Shakey Shakey

Today we felt the strongest earthquake to hit a populated area of Southern California in a decade, a 5.4 centered in Chino Hills. We were at the Irvine spectrum getting lunch after the free kid's movie, sitting directly next to a floor to ceiling GLASS wall. My friend Maureen and I froze and then grabbed our kids and headed outside. I don't know if that was safer than getting under the table, but it seemed like the right thing to do. And, while I thought the kids might be frightened or excited, the only reaction from any of them was Luke crying for the return of his burrito.

My phone & e-mail was abuzz with everyone checking in on each other. It was entertaining to hear the stories: Will was in a swaying office building, my father-in-law was in an elevator, and one friend saw glass pickle jars fall and smash at the grocery store. My cousin's fiance was at Disneyland, where they shut down every ride resulting in a mass crowding of the lunch-time restaurants. My friend Jenny had just finished saying a prayer with her children when things started shaking--talk about an object lesson.

But the e-mail that made me laugh the most was this one from my friend Stephanie who was shopping in Costco, "You're either going to get squished by a pallet of sliced pears in #10 cans or by a hanging light fixture/big 'ol AC box in the center of the store. All the more reason to get a churro every time I go--at least I'll be squished with a happy sugar high." Amen to that.

And in other news:

This marks my 201st blog post.

We got our first e-mail from Dave today. Despite an interesting (read loud & annoying) comp., he's doing great.