I got punk'd and freezing rain

Potty training is still going, but not that well. Maryn isn't at the point where she can actually tell me that she needs to go. She either tells me while she's going or immediately afterwards. So I'm not sure that she is developmentally ready. Plus, we have not gone "cold turkey", I still put a diaper on her when we left the house yesterday and while I was gone this morning and the kids were home with dad. I'm not sure where to go from here. So don't worry Michelle, it doesn't look like she's quite ready, Zane may still beat her. I recently acquired this book from a local used book sale for only $.50, so maybe I should crack it open.

The following is the story of one 30 minute increment of my day yesterday. I was at the kitchen counter attempting to mix together dough for a pie crust, I was using my hands, so they were covered in flour and butter. Seth was in our adjacent living room making a Christmas card for his friend, Elijah. I was spelling words for him letter by letter (as patiently as possible). He kept getting lost especially on the long words like "Christmas" and "Elijah". Maryn pushed one of our chairs up to the counter so she could watch me and "help" by sticking her fingers in my dough and handing me everything I didn't need. Where was Jonas you ask? Who knows? Hopefully not climbing up the stairs, his new favorite pastime. Maryn said "Mommy I wanna poop in the potty" (this is what she always says whether it's #2 or not) just as she "goes". Her undies and socks are soaked and it's dripping down onto the kitchen floor, Seth is still trying to spell "Christmas", Jonas has reappeared and is heading straight for the new puddle, and my hands are still caked with flour/butter paste. Seriously, It was a moment out of a sitcom, although I don't think any team of writers could have recreated this chaos. I was expecting Ashton Kutcher to appear at any moment. I know you are all on the edge of your computer chairs wondering "what did she do?". Well I'll tell you- I did the following things in a matter of seconds: wrapped up the pie dough in plastic and put it in the fridge, washed the goop off of my hands, stripped Maryn down and wiped up the huge puddle. I then ran upstairs with Maryn and threw her in the bath and asked Seth to watch Jonas and make sure he didn't climb up the stairs after me. Just as I was finishing up with Maryn, my sister called. Seth brought the phone up to me but I made him tell her I would call her back. He stayed on the phone with her for a few minutes and it took me that long to realize that the three of us were upstairs together. Where was Jonas, you ask? Who knows? I left Maryn partially dressed and raced to the staircase to find Jonas almost at the top. So I brought him upstairs with me and finished with Maryn. We now had about 20 minutes before we were leaving to meet Jon for dinner. I'll spare you the rest of the specifics, just know that we all made it to dinner- dry, dressed, unharmed and on time.

And now onto the freezing rain. Last week at playgroup, the other moms were talking about how horrible it is, you can't open you car doors, you can't get your keys into your locks. This morning I left my house at 8 am to go and buy some pecans for a pie I was making to take to a party at 11 am. It was cold and cloudy outside, but there wasn't even any ice on my windshield. Later when I left the house at 11 (I was running late already), I noticed it was raining as I opened my front door. After I took two steps, I almost slipped (in my new boots). I realized that my entire concrete walkway (of seven stairs) was coated in ice. I made it to my van a saw that it too was covered in ice. I got out the ice scraper and started trying to clear off my windshield, remember it's still raining and I'm wearing slippery boots. I finally was able to scrape off a little window, get inside and back out only to feel an unfamiliar sliding motion. I got really scared and almost stayed home, but decided to go ahead. The house I was going to was just down the street and around the corner, how bad could it be? I made it to the party house without causing an accident but almost slipped as I tried to walk on the sidewalk. Inside all the ladies were talking about how bad the roads were and someone mentioned that stake conference had been cancelled for the evening. I have never been so afraid to drive home in my life. After actually slipping and falling on my rear while leaving the house, I made it home without incident.

If any of you readers out there in blog land have made it this far, congratulations. I have one more little story to share. The party I went to was an ornament exchange, the first I've ever participated in. It was really fun and a good way to get craft ideas. I was working on my ornaments (I made cinnamon ornaments and then decorated them with ribbon and beads and stuff) last night while watching Oprah and Howie. Jon came upstairs from the basement and said "Wow, those actually look really good!"

What's that supposed to mean, Jon?