I Survived a Hurriquake and the First Day of School-

It's true, this has been a busy week.  This past Tuesday I experienced my first earthquake.  EVER.  And let me tell you, this east coast girl was most definitely NOT amused when my 8th floor office (in a 10 story building) started rocking.  First it sounded like a freight train of wind was coming toward the building, but it was lovely and still and sunny outside.  Then when me and a handful of my coworkers had the sense to move away from the windows, we just stood there, staring at each other, first reassuring each other that yes, we believed this was definitely an earthquake (as opposed to a construction accident or a terrorist attack), and then realizing we didn't have a damn clue what the safest move was.  No sooner had we caught our breaths (is the building still shaking, or is that just ME shaking?) than we were told to get the hell outside by the building maintenance crew because who knows if the building will still stand up after all that anyway?  We sure don't design buildings for those events here...

Next came Irene.  Now we have been known to dabble in a hurricane in these parts on occasion, but it's not usually too big a threat other than high winds and heavy rain.  This time the predictions were a lot more apocalyptic, however, and we had plenty of time to think about it and be over-prepared.  Stocked up on water, wine, canned food, and junky snacks.  Knew where the flashlights were.  Charged the phones, gassed the cars, got some cash.  Even moved our social plans around to be lunchtime instead of evening.  AND I GOT MY WORKOUT IN.  :)  There were some trees behind our house that gave me a good scare around 4 in the morning in the most fierce of the wind, but they held on.  Good prep = no need, you can all thank me for that later.  I know there were places north and south of this area that got beat up pretty badly, but we were largely spared.  The fate of my parents' beach house is TBD, however, so keep your fingers crossed for us.

This morning was a really big one for me, a milestone that I've thought about for a long time coming, and that is my sweet boy's first foray into public school for first grade.  My angel boarded a yellow bus this morning, with a smile on his face, and I hate to wait and fret all day to see how it turned out.  The result?  He was all smiles and it seemed to be a good experience.  He even kept track of both his lunchbox AND his backpack.  Win.