and the Princess to walk only on the sidewalk ...

I live in NC! I live near Charlotte.  Sometimes we get snow.  Sometimes we get ice. Sometimes we get rain. Sometimes we get nothing! For the past week, the forecasters have been predicting snow. It's supposed to start late this evening and go into the morning tomorrow. Some say 2-4". Others say up to 6". Me? I want as much snow as possible!  :)  I love snow!  The only difference in this year and all the previous years is that I get cold now. Actually, I stay cold now. I wear hoodies and long pants all the time. I wrap up in blankets when I'm on the couch. I freeze often!  I used to make fun of people who were cold all the time. My sister is one of them. I think I may still be warmer than her, but I'm cold all the time. That does NOT mean I don't want snow!! Living in NC, people go nuts when they hear about snow!  The hardware stores have lines of people getting ice melt, snow sleds, and shovels. Grocery stores have people lined thr...

I remember as a child how much I loved Christmas. I remember loving parades and lights and Santa and gifts and family. I remember as I got older how Christmas became more hectic. It seemed that the wonder I had as a child started to fade. I started to see the hustle and bustle. I started to feel the stress. Now, as I sit here a little more than a week before Christmas, I have only purchased a few gifts (all for the Princess). I stress out because my Christmas village isn't up yet. I hate that part of my lights on my house aren't working. (I am thankful that Tony and my nephew, Dorion, put them out over Thanksgiving weekend for me.) I don't really feel Christmas-y. I feel sad because I can't do all the things I want to do for others and for myself this Christmas. I worry because I know what the Princess wants for Christmas, and I'm afraid she'll be disappointed if it's not under the tree. I wish I really still believed in Santa Claus and that he could...

It seems as though we may be in for a “normal” week here in NC.   I haven’t listened this morning, but I don’t think we are expecting any of that strange white precipitation (snow) to fall this week.    The Princess should be getting her softball info this week.  We should know (for sure) the coaches and the team name.  My brother should be one of the coaches, but we never know until after the draft.    Girl Scout cookies (and booths) are in full force.  I feel as though my world is surrounded by them!  And…that could be because they are in 2 of the main rooms of my house—living room and dining room.   I have a couple of meetings this week, so that makes it even more normal.   The countdown for everything is still on.  As soon as we get our softball schedule, we will get to add more things to it… like first practice and first game!    As long as we keep doing what we are doing right now, this w...

Yesterday was snow day #2. Today is snow day #3 for the year.  On Tuesday, we got out of school early because the snow was coming. It came.  It accumulated. It melted. It was pretty.  By 4pm on Tuesday, most places didn’t have a bit of snow on the ground.   Yesterday, they canceled schools because the snow was coming.  So we waited.  We waited some more.  Finally about 12pm (NOON!) the snow started.  We could have gone another 1/2 day and wouldn’t have to make that day up on a Saturday….but nooooooo!  Once it started, it started accumulating quickly.  We got about 1” of snow per hour.  It snowed until about 7pm last night.  Some times it was slower, so we probably have about 5-6” in my yard.    About 7pm, the sleet and freezing rain started.  That’s what it is still doing now.  So schools called to cancel around 3pm yesterday afternoon for today!   Today, I’m “working from home”.  I do ...

Yesterday (July 3rd), I spent all day in front of my computer.  I have been working on more articles.  I am finishing another trial set soon.  I am not sure I want to keep writing for this person.  The deadlines keep changing….giving me less time to write.   Today, (July 4th) Tony, the Princess and I are all at home together!  We have a long, 4 day weekend.    What shall we do?   I have 4 more articles due tomorrow—no TODAY!  (Sorry!  12:16am always confuses me! LOL)   We are going to work on changing the playroom into the office and the office into the playroom.  Long story!    Friday, I will probably have more articles due.  Then we will do NOTHNG!  HA!  Yeah, right!  I’m sure we will come up with something to do.  Of course, if it ever stops raining, Tony will do the yard work.  But… according to the forecast, it is going to be raining ALL week—like 80% chance!...

Yesterday morning, before I could get awake good, it started snowing.  On Friday, it was 60 degrees, so nothing STUCK!  We did out cookie booth at Lowe's Home Improvement and sold a fair amount of cookies.  It was cold, but the sun was out; so it wasn't unbearable. Last night, we had a booth at 5pm at the OTHER Lowe's Home Improvement in town.  It started snowing as we were leaving the house.  It was snowing so hard (and directly into my windshield) that it was hard to see.  So we got there, about 10 minutes away, and there was already about 1/2" of snow on the ground.  It was freezing outside.  We stayed until the booth was over at 8pm.  My legs and hands were so cold that I slept with the electric blanket ON most of the night. My feet and hands are still a little numb this morning.  Hopefully they will warm up today.  If not, I might have an issue. :) :( 

Today, we are expecting "ice".  For those of you who have snow, let me explain.  Ice can't be driven on.  It is slick and there is no way to get traction on it. Snow can be driven on if you are careful and don't drive like you are in NASCAR! Last Thursday night, we had snow.  Well... there was about an inch on the grass, but some of the roads were frozen over so school was cancelled!  :)  So, we had the " Not So Snow Day ." Today, the ice is supposed to start soon.  Some stations say 10am.  Some say noon.  There is even one (really random, out there station) that says 3pm!!  The neighboring school district (and several others) have already announced they are getting out early--3 hour early dismissal. My school district is waiting.  Not sure what they are waiting for, but they are waiting. I think they are hoping that we can get the kids to school today and dismiss early.  I think they are figuring that if nothin...

Yesterday, I posted that we are having "Weird Weather" here.  As of 10pm last night, the weather people (not just weathermen any more) are calling for 2-4 inches.  Unfortunately, they are all saying that it will be gone by 5am! I may not be a Science person, but wouldn't it take a LITTLE longer than an hour for the snow to completely melt if it doesn't stop snowing until 4am!?  (Just asking!) We may (or may not) have some snow tonight!  I may (or may not) get to see it in the morning since I wake up around 4am! :)  I just wonder what they are going to do about school--the last high school exam for the semester is tomorrow morning!  (We shall see what the plan is!)

Anyone who knows me knows that I L-O-V-E love cold weather.  (Although now that I'm getting older, I do get cold more!) I have always wanted to live in the COLD!  Unfortunately, I live in NC.  There really isn't a "winter" here, most years.  We will have cold weather.  Then it warms to the 50s.  50-ish is the "average" temp here in January.  However, this weekend, we had a "heat wave".  It was 70-ish degrees here on Saturday and Sunday.  The surrounding days (Thursday-Monday) were in the 60s.  Yesterday was supposed to be in the 60s, but I think we stayed in the 50s.  Then, on the news last night, I hear they are calling for "flurries" on Thursday night!  Really?  Snow?  You see, normally, when they call for "flurries" we get a lot of snow.  When they call for "X inches" we get flurries.  I don't know whether to be excited or not.  Do I make sure I stock up on bread and milk?  (We have plen...

Today I spent the entire day from 10am-5pm in a meeting to plan the Spring portion of our Girl Scout service unit's year. The funny thing is that not much got planned. We came up with great ideas and decided to talk about most things again later! :) I also got an email from one of my professors today that instead of 2 books, I have to have 3! She also said that she has set the online course up so that although we have the "pleasure" of setting up our own schedule, we need to schedule 3-4 times a week to log in and spend about 4 hours at a time on just her class! That's great, but I have another class! I'm still waiting to hear back from the interview! Maybe it will be this week. I found out this week that my dad is going to have his surgery (we knew it was coming because he has a HUGE hernia from his surgery in Oct 2009) on January 20th! He will be in the hospital for 2-3 (maybe 4 days) then he will be home! He also will have to be out of work until he can...