Ringing out the old and bringing in the new!

Wow, it is the end of another year. We have had a really nice time with the girls over the Christmas time. It seems as though they are starting to relax and get into a routine. They both have a couple of weeks before they have to go back to school. Kathryn is going to work quite a bit and Jen is going to get her room for when she returns. Linda is starting to prep for another training that she will be doing in Boston in a couple of weeks. 

Tonight is New Years Eve - we are planning on going to a show called the Capital Steps. It is a show that has been being performed here for a number of years. We are looking forward to it. We are then off to Michael's Valley grill for a late dinner, then home to before midnight to bring in the new year. 2007 was another eventful year for all of us. As always, there was some bad, but mainly good. I am looking forward to 2008, there are lots of milestones. Of course, I will turn 50, Linda looks like she is going to be getting more and more training work and the girls will start their Junior year. We already have a couple of trips planned for the year. Linda and I will be going on a mission trip with our church in February to New Orleans. This is the third trip for our church in a year and a half. We are helping families rebuild. I really have no idea what to expect. I understand that it is still not close to being re-built. I am looking forward to going. I will be creating a separate blog for that trip so that the congregation can get daily updates. We are then planning a trip to Hilton Head to see Jerry and Sarah. I would also think that we will go back to the wine harvest in Paso next year. I look forward to reporting on all these things in 2008.

I will try to post soon into the new year - I have some business trips coming up quickly so I know that I will be preparing for those starting Wednesday. 

Happy 2008 to all.

Christmas Eve 2007

Today is Christmas eve day and it is snowing outside. We were a bit concerned that we would not have a white Christmas. All of the snow we had last week melted away yesterday. It was 53 and raining most of the day. It turned cold again last night and this morning we have been having lake effect snow since 9am. It looks like it is coming off lake Erie. Linda is working until 3 and the girls have just been relaxing. They just took off for the Y to get a little pre-holiday workout in. I went and finished up the shopping, there were a few little gifts that needed to be picked up and I had to get the standing rib roast for tomorrow.
Last night we drove around with the Wicus clan and looked at some of the homes where they had really put out the lights. Most of them were in Fairport. There were some pretty unique decorations out there. Tonight we are planning dinner with some friends and then we will go to the 11:00 pm service at our church. Other then that we have a couple of movies to get caught up on - Christmas in Connecticut and White Christmas.
Will update later.....
Have a Merry Christmas

I thought that this was a nice way to start Christmas Eve day - it was from my Upper Room Daily Reflections!

O HOLY NIGHT,
that deepening darkness above and around,
light-pierced and silence-shrouded,
out of which little children are called in
and seeking shepherds are sent out.
O night of nights,
you spread across heaven
and touch the earth,
surrounding God’s people,
capturing us in a moment of holy time,
like a globe protects a precious flicker of Light.
Come,
draw us in,
hold us together
while we wait for the birth of the Light of lights,
the One who will guide us into the world anew. Amen.

- Pamela C. Hawkins
Simply Wait

The Day After

We made is through the "big storm"! It did not end up being as big of a storm as it was advertised but it was still pretty good size. Probably ended up with 10" of additional snow, lots of sleet and really cold temps. This looked more like a February storm.

The schools are all closed today, which is somewhat odd since the roads are in really good shape. Linda and I are thinking that it is due to the holidays being near. The weather guy from Good Morning America was broadcasting live from Rochester this morning so they must have thought it was a pretty big storm.

I will try to get some pics tonight and post them up later.
Regards
Dan

Mid Afternoon Winter Storm Update

It has not been the event they advertised. We have probably had 6 or 7 inches of snow and sleet. It is now 2 pm and it is starting to snow  a bit more. We will probably get a few more inches of snow before it is over. Probably end up with just under a foot. Not a gigantic storm, but still a pretty good storm.

We have not moved from the house and will not be moving. We are watching the Bills at Cleveland. They are getting a little snow there as well. The Cowboys are next up so Jen and I have the fireplace going in preparation for that event. Kathryn is getting ready for her first final which is tonight. LJ is just hanging out as well. We might bake some cookies a bit later.

I will get some shots of snow as the storm starts to end and will try to provide an update a little later today.

In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy your day with your family.

Dan

Sunday Morning Update

Well, as is with many storms in Rochester, this one has taken a different path. The snow overnight was less than expected and the amounts this morning are going to be less - the reason however is not good. Much of the snow is now sleet - well with sleet, you get less depth, but it is more hazardous. It looks like we are going to cut about 5" off the total due to the conversion. Of course, sleet happens when the temps in the upper air is above freezing, rain falls and hits the cold temps at the surface - thus sleet. 

They plowed the streets overnight so it looks inviting in terms of getting on the roads. Not a good idea to venture out however! They say that the afternoon remains ugly in terms of heavy and blowing snow. 

Just called the church and Pastor Bill answered, he did not expect many folks to attend. Linda and I are about 14 miles from church and it is all back roads, we are not going to be venturing out that way. 

So our plan remains the same, fire in the fireplace, football and a roast for dinner. We might get out a little later for a walk. Will get out and take a couple of shots later this morning.

Expect another update around noon today.....

Have a great morning

Dan

Winter Storm Watch - The Official Start Time

Winter Storm Watch 2007 is a go!

The snow started to lightly fall around 7:30 pm, which is a little ahead of what they thought last night. I recorded a short video for you to review (I hope) that will give you a sense of what the start of a snow storm looks like.



Well as you can see it is not that exciting yet - just some tiny snow flakes - this is of course the leading edge of the storm. It seems that there are going to be a couple of punches to this storm.

Sometimes it is hard to understand just how much snow 12 or 24 inches really is. I shot three pictures that I hope will help. The first is a measuring stick. You can see the mark at the baseline of the stick. We will take measurements throughout the storm and at the end tally the total.




These other pictures are of a couple of key areas in our yard.

The one on the left is the end of our drive way - it is always a hoot to see how much this pile grows as the snowplow guy gets to the driveway. PS - having a snowplow guy is essential when living in Rochester.






The other is in our front yard which will probably be somewhat protected from the blowing snow. These of course are the before, I will post the after when the storm is over.





The weather folks maintained their forecast for this storm, so I expect we will not leave our home until Monday at the earliest. We will see!

Probably will not report again until the morning. Got to get back to the Syracuse basketball game. Everyone have a safe and happy evening.

Thanks Dan

Noreaster Update One

9:30 am Saturday Morning:
I love to watch the all the weather channels when we have a storm brewing. RNews seemed to have a fairly tame forecast last night, this morning they have become less tame, they have put the storm total between 9 - 25+ inches - of course much of this depends on where you are in the viewing area. We are no at the high or the low end, but probably more toward the high end. I am sure the the 25+ is due to lake effect which is impossible to predict. Channel 13, which is my favorite, just says it is going to be big. I have not seen anything from them this morning so I do not know if they have started to put depths out there yet. Of course, the weather channel talks about Boston more then anything. It is currently about 15 degrees outside and expected to climb to 21 for the high today. There is no wind at this time, we know that will change as the storm starts to arrive. No more to update at this time, we are going out for a little shopping. I will try to get some shots of the snow piles at the malls and shopping areas, they are already pretty impressive.
Later
Dan

It might be a Noreaster!

For those who are not familiar with the winters in the Northeast, the term Noreaster is probably not understood. The net of a Noreaster for us in Rochester is that it can, I repeat can, create a great deal of snow. Most of the big storms that I have been in here (big being 2-4 feet in a couple of days) are results of a Noreaster. Well, I decided this year to document the event on the blog. I will provide updates (with pics) a couple of times a day over the weekend.

Let me set you all up with what we are hearing. We have just been put under a Winter Storm Warning (we were under a Watch) from tomorrow night around 10pm to Monday morning. Right now they are saying we will get between 1 & 2 feet of snow during that period, we are in the 2 feet area. It is great to watch our weather folks, they do not get excited about a great deal when it comes to winter weather, these are different though.

We have had snow on the ground since Thanksgiving, in fact we had about 7 inches yesterday. It has also been cold and it would seem that it is going to drop tomorrow. If there is wind, we could get more snow with lake enhancement. All in all it is an exciting time.

The stores were starting to get packed, folks are storing up. I think we are all excited because it is on a Sunday which is a day of rest anyway. Not leaving the house just allows us to watch football.

Linda and I went and picked Jen up today from Syracuse, she is home for Christmas break. Kathryn has final starting Sunday night. Monday might be tricky, just depends on how long it last.

Well, at this point, it is cold and a little cloudy, maybe an inch or so of snow tonight. We are off to a party and Jen is off with friends.

I will report often and update with pics as things develop.

Later
Dan

First Snow of the Season

We had our first good snow of the season this week - probably got about of foot of snow over a two day period. Lot's of lake effect came in for this one. It is colder then normal so it seems as though our short fall is going to result in a longer winter.



It made it a little tough to run this week, so I have spent most of the time on the treadmill at the Y - I am going to try to get out on the canal later today. There is nothing better then a run on the canal after snow. They do a good job of plowing the path so it is safe to run on. You can always wear grippers when it is deeper.

I have still not made my mind up on what I am going to train for. I was feeling pretty good prior to getting sick during Thanksgiving. I had started to build my base back up - hopefully I will be able to continue building it up next week.