Brrr...It's Cold Out There...

Would someone please remind Mother Nature that we live in the South and although we like a little taste of winter we don't care for single digit temperatures and multiple days of white stuff. We got snow in December, it snowed/sleeted most of the day Monday, and now it is supposed to happen again tonight.

No this is not normal for Jackson...the folks around here are just as crazy as folks in Georgia when it comes to cold weather.

Christmas Pictures

I am no good with taking pictures but MB and Dad take care of it for me. Here are links to MB's and Dad's pictures. They include some of everything from the long weekend - including some of Granddaddy's 80th Birthday party.

Andrew and I were thrilled to be with our families for Christmas this year and be able to celebrate Granddaddy's birthday with him. We aren't too sure that we will be able to go to Georgia next year so it was really nice to spend this year with everyone.

How's Work?

Work is great. I am really enjoying the people and the work environment. It is very relaxed and unstructured. That is good and bad for me. For those of you at the MGRC, sorry but we get to wear blue jeans on Fridays and get off at 4:30 everyday, but there is no Sandi - so I proof read everything four million times because no one looks at your work before it goes out the door! For those of you that don't know Sandi, she is God's gift to the MGRC. She proofs and formats everything before it goes at the door in Macon. It makes you feel much, much better knowing she is going to read word for word everything in the document to make sure it is correct. Amazing - is all I have to say about that.

Working with the City of Jackson has been the adventure I assumed it would be. The process is slow and down-right difficult at times. However, the staff I have been working with are willing and able to help, which makes it much easier.

As for Jackson's section of Hwy 80 - if they think this is bad, they need to tour Macon's. It is run-down and has a great deal of disinvestment, but it is really something that can be turned around. We are going to develop a full economic development plan including engineering plans and specs for infrastructure for the area. It is going to start with code enforcement as we inventory each building and its use and condition along the 8 mile project area. It will be a lot of fun and I hope, Laura Mathis, a "Plan with a Purpose, not a Plan just to Plan."

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!!!

Yep, that's right, we got snow last night!! Here are a few pictures from when it was still falling and some from this morning.

Birthday Dinner

Andrew decided that he would cook dinner tonight rather than us going out for my birthday. He did all the shopping and cooking! We had steaks, baked sweet potatoes, and a yummy salad with dried cranberries, blue cheese, and honey sesame sticks! It was steak-house quality. Andrew said that the salad would have made Jimbo proud. Andrew's Uncle Jim makes some of the best salads - he should be helping restaurants develop their new salad combination. Andrew was right it was a Jimbo salad. And the best part was that I didn't have to do anything. It was a wonderful birthday gift and dinner!!

Go Jackets!!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend that all the Tech Fans came out for a visit. It was an awesome game and we really enjoyed Starkville. However, the highlight of the game was cruising up in our VW Routan...and no none of us owned it...we rented. Oh and did I mention that we almost got it stuck in the grass field we parked in?!? That would have been too much!

A Birthday Visit from the Grandparents

We were honored to have Grandmomma and Granddaddy come spend a couple of days with us last week. Andrew and I really enjoyed their visit and having company from home. While Andrew was working, the rest of us did a little (or in my case, a lot) of Christmas shopping and took in the sites around Jackson. Then on Friday, we ventured over to Vicksburg. It was pouring down rain so no pictures, but I am sure that we will visit Vicksburg again and I will get pictures of the Yazoo River joining the Mississippi - which was about the coolest thing about the whole town. It is in many ways run-down, but there are some neat spots still. It is really sad when you are overlooking a massive, beautiful river and some shot-gun homes that are in need of a bulldozer (to put it bluntly). But all in all, it was a great weekend and we had a blast!