Midsouth Weather

Enjoying a nice Sunday afternoon flight. This shot was taken between Helena and Tunica with the Mississippi River in the background.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 9:00 PM

Christmas Party

I am a "people person". I always enjoy the company of others. My wife and I hosted a Christmas party last night and enjoyed spending time with family and friends. The party is a lot of work, but worth every bit of the effort.

After the party concludes, we always find ourselves sitting in the living room, discussing the highlights of the party. We want the party to be more than just a nice little get together, but actually reflect the meaning of the Christmas season. That's why we always have a time of singing Christmas carols and letting folks tell what Christmas means to them.

One friend told me as he was leaving, "that's the first time I've sung Christmas songs like that since I was about 6 or 7 years old. I really enjoyed it".

Can you tell that I love the Christmas season?

posted by Tim Simpson @ 8:21 PM

DECEMBER IS HERE

Thanksgiving is a recent memory and Christmas is now just a few weeks away. It's my favorite time of the year.

Christmas 2004 was perfect with that thin layer of ice and snow. What are the chances of a repeat for 2005? SLIM.

Moving on to another Christmas note: I was a mischevious child. My parents would buy Christmas presents for us and store them in a certain upstairs closet. I was bad about visiting that closet and trying out some of the toys before they were wrapped. By the time Christmas day came, I already had a good idea of my favorite toys. I was rotten! Now with five kids I'm beginning to understand that statement that "you reap what you sow".

Our home in Middleton was the epicenter for the family Christmas day celebration. Our family was alot of fun and I always looked forward to seeing everyone. Gag gifts abounded and Christmas day was the most enjoyable day of the year.

Our kids like to read Luke chapter 2 out of the Bible, which chronicles the reason for Christmas. Indeed, Bethlehem represents the greatest gift ever given. If we successfully pass that thought along to our kids, then we will have accomplished something great in this life.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 5:50 PM

Thanksgiving

There is much to be thankful for as we head into this holiday season. Compared to the majority of people in our world, we are greatly blessed. Amid the football games, holiday shopping and extra day off, be sure to pause for a few moments and give thanks for all that we have.

Life has been busy as usual. With five kids, it never seems to slow down. I guess that keeps me young.

I've been doing some flying recently. To me, there is no other hobby that I enjoy more than sitting in the cockpit and taking a flight. Well, golf is a close second. I also have a couple of kids who love to make that trip to the airport and fly with me. They enjoy the rollercoaster manuevers! I only do those with the kids. Most adults don't have the stomach for that kind of flying.

I'm on a new schedule here at work that has taken some getting used to, but it definitely agrees with my family. I'm now doing weather at 4, 4:30 and 6pm. For the first time in 18 years, I'm not working the 10pm show. I'll say this, I'm getting more sleep!

I hope you and your family have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for taking time to read the blog.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 3:06 PM

WARM WEATHER

We've had two days of record heat here in Memphis, reaching 83 degrees both Monday and Tuesday. A cold front will provide some fall like changes for late Wednesday and Thursday. We can also expect a chance for a few passing showers. Boy, wouldn't that be nice!

The weekend was great and I enjoyed time with Leah and the kids. I also took my biannual flight review, which means I'm good to go for another two years. Private pilots have to fly with an instructor every two years just to make sure they're not getting rusty. You wouldn't want to fly with a rusty pilot, would you? I wouldn't!
I took my boys, T.J. and Josh on a local flight Sunday afternoon. We had picture perfect weather.

I had a brief stint at work from midnight till 4am Sunday morning covering a line of storms that moved through. Even though the National Weather Service issued over a dozen Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, we were very fortunate that tornadoes didn't materialize in this area.

By the way, here's a quick reminder that November is a secondarly severe weather month in the Mid South. Remember November 27, 1994? That was the night that severe thunderstorms spawned a tornado which hit Germantown and killed 3 people.

For me, one of the greatest tornado events that I covered was the November 15, 1989 tornado which hit Huntsville, AL and killed 22 people. At 4:30 in the afternoon the temperature was 73 degrees. By 10pm we had snow flurries! Talk about a strong cold front, we had it.

If you don't get anything else out of reading the blog, just remember to have your severe weather plan of action rehearsed and ready. Make sure that your kids know what to do when severe weather strikes. Go over it with them, often.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 3:21 PM

How would you like to baby sit this bunch of kids? They're a handful.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 7:06 PM

I've told our girls, "No dating until age 30".

posted by Tim Simpson @ 7:05 PM

Having a great time in Gulf Shores.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 7:02 PM

BACK AT WORK

This has been a crazy week! I took 10 days of vacation with the family and we enjoyed a nice, long stay at the beach. But it didn't take me long for realize that I was back in the rat race.

I have been busy with some extra training all week and life has been happening at a very rapid pace. Before you know it, the weekend will be here and I'll take a breather. The way I look at it, I'm glad to have a job, glad to be busy and I feel very blessed. I'll try to post some vacation pictures tomorrow.

How about this weather? As a regular contributor to MLG&W, I always look forward to that little break that we normally get in October. You know, we run the AC all summer long and into September. Then we usually enjoy a cooler October before having to run the heat in November. This year we went straight from the AC to the heater! No break.

Such is life.

posted by Tim Simpson @ 7:48 PM

OFF

Your friendly blog writer is taking off the week of October 17th. More blogging coming up the week of October 24th!

posted by Tim Simpson @ 8:10 AM