Because.It.Is.Ridiculous

In One week:

Tuesday, 8/23: Earthquake struck pretty far south of us in VA.

Saturday, 8/27-8/28: Hurricane Irene ripped through the East Coast starting in the Carolinas.

I guess God felt my life was a bit too boring for my liking!

The earthquake was bizarre. We were outside the library and I was putting Michael in his carseat. I felt the ground shake back and forth, like I was in a crowded bouncy house. I thought it was just a train coming through (which I have N-E-V-E-R seen before on these railroad tracks right by the library). It stopped and I went on with my life. I paused to think - hey, it might be an earthquake.

And then I thought, "No, that's just reserved for Californians."

Luckily, Bill called me and said, "Hey, you OK?"
Me: "Yea, why?"
Bill: "Because an earthquake just hit VA"
Me: "Well, THAT explains a lot."

Then, the first hurricane to hit the upper east coast in I don't know how many years - decided to do it this weekend.

Brian was supposed to get in at 5:00pm from Pittsburgh on Friday. Only his flight was delayed to 10:30pm. I told him that he had BETTER get here before 8:00am otherwise, he'd be stuck in Pittsburgh because of the impending hurricane on Saturday afternoon. Luckily, Brian didn't have to rent a car at 11:00pm and he made it back to PA to whether the hurricane with us. WHEW.

Poor Michael - he had a basket case of a mother - and I was short and curt - as I can be when I am stressed out and going on very little sleep. He started to cry because I was using my "stressed out" tone with him, but then I told him what was going on. I explained that Mommy was really stressed out because now I had to do all the big outdoor things to secure the house for the storm and also get the neighbors boys to help me with the heavy stuff. I was really upset and I wanted to cry too (AND I DID in the car - but I wasn't about to admit that in front of him), but he really needed to calm down, be a big boy, and help. Because sometimes, we have to do that and be brave.

And he calmed down and understood. What a moment that was for me as a mother. Where did my little baby go?

To be honest - Brian's delay at the airport was just ONE of the stressors of that Friday. I am not going to go into the other ones - like my breaker tripping out the electricity in the garage/kitchen and my neighbor having to show me A)what that looks like and B) how to fix it since my fuse box is not correctly labeled - or having to reschedule my ordering session with a client because of Brian's schedule - or the fact that Brian was gone ALL week.

SO far, Hurricane Irene did not down any trees. I am waiting for the ground to firm up a bit more and a couple of sunny days to go by before I make the final verdict. But I am very thankful that God kept our family, our home, and our neighbors safe.

Got all ready for Michael's first day of school tomorrow - and it was cancelled.

VOILA. At least I am ready for the real first day of school!

And might I add - for all the forms for Michael's school - I am not going to go into how many times I had to write my name, Brian's name, Michael's name, address, and phone number.

I read something that said if you didn't want your kids to whine - to look in the mirror first. If I whine about stuff - he's going to too. So I have a lot of self-improvement to work on.