: Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Baby, it's cold outside! We've been hit with a nasty ice storm. We had thunder and rain all evening yesterday, and all night too. Then it dropped below freezing and poof! Everything has a nice protective ice coating. I took a few photos outside the apartment this afternoon. (You can click the images to see them full sized.)

This is the huge tree right in front of our balcony.

And this is the same tree giving the neighbor's car a nice big hug. It's hard to tell in this photo, but every leaf and every branch is encased in about a half inch of solid ice. The branches are so weighed down that they surrounded the neighbor's car and then froze to it.

Tree Popsicle. Yummy!

This broken tree stands in the yard next door, and it was rude enough to litter that branch right in the middle of our driveway.

These are some more broken trees next door. This is minor compared to the huge branches lying all over town. I saw pictures on the local news website of trees that were split straight down the middle and laid over like a banana peel.

We were very lucky to not lose power. (Knock on wood!) I was one of very few that showed up for work today. A lot of my co-workers live out of town or have kids whose schools were closed. It didn't really matter, though, because business was pretty slow today anyway. It's supposed to be even colder tonight. I'm dreading tomorrow just a little.

On another subject, I found out last night that my Mommy-Ears have grown in. I have always been a very heavy sleeper. When I was a kid, my dad always worried because he could set off the smoke detector right outside our rooms, and my sister and I would sleep right through it. I even fell out of the top bunk bed once and my dad picked me up and put me back in it and I never even knew it happened. Last night--or should I say insanely early this morning--I was awakened by the softest little "thump, thump." I sat up in bead instantly, and looked over toward the cradle only to see Nathan crawling right toward me. He's finally figured out how to climb out of the cradle. I knew it was coming. We're just going to have to set up the crib. I knew he was getting way too big for that little cradle, but I was hoping we'd be moved before we had to set up the crib. I remember when he was so tiny you could've fit six of him in that cradle. Wow, how the time does pass!

He's getting so big. He's walking more and more. It's still usually a flurry of quick little listing steps. It's like he says, "I gotta go fast or I won't make it!" He's also figured out how to climb up into Daddy's chair. I was so proud of him. He pushed a box of wipies in front of the chair and climbed right in. My adorable little couch potato!