Let me first say this — we really didn’t get much damage from the ice storm. We got a call from a church member while we were still out of town, though, about the tree we had lost. She told us it had come down with the ice, and we were ECSTATIC. We just knew it was the cottonwood tree, which is messy, a bit of a fire hazard, and just plain unattractive. We’ve been talking about getting rid of it ourselves as soon as the weather warms up. When we got home, we discovered that it was indeed the cottonwood tree… but that it was still standing. In fact, it’s probably healthier now than it was, thanks to the pruning it received thanks to the storm. It is, regrettably, a sturdy little tree. I have my doubts that a crew of chainsaws could tear it down. (And as you can see from the picture, the ice has melted. Woo!)

Anyway.

Clean up efforts continue around town and in the smaller communities nearby. While most of Duncan has power, our neighbors are still doing without. Wes is still working at the shelter in town and left at 5am this morning to go and help make breakfast for those who are there. He told me he had been designated the “Egg Man,” so I’m sure that right about now, he’s sick of the sight of scrambled eggs.

Today is Day Two of Emma’s Torture. I mean, Emma’s Potty Training. Honestly, I think she’s doing just as well (if not, dare I say, just a little bit better) than Ana was doing at this point in hers. But they’re different in their approach to it, which makes me wonder if Emma will actually end up taking longer than Ana did. Ana was terrified of the potty, but Emma has been using it regularly for the past few months. Once Ana got over her fear, she potty trained herself within a few days. Emma already knows what to do, but getting her to do it on her own initiative is like herding cats. Nearly impossible. Oh, well. I’m not as discouraged as I was with Ana, and I keep reminding myself that Em is YOUNGER than Ana was when she potty trained. So any progress right now (and she IS making progress) is great, and lack of progress is nothing to stress out over.

See? I have a great attitude about this! (It IS only Day Two, though. We’ll see what I’m saying a week from now.) I’ll try to refrain from constant potty posting. I promise!

In other news, Wes and I are anticipating better weather next week so that we can start running again. We seem to give it up during the colder months, but I’m starting to realize that wintertime is the worst time to stop. I gained five pounds over the holidays, lost them all before Disney World, and — you guessed it! — gained all five back on vacation. I know, five pounds isn’t much and there’s nothing more annoying than someone who really doesn’t have to lose weight talking about losing weight, but I know if I let five pounds hang around, I’m only a small step away from adding on more and more and more until I’m on The Biggest Loser and Jillian is yelling at me and making me cry. And, y’all, I have no deep, tragic issues from my past, so she would be on me all season long until I would finally have to make up something about how my parents never loved me (they did and do, actually) so that she would get off my back. It’s much easier to deal with five small pounds now than to go through all of that. If you’ve never seen The Biggest Loser, just trust me on that one.

Well, I better get going, as it’s time to start asking Emma (again) if she needs to go potty. She’s more than willing to go if I suggest it… but not so much if I don’t. I should probably draft plans now to spend the rest of my life by her side so that I can constantly ask her, “Do you need to go now? How about now?” Because I’m sure she’ll love that when she’s fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five, forty-five…

Hope you have a great weekend!