Help! It's icing outside!!

Today's post brought to you by...Guy's Snacks. Be Wise, Buy Guy's. Why? Because they were invented by no one other than Guy CALDWELL of KANSAS City, of course. It's too bad they're kind of gross...and if you go to their website (www.guys-snacks.com), you'll see a gnome saying things like, "You're best T-shirt should never be so expensive that it can't double as a napkin" and "Think of it less as a spare tire and more as a built-in TV tray." All of this next to some pink flamingos. I've never been more proud to be a Caldwell...and a Kansan!

On the way to driving Abby and her friend, Emma, to Joyschool today, it was icing. No, not snowing. Not raining. ICING. That's right--it was "raining" down little pellets of ICE. It felt like little teeny pins were falling on you. And if I weren't so tough, I might even say it hurt a little to be outside. (Sniff.) Fortunately, I'm tough enough that I would never say that...at least out loud. The roads were HORRIBLE as usual because this is Kansas' way of "plowing" the roads, if they do anything at all:

Don't lower the plow enough that it actually TOUCHES the road, just clear off the top 1/2" or so of snow so it makes a good, thick layer of ice. And every once in a while drop a pile of sand so if drivers aren't sliding on ice, they'll be sure to skid on too much sand.

So KU cancelled classes after 1:00 p.m. today for the second time in two weeks. The last time KU cancelled classes was when it snowed...ready for this?...FIVE INCHES. Yep, you read right--a big 5! To celebrate, Abby and I went out and tried to make a snowman, but the snow wasn't wet enough to pack very well. She did, however, make lots of snow angels and had fun helping me shovel the driveway.

It must be a record year here in Kansas as far as weather goes. Last Sunday, they even cancelled church. It was on my Relief Society lesson day, too! It was a Kansas miracle! Have I ever mentioned how much I love living here? No?! Well, it was a Kansas Miracle Day. How could I not?

And, holy cow, has it been cold! When I left to take Abby to Joyschool (at 12:30 p.m.) it was a cozy 18 degrees, but with the humidity and the wind, it was a whopping 9 degrees. And that's not celsius! Blake called me when he was walking to school yesterday (at 6 degrees) and asked me if it's possible for an ear to break off after freezing. I said, "I don't think so." Blake: "Oh, O.K., I'll just try to melt it back on then."

On December 11th, we had our first ice storm since moving here. Apparently, ice storms occur when it starts to rain, but the ground and everything else is so cold, the rain immediately freezes on contact with whatever it lands on. Blake stopped at the grocery store the night before it was forecasted to arrive, and he said people were piling up their grocery carts with tons of food. We were told by our neighbor that a few years ago, an ice storm left 2 inches of ice, and power was out for five days in some areas. Luckily, we only ended up with about a half inch of ice accumulation. It was very pretty to look outside and see icesicles on everything.