5.4

So we had this rather large Earthquake yesterday. 5.4
The feeling was unreal and the feelings after it have been even crazier. I'm now on "Earthquake Watch". The whole episode lasted only 10 seconds, but the mortality that Mother Nature presented is lasting a hell of a lot longer.

Here's what happened. No worries. I'm not going into this big dramatic drama! It was everything that happened after the quake that was interesting.

I felt this slight rumble that felt like a train was passing by the building. Then a big jolt and lots of rolling and shaking. Things started to fall off of my desk. I ducked under my desk and held on. The ceiling lights were swinging and I just closed my eyes.

After it was over, our CEO was running through the office telling everyone to get out. Now, I wasn't exactly sure why. I know, it would seem rather obvious why but I was just in a daze. I grabbed my purse, my fallen pictures of the kids and left. EVERYONE was on their cell phones, but no one was getting through to anyone. I guess that this is very common after a quake, so to my family and friends: if you can't reach us right away, don't panic! Anyways, I was trying to call Ryan. I couldn't get a call through, but I was able to text him. It didn't occur to me right away to check on the kids. Again, I know! This would seem obvious to anyone, right? But I was dazed! My body still felt like it was shaking and for some reason I was just standing outside waiting for the ground to go into convulsions or something. So after sometime outside, my co worker and I left to go pick up the lunch that we ordered right before the quake hit.

We went and got our tacos (it was the weekly "Taco Tuesday" in our area!). The joint was empty, which was odd, but I figure that since the quake hit at lunch time, everyone was busy dealing with it. We grabbed our food and walked back to the car. I saw this couple staring out towards the hills. What are they looking at? I looked and didn't see anything. But then this huge German Shepard dog comes racing towards the restaurant. "Get in the car! Get in the car!" My co worker looked at me funny and then I screamed, "There's a dooooooog!". This dog was running full speed and barking. It looked like he was chasing something but there wasn't anything running from it. We jumped in the car and watched the dog pass right by us and run right into the busy street. "Don't look! DON'T LOOK!". We looked at each other for a few seconds and then back to the street that the dog ran across. Thank God the dog wasn't hit. That would have been one image that I would have had a hard time getting out of my head. When we left, we didn't see the dog at all. I don't know where the heck it went and I was confused that I couldn't see it. Man, that dog was spooked. Everyone says that animals sense natural disasters, and that dog was sensing something.

That was the main thing that spooked me out for the rest of the day - The dog chasing nothing. I've never seen an animal so spooked and I felt like someone was trying to show me something or tell me something. I took that sign seriously.

It was hard trying to make it through the rest of the day. Any little rattle that I heard sent my heart racing. Someone that was walking past my cube wall bumped it and I almost pissed myself. Taking phone calls was impossible. I couldn't talk.

Ryan didn't feel the quake like I did. To him, it was just some shaking in his chair and he saw a few co workers getting under their desks. By the time he realized what was going on, it was over. He called later with the news that the trains have been shut down since they were inspecting the tracks. I would need to drive to Burbank to pick him up and get the kids from school. Fine with me! I left work to get the kids.

Aislynn and Tyler thought completely different things of the Quake. Aislynn was scared. In her own words: There was a monster banging on the windows. I got scared and went under the table! Tyler: That was AWESOME! Teacher said that the Earth moved!

Once home, I was able to check out our place which seemed untouched. We have stacks and stacks of boxes all over (we're moving on Thursday!). It didn't occur to me that they could have toppled over and flattened my dog. Thank Heavens that nothing happened. Nothing fell of any shelves.

It was the only thing that the news stations covered. The kinda cool thing was that they were showing footage of shows that were taping when the quake hit: People's Court, Big Brother, and a couple other ones. The People's Court was amusing. You could totally tell that the plaintiff and the defendant weren't from Earthquake Country. They just stood there as the whole room started shaking and while everyone else started running out of the studio.

So that's my "aftershock". I'm still on edge and I'm sure that I'll have another day of waiting for the shakes and the jolts. Anyone got a Valium?

It's BRITNEY, Bitch!

And she is looking great!
WTG girl. The world may not understand you, but who gives a shit?!?!

Dirty Cell Phone? CLEAN IT UP!

When do you talk on your cell phone?

In the car?
In your home?
While shopping?
While taking a shit?

I have come to notice that there is an abundance of people who think that it's perfectly okay to bring not only their cell phone into the toilet, but to bring their conversation in there as well. Seriously? It's one thing to have to sit and listen to the echos of what your stall mate is talking about to the person on the other end, but for sanitary reasons, this is just wrong. It's gross.

Next time I'm in the stall next to you and I hear you chatting on the phone while you are dropping the Cosby kids off at the pool, you are going to be in for a surprise. I'm going to do one of two things:
Sing very loudly in my stall. The acoustics are great in a bathroom

or

I'm going to make the most obnoxious farting and gas-like noises that I can with my hands to my mouth, or my mouth to the crook of my elbow (I'll probably use the elbow because it's a bathroom and I should keep my hands away from my mouth).

I'm going to do this until you leave the bathroom and take your dirty self somewhere else. Go outside and have your conversation. We live in a fucking state that has sunshine 360 days of the year. Enjoy the sun.

'Nuff said.

Mid Life Crisis?

I need to figure out wtf I want to do with myself. Mainly it's work. Love my job, but is it what I really want to do? What DO I really want to do? I'm the "jack of all trades" when it comes to crafting. I can do a little bit of everything. Sewing, jewelry, scrapping,knitting and photography. My realy love is photography. Could I make a living doing this? I don't know. Do I want to try to make some money doing this? I don't know. I have shot many events in the last few months for work and I have always gotten really great feedback. But is this something that I want to do? 5 years from now, will I still be in love with it? I don't know.

I asked Ryan: "If you could be anything (career wise) what would you be doing?"
Ryan: "NBA Star"

Okay. That's not much help. We have tossed around the idea of opening a boutique. Ryan was all excited about it and now he never mentions it.

I just don't want to look back 10 years from now and wish that I would have done something different. AS Ryan climbs up the corporate ladder, I look at him and wonder if this is something that he WANTS to do or if it is something that he HAS to do... Are we programmed to think that we have to work a corporate job and then grasp a false feeling of satisfaction when we have one? Now, I know that he cannot be a basketball star, but it makes me think that maybe he should be doing something that surrounds sports or something.

I'll chew on this for a while. I have to get ready for my desk job.

Home Sick - Vomiting in a Bucket

I'm home sick.
Being in California you forget the excitement of Summer since the weather is BEAUTIFUL all year round. Well, except for our Winters. We do get some rain for a few days here and there. But hey, I'll take it.

Back in Illinois, Summer marked many things. First, there was the confirmation that it will not snow. Some may laugh, but it's the truth. Spring tends to be the most exciting season for many people in different parts of the country, but in Chicago you could easily bet a buck that it would snow in April, or that you will have to wear a sweater in May. Then you get rain, rain, rain, rain. Which creates a smell of mud and worms that I wish to not remember.

Then comes the 4th of July. It's THE official start of Summer in my opinion. The BBQs, the parties, swimming, baking in the sun, the humidity (not my favorite part). Ahhh yes. You have not experienced humidity if you haven't been to Chicago when it's 90+ degrees with 90+ humidity. Okay, if you've been in a rain forrest you have but that's not what I'm after.

So to all my loved ones back in the MIDWEST, hold your Miller Lites high and have a toast to the California girl who misses you all more now then anything. Wipe your sweating brow and blow a kiss! I'll be back soon...

Testing, testing

I guess that through the power of technology I'm able to post to my blog through my phone. I'm hoping that this will work. Then I can just post random crap when ever I feel like it. No more waiting until I get home! No more random post it notes stuck all over the inside of my purse. Waa hoo!

MAR

Vacation = Pink Eye

Not me. The Dog.
Nasty. I spent the last 20 minutes carefully combing out clumped up dried eye gook out of his left eye. The clump was huge and at one point I was gagging so hard that I had to stop and regroup.

He seems to be much happier now that he can see out of his eye. There's no big pile of gook blocking his vision.

Off to wash my hands... with bleach. The last thing that I want is pink eye from a damn dog.

"So, how was your vaca....Oh HELL! What is wrong with your EYE?!?!"

Jess, have fun drinking that shit for your glucose test. May God be on your side that you don't have any morning sickness. I had such a hard time keeping it down and was gagging at the smell. But then again I had morning sickness up until the end of my 7th month or something. *hug* (I don't know if that's for you or for me.)

MAR

Vacation = Stress

I'm on vacation. This meaning that I filled out a little sheet requesting a couple days off and had it signed by a higher up. So I'm now on vacation. And as I sit on my couch watching I Love Lucy, I realize that I'm stressed. Do I start packing for the move at the end of the month? Do I clean up the neglected mess of a house? Or do I just sleep for a few hours because thinking of doing everything else that I'm suppose to be doing is making me feel like I need to vomit? I'm starting to see that taking a vacation day with out having anywhere to actually go makes no sense. You see, I can't just sit back and relax. That would be a waste of a day and if I'm at work, then that is a good enough excuse to not get anything done around the house. I've been up since about 6:15 AM. Dropped the kids off at school at 8, ate a sandwich and felt the stress tell my body that the sandwich was a foreign object. So I slept. Now it's 12:45 PM and I haven't gotten a damn thing done. I'm MORE stressed out because I feel like I have wasted 1/2 the day.

*sigh*. That's enough whining for now. And yes, I would like some cheese with it.