We interrupt this regular programming...

Seismometer reading of today's Midwest earthquake...

Okay, I know I promised to have Easter pictures in the next post...well, I fell asleep on the sofa last night and then had a hard time going back to sleep, what with all the laundry staring me in the face in my bedroom! So I used my insomnia to get some work done and finally collapsed in bed for a couple of hours of sleep before starting my day. I had just gotten up about 30 minutes earlier to tell Mindy to turn off her obnoxious-set for 34 snooze hits-alarm and was in that zone of comfortably dozing, but not sound asleep. And then I heard it and FELT it! At first, it sounded like a stiff wind had hit the house...then the bed started shaking!!! And I don't mean a little! I couldn't figure out what was happening, but it was very surreal. It lasted about 15 seconds, and then the house gave one last creak over my head and the bed stopped moving. In reality, the entire HOUSE was shaking...the bed didn't move an inch from its spot. I shot out of bed and ran to the window, looking for the 747 that I was sure must have landed in our yard or the car that must have smashed into our house or the UFO that I really don't believe in but some people swear they saw two nights before (obviously, not in my clearest mind at 5:38 am). Of course, I saw nothing, and then I realized that it must have been an EARTHQUAKE! I flipped on the TV just in time to hear them saying something along the lines of "What the heck was THAT?" Then I called Dotty next door, just to make sure I wasn't having a particularly kinesthetic dream. She, too, said she had felt the bed shaking! I was a little shaky myself as I went to check on the kids and get Mindy up for school. When I told the big girls that we'd just had an earthquake, they gave me the moment of humor I needed. Mindy thought I had been shaking her bed to get her up for school. Abby thought Mindy was shaking her bed to get her up for school! I told them both their blonde was showing and that we'd had an earthquake! Then Caroline started crying, and that, ladies and gents, is how my day started. I'm wiped out!

My "not-so-happy" camper wakes up from the jolt!

The earthquake was a 5.2 on the Richter scale. Well, that just sounds dumb. What other scales for earthquakes are there? We did have an aftershock of 4.5 this morning. I was at work, and our ministry is in the old part of our building. We didn't feel anything. In the newer part of the building (about 15 years old), the church staff said things were visibly shaking! It was bizarre.

Taking a little snooze before heading off to school...

So you have here a couple of shots of Caroline's day...she really is NOT a morning person. She ended up dozing on my bed for about 20 minutes before I got her dressed. It didn't take much to put her out this morning. Mickey barely looked at her, and she was honked off. Of course, she is used to sleeping in till at least 8:30. Most school days I have to drag her out of bed. Let's just say that I was more than happy to deliver her to her class at church. She was pleasant enough during the day, but she saved her meltdown for Mommy, after school. We have our little routine with the staff kids after school. They come in and pick out a candy treat from the jar on my desk. Caroline LOVES this routine. Well, today she eyed the "Birthday Box", which happens to have "Fun Dips" in it. Somehow, we left that box at "eye" level. We had just chased another kiddo out of the box when Caroline spotted it. Yeah. She didn't handle rejection well. She threw a tee-totalin' fit! My friend, Michele, who absolutely adores Caroline and would stick her under her coat and take her home, was floored by the behavior of my Chinese princess. Me...not so much. We don't see it often, but around here we call it the "China Syndrome". For those of you who were along on our journey to China, physically or vicariously, you know what I mean.

After her tantrum, we hit the road for home...

If THAT picture doesn't say a thousand words...

And for the record, Mickey slept through the whole darn thing, and he wasn't very happy about it! Jon was out of town and somewhat dismayed, as well, to have missed the big event. I told him we were even. Back in 1987, I was at Camp Grayling, Michigan, for Annual Training with the National Guard, and I was the one who missed the earthquake.

I'm working on those Easter pics!

And wait till you see photos of "Snappy"!