we had an earthquake last night. 3.2. those of you in or from CA are laughing, but get this: we were ON TOP of it. the epicenter was horseshoe pond, and that is basically next to our pond. it was at 11:30, i had just turned off the lights and there was this incredible--and i mean incredible--BOOOOOMMM!!! if someone had told me a plane had just crashed in our front yard, i would have believed them. and everything shuddered violently for about 2 seconds. and then quiet. like no other earthquake i had experienced. it was like the ground literally cracked open under us.
the kids never noticed it. of course, when i told ava about it, that prompted an all day discussion of earthquakes. the questions never ceased. she is incredible. she must know EVERYTHING there is to know about something. you cannot just say, "oh, an earthquake is when the ground shakes." or "mommy is going to do some work now" or "we are going to go to the airshow"--or you will be me with "why? where in the ground? how far down in the ground? do things get damaged? is it dangerous? do other people have earthquakes? is it like thunder?" and "what work? for whom? why? do you have to email? is it important? do you have to go to a meeting?" and "what planes are going to be there? will the hurt-helicopter be there? (lifeflight) Can they save someone that has been stung by a jellyfish? how do they help people in the water? what color is the emt's life jacket?..." and she will not stop until she is completely satisfied that she understands. when i told her about michaela standing in the red ant's nest, she had to know every detail, down to what kind of medicine she had to put on the bites later that evening.
in other news, carter may not talk, but he sure can count--he tripped and fell today, then he did it again about 20 minutes later, and i said "carter, you did it again!" and he looked at me, smiled, and held up his 2 index fingers and nodded.
we had an all day marathon today--up, get ready--pack diaper bag, sippy cups, snacks, bikes, helmets, skate bag, wallet, computer, and files, drive to the grocery store (45 minutes--it eats up a lot of time), shop, drive into lake placid, get the bikes and bike helmets out of the car, ride bikes in the speed skating oval in lake placid, bring bikes back to car, change carter's diaper, put him in the car seat while i load the bikes and helmets in the car, get skate bag, more snacks and sippies, and warm clothes for the rink, get carter out of car, walk to skating rink with carter and ava and rolling skate bag (thank god for wheelie bags), go upstairs to the '32 rink, get ava out of summer clothes and into skating clothes while carter runs all over the place, retrieve carter 50 million times and ask him to sit quietly, finally get ava into tights, leg warmers, skating dress (very cute), skates, gloves and helmet, bring carter, bag and geared-up ava into cold rink, hand ava off to skate coach, chase carter around stadium seats of rink for 1/2 hour, retrieve ava, repeat the process of dressing ava, but in reverse, pack everything up, go downstairs and walk to car. drive home, tell stories about earthquakes while carter sleeps in car, pull into driveway, leave kids in car and unload groceries, put perishables away (as if they weren't already spoiled and/or melted), brush teeth, grab more snacks, and drive 1/2 hour to dentist's. mom in dentist chair first, then ava, went smoothly, then drive to nana's. have a cup of tea. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. say thank you, drive home, get ready for bed, discuss earthquakes some more, put the nonperishables away, feed the dog, the guinea pig and the fish, make a good night snack, put the kids to bed. go to work.
and that is where i am now--going to work and not writing another word!
