Life's Like a Jump Rope

Have you ever had those couple of days where things seemed to do a 180 in no time flat? I am sure that everyone has experienced this to some degree. Well, I have been in that pattern for the last couple of days... and it is no fun. Uh uh, not one bit.

The beginnings of this ordeal started Monday afternoon when "Oh, no! First briefing in 2 days." hit me like Barry Bonds swinging a bat at my head after injecting steroids. But I realized that I was getting worked up and gave my fears and my briefings to God. So things went on the incline. Tuesday went well and ended an eye-opening Merge at BCM. Then I went to Fred's to watch a movie with him and his roommate, and the movie just was not my cup of tea. So on the decline I go. Thank goodness it was bedtime, but I had to brief the next day.

Wednesday started bright and early. Since this was my practice briefing, I thought I would test the waters. My alarm was set for 5:27 a.m. As soon as it went off, I sat up in bed and prayed about the day for the next 15 minutes or so. After getting ready for the day, I sat down at my computer and starting pulling up weather discussions, weather charts, NAM models, model discussions, METAR, everything weather related that I needed to see before the model run came out. I could not start on my briefing until after 8 a.m. due to the charts taking that long to come out. So... I'm stable for the time being, with nerves trying to push me down the hill and "I'm ready to finish this" forcing me upward.

I finish analyzing everything from my dorm room and ship off to Coastal Weather Research Center to finish the rest of my forecast charts. I am done with everything but my 5 forecasts around 11 a.m., and I'm excited! Timing is going well! Then... I look back at one chart (Mean Sea Level Pressure (MSLP), 1000-500mb Thickness, and Precipitation chart), and things start to not make sense. (Declining...) I sit. I stare. I try to reason out what's going on. I asks for Fred's opinion. I think. I change everything that I was thinking. And boom: It's almost 2 p.m. at this point, and I'm about to have to get up and brief the class on Shreveport's 12-60 hr forecast. (still declining...)

Now, I have to talk for 18-23 minutes. Because Dr. Blackwell is working on a winter weather forecast for clients, he is late coming to class, and thus I wait. It's now 2:05 p.m., and it's showtime! I start. Things are going well. Then I get to my forecast maps... not sure what to say about them. I skim through the highlights. I'm at the 48 hr forecast as I glance at the stop-watch. "14:24" it reads. "Oh crap!" goes through my head. So I attempt to streeeeeeeeeeeetch out the last couple of slides, and barely manage to make it over the 17 minute mark. I was booking-it through the briefing.

So strike number 1: not long enough. Strike number 2: Dr. Blackwell tore up my MSLP/1000-500mb Thickness/Precip chart... as was expected. Strike 3: I had incorrectly drawn vectors on the jetstream (300mb) chart. Strike 4: cold front and low positions were hokey. Strike 5: I did not use the same model forecast chart for my initial 300mb chart. Strike 6: I included an extra chart in the 48 hr forecast, but it was actually a 36 hr forecast chart. Needless to say, I sucked the briefing up. Thank goodness it was a practice briefing! I walked out feeling relieved that it was over. (inclining at the moment)

I went straight back to Coastal Weather to work on SeCAPS stuff, moved to the synoptic lab, and got to hang out with some friends and cool synoptic lab teacher. (still inclining) When I left the Mitchell Center, I called Jessica and filled her in on the day. Then it was time for church. When I pulled up at the dorm after church, this flood of emotions came over me. I realized just how horrible I did on my briefing... so it's 180 time, and I'm declining. My excuse: I was tired and didn't feel very good. I walked into the room, got in bed with my computer, and eventually feel asleep just before 10 p.m.

Thursday was the recovery day, with a few bumps from time to time. Grrr. Hopefully, this mess will stay far away from me for a long time.

Superbowl-Bound Saints

THE LOWDOWN

Event: Saints/Vikings Playoff Game

Day: Sunday, January 24, 2010

Time: 5:40 p.m.

Place: Grove Apartment 637

Host: Frederick Schmidt

Attendees: Brian Himes, Brent Vinson, Colin Roeder, Christina Harris, Jaclyn Tisdale

Nervous Boys...

The Saints Are Going To The Superbowl!

"I've Got a New Way to Walk... Walk Walk!"

This is the first semester that I have actually walked to my first class of the day... I know, that's sad. But it has been so refreshing to walk to my technical writing class in the Humanities Building every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. I usually walk out of my room around 8:45 a.m. to make it class with lots of time to spare.

It is just one of the best parts of those three days. I am not quite sure why... Maybe it is the fact that I get to start the morning with a form of exercise. Maybe it is the fact that I get to pass a bunch of people that I do not know, that I may have the chance to strike up conversation with them. Or maybe it is the way I get to observe these people, see how they react to things or how they walk, their different strides, different choice of clothes, different habits. I will admit that it is fun and entertaining to see just how different every single living being is from the next. Maybe it is that I have time to pull out my cell phone and call my parents to/from class during my little excursion to class.

Hmm, another reason that I have come to like it is that I have the chance to walk and talk with God along the way. That sounds cheesy and/or straight from an old hymn, but it is true. I get to invite Him to walk with me the rest of the day, to help me get through the events and responsibilities of the next 12 or so hours of the day. And it is cool because He speaks back. He calms me down on tense first-day-of-class days, and He give me the endurance/motivation to tackle the days overflowing with "I've got to do this and that and that and.... etc."

Friday morning on the way back from class, I was thinking about ALL of the SeCAPS stuff that I needed to do (as well as practice briefing number 1 looming over my head). And suddenly a hymn popped into my head:

I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small; Child of weakness,
watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.” Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

My strength is small? Check. I am weak? Check. But how amazing is it
that everything that I lack, every necessity that I cannot find... He has it.
Amazing.

So I am curious to see what else God and I will encounter on my way to and from class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Ocean Fever...

After ARTIC air dominated over the deep south for the first half of January, FINALLY that warm, humid coastal air came back to Mobile. Ever since then, I have been itching to dip my toes in the ocean. If I did not have plans for today already, I would have taken off (by myself is needs be) and ran to Orange Beach for the afternoon.

There is just something about the ocean that sucks me into it like a rip current. The sight of this endless view of blue water. The consistent sound of waves crashing onto the sandy shores and creeping as far onto land as possible before being drug back out to sea. The distinctive smell of coastal water and marine life. The feel of grainy sand between your toes, in your jeans, everywhere... the feel of tromping through mud as you make your way into the water... the feel of cold water sloshing against your sun-warmed skin. Even the taste of salt water, after it accidentally enters your mouth while swimming, diving into waves, being thrown into the water by a friend. All of it, just makes me want to drop every obligation and cruise down to the beach with my sunroof open and sweet music blasting from my (ghetto) speakers.

Ahhh. I believe the next free afternoon that I have available will be spent watching Gulf Coast waves crash on sandy beaches. Want to join me?

Busy-ness!

Oh my goodness! I knew that the first part of this semester was going to be quite busy with classes, homework, briefing, work, research-work, tutoring, AND SeCAPS planning. But man, this has been non-stop. I am not complaining because the feeling of "having to do something and then getting it done" is great.

Fridays are my easy day. I have one class at 9:05, lasting for 50 minutes, and then I'm free! I have the choice to go to CHILI, play tennis, go run, run to the beach or wherever else, and the options are endless. This Friday has been nothing but SeCAPS stuff since 8 a.m. this morning! Whew! Working on a brochure with Sam, calling hotels to request discounts for SeCAPS attendees, contacting numerous people about SeCAPS events, contacting committee heads, waiting on/picking up reservation estimates for funding, organizing the agenda and presentation abstracts... it's been a busy day thus far.

The rest of day is a little more relaxed: Meeting with Dr. Kimball about CHILI, tennis with Fred, clean up, run to Wynnsong Cinemas to catch a early night movie, then hopefully just chill with Fred. Now that's the kind of Friday that I would like to see happen every week.

MLK Weekend at Home

I had left some of my things at home last weekend, so I used that as my excuse to go home again this past weekend. Fred also desparately needed a haircut, and thankfully Mrs. Holli D. Fleming was ready to start whacking off his hair.

After a pancake breakfast provided by Fred, we shipped off onto Hwy. 45 and headed to the home-base. The events went as follows:

First stop: Holli and Grant Fleming's house, just right outside of Meridian. Holli gave us the grand-tour around the house (NICE place), and then she ran across the street to cut a lady's hair. So Fred and I hung out at the house and watched the Fleming's dogs, Bella and Tinkerbell. We had a blast with them.

Next stop: The Moore's household. With Holli, Bella, Tinkerbell, and Fred's Rockband in the back of the car, we drove around northern Meridian to Jessica and Ryan's place to drop off a comforter and Rockband.

Next stop: Little Ceaser's Pizza. Get pizza for the football game.

Next stop: The Tisdale's place of residency. Daddy was supposed to be at my Uncle Scott's place to watch the Saints play-off game. Fred and I were wanting to watch it, and this would be my only opportunity to see Daddy. So we arrived, watched the game, got our hair cut, and left. Fun time!

Next stop: Walmart. Had to get food for the morning.

Final stop: Home! ... finally, around 10:30 p.m. we pulled up in the front yard.

Sunday: filled with Sunday school, church, Kozy Kitchen lunch, home, N64 with Jan, church, more N64 with Jan, and more N64...

Monday: more N64, walked down to the bridge, visited Hummy & Grandmommie, packed, left.

We got back to Mobile around 7 p.m. So all in all, it was a good weekend.

War Zone

One of the first things that caught Fred's eye was the frozen pond. I'll admit, Jan and I had fun with it earlier in the week... I mean, how often does your pond freeze over? And thus fun came in the form of throwing sticks to try to break the ice. The results... were messy:

...the high-lights...

A Pleasant Surprise

For Christmas break, Fred and I went our separate ways and headed home. We had plans for him to come to my place the weekend before classes began. As the days counted down, forecasts for snow, ice, and other freezing precipitation were issued; but nevertheless, the plans to come were still "a go." All afternoon Wednesday, I kept checking the forecast and saw the threat of ice on bridges was imminent. So... I picked up the phone and called Fred to tell him that he did not need to come. There was no reason for him to risk his health or car just to see me only three days before we would see each other anyway.

That Thursday, I will admit that I was pretty ill... and unbearably bored. I did everything I could to keep myself busy: vacuumed, washed dishes, washed clothes, cleaned up this and that. He called that night just to check in and told me that he was going back to Mobile on Saturday. I received a call again Friday night. When the conversation came to an end, I jokingly (but hopefully) said, "Hey, why don't you just keep driving to my place." I was instantly shut down by, "Jaclyn, I need to be met halfway."

Saturday rolls around, and my mom and I have plans to clean the church first thing in the morning. That, of course, takes longer than expected. We got back to the house around 12:30 p.m. and took time to eat lunch. While I was busy taking a shower, Fred had called me. I noticed the missed call after I got out and called him back. The reception was horrible, and the conversation did not last long at all. I then immediately went to dry my hair.

I called Fred back right after I was done... no answer. Then he calls me back shortly after. The reception was awful, and I ended up hanging up. It was not five minutes later that I heard a door close followed by a knock on the door. "Who is that??" I wondered. "Hummy?" I ran to the window... no car. So I looked at the door... I see a black jacket. "FRED?!" I thought. The door was opened only to see this handsome boy with a huge smile on his face. The only thing I could say was,"What are you doing here? ... what are you doing here?" The pieces started coming together. The reception was horrible because he was close my house. He shot down the whole driving-to-DeKalb thing so that I would have NO clue what he was planning. Needless to say, he made my weekend... well, my week.

Snapshots from around the Yard

Details.... the more there are, the better. I love a great story or a picture that is oozing details. Despite the fact that the outside conditions were frigid, I bundled up and set out late one December afternoon, attempting to capture the beauty of my surrounding and the details that draw you to stop and take a closer look.

WORKing Things Out

After arriving home for Christmas break on a Tuesday, I went straight to work at the Kemper County Messenger along side my mother. This included me selling Christmas Greetings, typing, working on the deposits, opening mail, creating/sending proofs on legals, and other odd-end stuff. Since the only other employee is my mom, it is a relaxed work environment... which leads to cutting up and listening to good music in the office while working.

My desk. Notice the heater near by. This was a life saver and probably the coziest place in the office. Needless to say, I was content.

Ice, Ice Baby

After a night or two of a hard freeze (lows in the mid-teens), Jan and I ventured outside to check out the pond.

A Praise!

The Southeastern Coastal and Atmospheric Processes Symposium (SeCAPS) is the annual weather conference directed by the meteorology club and other MET students. It is held on USA's campus during the spring semester, and it's usually sometime between February and March. This year, the dates are February 19-20. Big whoop-dee-do, right? Well I accepted the position of Coordinator about two months after helping with SeCAPS last year.


A couple of days after Christmas, the weight of the matter hit me like a blue whale falling from the sky. This happened, of course, right after I got in the bed. My mind went to racing. "Oh, no! I've still got to do this. I haven't done that! We don't have hardly any speakers lined up!" And fear honestly kept me awake for close to an hour. ... it sucked! It is ridiculous how much worry can control me, mentally and physically. I finally realized that I could not do ANYTHING in my own power to make this thing happen. The only hope I had was to run to God and ask Him to take this big shin-dig under His control.

So I get back to campus Sunday afternoon, and there's a SeCAPS meeting planned for Tuesday afternoon. I was anti-social the majority of the day Tuesday, which happens when something is bugging me. I tend to withdraw and stay in "Freakout Land." But after the meeting started, and I began to hear about a couple of people that agreed they would speak... the speaker positions started to fill up! After all was said and done, we only lack 3-4 more speakers. The agenda was set. The request for funding has been started. My co-coordinators are doing an awesome job at what I have asked them to do. I realize that there are a lot of people that are just waiting on me to put them to work and get in contact with people. ....things were coming together, quite well!!

Praise God for how the conference is working out! Praise Him for gathering the speakers and the help to make this thing happen. And praise the Lord for answering my prayer and taking control over the situation!

Well I'm Back in Black!

Today marks the beginning, the beginning of the spring 2010 semester, the beginning of my last semester here at the University of South Alabama. Oh, the mixed emotions that I am feeling after typing the previous statement.

The Christmas break was just what I needed, time to not think. I will admit, I did not pull up one weather map since I pulled up in the front yard of my house on December 15th. Even though it probably was not the smartest move, I do believe that it was necessary for my sanity. But now it is back to reality and back to classes. The mourning period has passed, which always consist of a semi-bad mood for a day or two the week prior to classes. A surprise visit from a handsome, strapping, young fellow also aided in the "going back to Mobile" process.

But most importantly, I know that whatever this semester throws at me, I have the confidence and hope (and excitement) that God will be with me the entire way, and He will be the light at the end of a dark tunnel that I look for. When my grip starts slipping due to worry, anxiety, lack of motivation, whatever the condition might be, I know for a fact that all I have to do is hop up on the Rock and let the waves of time carry everything out ahead of me to way far behind me and out of my sight. Praise the Lord for being a God of hope, security, and faithfulness! And for His Son, the only One that could open the doors of communication with the Father so I can run to Him whenever.

And now... I take a deep breath and dig in.

Whine Whine Whine...

So much time and patience and determination and (fill in any valid adjective) have been poured into my meteorology classes over the past three years. But I have noticed that the more I learn, the more I realize that I hardly know anything at all. I've got to admit, it's frustrating. Meteorology is not a solid science. It's scientific guess work... and that aggrevates me to a point.

When I was at Meridian Community College, I worked like nerd for my A in Physics 1-2 as well as in Chemistry 1-2. Hours of working on homework assignments, take-home tests, finishing labs, going to the chemistry lab to work on chemistry tutorials, and all the like... it paid off. Why? Because it made since. If doesn't really matter what you do or what force you apply to something, it should react the same way everytime under the same conditions. That concept applies to chemical reactions too. But meteorology, not hardly.

There are soooo many variables to take into account when making a forecast. I won't take the time to name the majority of them because (a) I don't feel like wasting the time to do it and (b) you probably won't care to take the time to read them all. But it irks me. It makes me want to grab the air, a cloud, and raindrop and say "so why?"

This is one of my main gripes about my future career: I can put all of the pieces together in my mind. I can look at all of the charts and the models and maps, but the weather can do whatever it pleases. You can learn textbook scenarios, but things do not follow those patterns in reality. Fronts stall out all of the time. High and low pressure systems do not always follow the flow as they are "supposed" to. There might be every bit of evidence that precipitation will occur, but oops! There's a dry layer near the ground, and all of your precious precip evaporates before touching the ground. Forecast: busted!

I tell you, it's all scientific guess work. We can reason and plan everything out, but God is the only one who knows what will happen. He's the only that can pop out a 100% verified forecast. Why? Because He's the one moving/stalling the fronts, positioning the high/low pressure systems, dropping the rain, telling it when, where, and how much to fall. I just so wish that God would give me His weather briefing for the day. Although if this were the case, my brain would explode from an information overload.

The "M-O-V-E" Word

I am working at the Kemper County Messenger. The phone phone rings. I answer, expecting to answer a subscription question or give information about a display/classified/legal. But no... It's Jeb Pittman on the line. (For those of you that may not know, I grew up with Jeb. He was in the same class as me since 1st Grade, and we graduated together in May of 2005.) And the conversation goes as follows:

"Jaaaaaclyn."
"Jeb."
"Jaaaaclyn."
"Yes, Jeb."
"Jaaaaaclyn. What are you doing?"
"Working, Jeb."
"Jaaaaaaclyn. What has gotten in your way recently."
"Snow... yeah, just snow."
"Ah, Jaclyn! No really. What has gotten in your way??"
"Slow, pokey cars, Jeb."
"And Jaclyn, what do you say to those cars when they get in your way?"
"................ I tell them to get out of my way and MOVE."
"What, Jaclyn."
"........ I tell them to move."
"“What, Jaclyn?”
“I tell them to get out of my way and MOVE.”
“What, Jaclyn?”
“MOVE.”
“What?”
“MOVE.”
“What, Jaclyn?”
“MOVE. Move, Jeb. MOVE. Move. Move. Move!”
"Ok, Jaclyn. What's Mrs. Elaine doing?"
"She working, Jeb. She's really busy."
"But Jaclyn, put her on the phone."
"I can't Jeb. She's busy. She can't talk."
"Let me speak to Mrs. Elaine."
(My mother yells "move" in the background.)
"Jeb, she's busy. She can't talk."
"Ok, Jaclyn. Bye!"

End of conversation. The phone is hung up, and I go back to work....

Why Hello, Snow!

As I was talking on the phone this morning, I hear my mom say, "There are snow flurries coming down!" I run to the window and peep through the blinds. "Ooooh, it is!" It continued through most of the morning, becoming heavier as I was driving to work. Check it out!

But stay tuned... there is more expected for Thursday!

ThisAfternoonSnowLikelyHi 32 °F
TonightGradualClearingLo 15 °F
TuesdaySunnyHi 37 °F
TuesdayNightPartlyCloudyLo 16 °F
WednesdayMostlySunnyHi 45 °F
WednesdayNightChanceSnowLo 24 °F
ThursdaySnowLikelyHi 34 °F
ThursdayNightMostlyCloudyLo 14 °F
FridayMostlySunnyHi 26 °F

Mount Nebo Road Sunset