Shake things up

(Written at 8:23am)
Last night Julia could hardly sleep. She woke me up 3 times last night with one excuse after another, but she finally said, "I'm so excited for school I can't sleep!" No kidding. This morning Julia popped out of bed and was dressed in a jiffy. Though that kind of energy will wear off quickly it was fun to see so much responsiveness early in the morning.

Arriving at school early, I asked if I could walk her in and she agreed even posing for a fast picture. But when Julia and her friends spotted each other in the hall she asked, "Mommy, can I walk with my friends to the gym?" As soon as the word escaped my lips, I got a quick goodbye kiss and all I saw were the back of 3 precious bob haircuts walking away. No photo by her locker. No photo of her with her amigas. Instead of tears, I found a huge smile on my face. I nearly skipped out of the school building. This is the fun part of being a parent. Rejoicing in their happiness, independence and sense of security. And knowing you had a little something to do with it. Jujube is going to have a great year!

(Written at 9:44pm)
Well if I had waited to write the blog upon my arrival from work, it would have been a whole different entry. I certainly don't want to forget the way I was feeling this morning, exhausted, but on top of the world so I'm leaving it as is. Now I'm exhausted from the events of the quake, the Braxton-Hicks and taking care of patients.

Around 1:50pm as my friend and I were wrapping up our lunch break outside at the picnic table by the train tracks we felt the ground shaking, heard rumbling and looked at each other in alarm. Our initial thought was a train derailing and heading towards us. Amy grabbed my arm and pulled me to the middle of the parking lot. It wasn't till I looked up at the apartment building next door that I realized we were in the middle of an earthquake. Of course phone lines were tied up, but I received email quickly that CCS had evacuated the students and were beginning immediate dismissal. They were not allowed to go back into the school and were sent home without their personal belongings. Julie was on it before the email was sent and already headed to CCS to pick up Julia. I will admit that I had a fleeting thought in that earthquake moment that the second coming was here and forgive me Lord, but in a split second I was mad that I was not with my family if that was the case. I know...I know! Sinful, flawed human, party of one.

I was eager to talk to Julia all afternoon and knew I would get home late so I called at bedtime. She was less concerned about the quake and more concerned about lunch tomorrow.

Julia, how was your day? What happened?
Oh, we had to go outside since the desks were shaking.
Really, what was it like?
I had to leave my lunchbox so mommy, can I bring my lunch in a disposable bag tomorrow?
Sure. Tell me what happened. Did you hear anything?
No, but you know what? Ms. Ciccarone said that if we do things to make her happy then we get a ticket and put our name on it and at the end of the week, we put it into a bag and 3 winners are picked, and...

Julia rattled a long description about the positive reinforcement and I realized that a 5.9 earthquake (who's epicenter is a mere 30 miles from where we live) felt from Georgia to Canada to a 6 year old was not as exciting as earning prizes in 1st grade as well as ensuring safe food transportation & storage.

MFS said the extent of the effects at our house was mail spilled on the floor. Our friends in Louisa County had a little more cleaning up to do with clothes, broken glass and odds and ends knocked to the floor. I am very thankful that our family and friends in the surrounding area are safe and no major damage was done. So thankful that I am going to daily Mass tomorrow morning after school drop-off to offer it up.

Surely, I am forgetting something, but this mama is dog-tired and ready to put this day to rest. God bless and be safe everyone!