I would say “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”  to all however, when it comes to parenthood,  I’m feeling about as big as a leprechaun right now.   It seems that in my effort to keep up with everyone else,  I  have traumatized my youngest son.

So,  here’ show it went down.   Last night I decided to let the little guys, aka the leprechauns,  run wild in our house!

My husband and I turned the chairs upside down on the kitchen table, used Bend-a-Roos to write a holiday greeting on the door, turned the toilet water green, and then T-P’d the kitchen and hallway with a trail leading straight to each boys room.   Quietly we tossed a roll over the ceiling fan in each boys room and tip-toed out.

Yes! They will be so tickled I thought.  HA! At 3:00 am my 5 year old began to scream the most terrifying scream I’ve ever heard.  He then began to run down the hall to our room (where of course he encountered more TP) and screamed even louder.  His heart was pounding fiercely and he was practically inconsolable.

For the next two hours, just when I thought he’d gone back to sleep He would say “Mommy, St. Patrick’s Day is scary”, or “Why did the leprechauns do that?”   I told him they wouldn’t do it again to which he asked “What about next year.”

That’s when I decided to let the cat out of the bag.    Even if it meant outing Santa and the Easter Bunny too I had to put my baby’s mind at ease.  So, I told him that I did it.   “Why”,  he asked?  I told him I did it as a joke to try and trap the leprechauns.  He was not amused.

In the morning he seemed fine, wanting to know where his gift was.  Funny, he still thinks the little guys brought the goods and I did the damage.  Go figure!    Better luck next year.

Feel like painting the town?   Check out this event held by the Suffolk Chapter of  the American Red Cross.   Kay Young and I will be celebrity waitresses.   Hope to see you there! These are details sent in by spokesperson Ashley Greene:

Suffolk Chapter Hosts 12th Annual “Paint the Town Red” Celebrity Benefit The American Red Cross, Suffolk Chapter is preparing for its annual “Paint the Town Red” Celebrity Benefit on Friday, March 19, 2010. This 12th annual event will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Suffolk Riverfront at Constants Wharf from 6-11pm. Highlights of this year’s event include Joe Hoppel as Master of Ceremonies! There will be a wine tasting raffle for 10 presented by Bon Vivant Market, live entertainment by “Touch of Spice,” and silent and live auctions. The auctions will include amazing items such as a 32″ HDTV, an Outer Banks weekend, a beach week in Emerald Isle, NC, and a Stay-Cation romantic getaway. Thanks to the lead sponsorship of QVC, the silent auction is full of great buys this year!

Celebrity waiters will also be on hand to serve the guests and compete for “tips.” Unique to this event are these fun and crazy celebrity waiter challenges. You might see hula-hooping, spoon races or even standing on heads for tips to benefit the Suffolk Chapter! Look for some local familiar faces like our Mayor Linda Johnson, W. Ross Boone, Suffolk Treasurer Ron Williams, Ellen Drames of Rose & Womble Realty and Priscilla Taylor of Duke Automotive, as well as some regional celebrities such as Nicole Livas and Kay Young of FOX 43/WAVY 10 and J. P. Godsey of WPMH 670am radio talk show host and the “Happiest Man in the USA.” Mike Duman of Duman Auto Sales will be back as our amazing Celebrity Auctioneer for the evening.

“Paint The Town Red” was originally introduced by Faye Byrum, Executive Director and was begun to provide a vehicle to channel the local Red Cross’s need for community support. The event remains a vital part of the Suffolk Chapter’s fund-raising presence. “Chapter events such as Paint the Town Red are critical for us to continue to provide lifesaving services to Suffolk citizens when there is a need, as we only sustain ourselves through local fundraising,” says Byrum. “Down the street, across the country and around the world, the American Red Cross is there to help twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

Want to go? Tickets are now available and are $60 each. All proceeds from the Paint the Town Red go to support the Suffolk Chapter. Call the Suffolk Chapter at (757)539-6645 for more information or email Ashley Greene at dev@suffolkarc.com

Tickets may be charged by phone, or stop by the office on 157 North Main Street, Suite C, Suffolk, VA 23434 to pay in person.

My 1975 Pony League Team (I'm 2nd row last on left)

“It was a different life  
When we were boys and girls  
Not just a different time   
It was a different world”

From the song “Different World”  by Bucky Covington

 The afternoon editorial meeting is a gathering of the WAVY minds from different generations, mine being a little more seasoned than most of my co-workers.  Someone mentioned a possible follow-up on the Portsmouth Soccer Club and its quest for the city to fix the outdoor lights at John Tyler Elementary.    Click on this link to see Jason Marks’ story on this effort.  

I leaned over to my co-anchor,  Alveta Ewell, and whispered in that mischievous tone reserved for schoolboys who invite trouble when they talk too much, “You should have seen the fields I played on as a kid.”  Alveta just smiled in a way that seemed to say “here he goes again.”  But Courtney Smith, our night time  assignment editor asked me after the meeting what I had meant by the comment.   

“My best memories of playing baseball as a kid were the times we played on a field that was basically on top of a coal mine,”  I said. 

Courtney laughed.  She wasn’t even born when I graduated from college.  Let’s just say she’s from a different generation.   At the risk of sounding like the dour-faced man who lectures everybody younger than 40 about “in MY day,”  it WAS  a different time.   

Weeds grow from the coal dust that was Stewart Field

Outdoor lights and manicured grass were distant hopes of the imagination at old Stewart field in Library,  Pennsylvania outside Pittsburgh.  The ground carried a black-grey shade year round–it was composed of coal and rough dirt.   I played my best baseball on that old lot,  roaming  the rocky prairie of left field that was bordered by railroad tracks leading to a mine in a hillside.   The miners would watch us from those rustic boundries.

Parents brought their lawn chairs and coolers to watch the action along the third base line.   The evening sun lit the diamond.  The human images gazing on the action became mere shadows as the day melted away with passing innings.  Hard grounders put the fear of God in anyone who found themselves in front of one of these leather-coated cannon balls that would change course with nearly every hop.   But it was OUR field.  We imagined a packed stadium with national television cameras capturing our teen heroics.   Just be careful sliding into second base!

My view from left field--35 years later

Most of our children today play on natural  green fields with soft dirt.   Even if the lights might not be up to par, the facilities in our cities provide a kinder,  gentler forum for our competing youth.  A little different from that rocky summer outside that Western Pennsylvania mine in 1975.

Basketball season is always exciting and this year is no different. I’m on vacation and the road at the ACC tournament in
Greensboro, North Carolina right now. What a classy event! We have great seats and VIP access.

John Edwards watching UNC/Ga. Tech game at ACC Tournament

I even saw former NC Senator John Edwards Thursday cheering for UNC.  I enjoyed meeting coaching legend Lefty Driesell (who lives in his native Hampton Roads),  famous sportscaster Dick Vitale (Awesome, baby!), and former Georgia Tech star, Bruce Dalrymple.

Richmond, VA

I spent last weekend at the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in Richmond, which I’ve attended the last few years. My alma mater, George Mason didn’t make it to the finals of the CAA this year, but I was happy to see two Hampton Roads teams play for the championship. Now, let’s see how far Old Dominion gets in the big dance. Great effort by William & Mary.

Back to Greensboro- this is my first ACC tourney.

ACC Tourney, Greensboro, 2010

This place is overrun with North Carolinians since the Tar Heel State has so many schools in the conference.   My brother is a University of Virginia grad, so I was rooting for the Cavaliers, but they lost to Duke and Virginia Tech was upset by Miami.

Hanging out at the ACC Tourney

In the end, Duke defeated Georgia Tech in a great game!

Duke Wins ACC Tourney 2010

That’s all for now- let the madness continue!!

A man emerges from the pit that was once the busy intersection of Duke and Bute Streets in downtown Norfolk.  The white hardhat, faded jeans and bright orange vest are his uniform.  The perpetual dirt that covers this wide circle has turned to muck thanks to a brief rain shower,  and no one looks like they’re having fun.  This intersection has been closed for much of the winter while crews redo underground utility lines to accommodate light rail.  The city hopes to re-open the intersection by May. 

“Are you guys going to make that deadline?”  I call out as I walk by. 

“We’ll make it happen,”  replied the worker, who had a “you betcha” tone of optimism.

I, for one, can’t wait.  It’s almost more fun wrestling with cars and trucks while trying to cross the intersection than embarking on these daily urban hikes over crumpled asphalt, dirt, and plywood.  But viewing the progress is a fascinating  journey.  

Light Rail Surgery at Bute and Duke Streets

A one block trek over  the war zone, which is Duke and Bute Streets,  reveal virgin rails embedded into a pink-hued path that is York Street.  This section of town looks like a movie set that needs finsihing touches before the cameras roll.  The Tide will roll on those rails along York turning south on Duke, and roll East out of downtown to Newtown Road. 

Looking West along York Street

Eventually, the construction noise will give way to the rolling Tide.  But for now,  this downtown transportation work- in-progress, which is designed to encourage urban pedestrian journeys,  poses a daily challenge to those of us who have to walk around it.

Last week I attended the Bell Training Academy in Texas. This is for my recurrent training in Chopper 10, instrument and night vision.

What does this involve?

During this training, I practiced all the emergency procedures that I must have committed to memory.  Because in the event of an in flight problem is not the time to break out the operator’s manual. I like to say this is the fun part. I go up with a flight instructor and do all the engine out maneuvers to the ground. That means that I will roll off the throttle and land the aircraft without power. Yes, the blades keep turning even when the engine quits; this happens much like a pinwheel, the air passing back up through the rotor system in decent keeps the rotor speed at operating speed until touchdown.

All current Federal Aviation Regulations are covered as well as weight and balance and performance. At the end of that phase of the training is a check ride in the aircraft and a written exam. Both were passed without a problem. After thirty years of flying you might think I would have it down pat.

The next phase is an instrument refresher. This training is so that if necessary I am able to fly Chopper 10 without being able to see outside the cockpit.

Then, a Night Vision Goggles training refresher. Chopper 10 is the only TV News with this technology in the U.S.

That gives me the ability to conduct flights at night under the safest manner possible. The NVG are same type that the military uses and allows me to see at night under conditions that to fly unaided would not be possible.

Then two more check rides with instructors and a final course exam.

I completed all this in the time span of only one week with the best instructors and at the best training academy in the world, Bell Helicopters.

Now that I am back, look for Chopper 10 in the skies over Hampton Roads to help guide you through your morning commute and covering breaking news faster than anyone else.

See you in the sky..

Chopper John

Hello Hampton Roads!   I am the newest member of the Super Doppler 10 weather team.  I am a hometown girl who grew up in Chesapeake and went to Indian River High School.  (Go Braves!)

I obtained my meteorology degree from Mississippi State University and I have spent the last four and a half years as a forecaster in Richmond, so I have had enough of the snow.  The day I decided to be a meteorologist I knew I wanted to forecast in my hometown and I am so excited to be able to have the opportunity.

I must say it is an honor to work with people that I have watched and admired since I was a young child.  I look forward to serving all of you.

Chopper 10 has a new set of pop out floats. What does that mean? That is the float system that will allow me to land on the water in case of emergency. Always a nice option.

Coming soon at the first of the month I will be headed to Texas. I will be at the Bell Helicopter factory for training during the first week of March. There I will be doing all that pilot stuff that the FAA requires that I do in order to remain current.

I do enjoy the training because I get the latest updated information on all aircraft operations, from paperwork to Night Vision Systems.

Chopper 10 is the only TV Helicopter in the country that has Night Vision Systems that give me the ability to operate day or night in the safest manner possible.

Stay tuned for updates…….

Lets Move!  The First Lady’s new campaign to combat childhood obesity has got me thinking about making a change.

Here’s the thing,  my two boys (ages 5 and are pretty healthy eaters.  They gobble up broccoli, spinach and whole wheat bread,  and my 5 year old is crazy about red bell peppers.  They’re also very active.  They play soccer, baseball and basketball.  This is where the change comes.

If you have children who play sports you know that after every game someone brings a “snack”.    That snack usually consists of a sugary juice box  and a bag of cookies or snack chips.   I’ve always found this a bit ridiculous.  I mean,  we get them out there to exercise ,  have fun and get healthy.  Then feed them garbage.  (Come on, they are not really burning that many calories in a 45 minute game in which they spend half the time picking grass.)

So, my resolution is to pack healthier half time/end of game snacks.  Maybe grapes in a baggie, or sliced oranges.  Will my kids get picked on?  Maybe.  Will they beg for the old snacks.  Absolutely.    But my job, as our First Lady rightly pointed out, is not to be the coolest Mom, but the one who cares enough to take charge.

Now, I’m not saying we should never have sweets.  How about we save it for the end of season party.  A  celebration cake perhaps.   Something the team can look forward to as a special treat.  Everything in moderation, right?

I hope other team parents will join me because together we can make a difference, and quite frankly alone, I just look like a mean Mom.

Thanks for your support.

An unusually strong upper level low pressure system in the jet stream level (around 20,000 feet) is the key to how much snow you get in your city.  The rule of thumb is rather simple for meteorologists.  The accumulating snow occurs along and north of the upper level low vorticity max.  This system is easily seen on current satellite images and is better seen on what we call “water vapor” loops.

The forecast is for this low to drop down from southwest VA toward Raleigh and then across Northeastern N.C. to a location near Knotts Island late today.  So draw a line from those locations northward and that’s where the snow will fall and stick.  The second rule to remember is the heaviest snows usually occur 40-100 miles north of the upper low track.  So I am expecting 1-3″ on the southside, 2-4 inches on the peninsula, 3-7 inches middle peninsula, northern neck and the northern part of the Eastern Shore.  Carolina will receive lesser amounts with little or none on the Outer Banks.

If the track of that low shifts even a bit…that can alter snowfall amounts and drastically impact travel for the better or worse depending on your location.  At this point it would be safe if everybody was home by 10-11am on the peninsula and 11am-12pm on the southside.

Meteorologist Jon Cash