Earthquake!

At 4 am, Mr. Bean and I both woke up. I only knew he was awake because I heard him gasp in response to the low rumble and shaking of our home. It was a surreal moment where I was processing what exactly was happening as I fell asleep. "Earthquake!" went through my mind, but by the time I woke up, I had dismissed the notion thinking it was all a dream. Sure enough, I heard on the news that an earthquake had indeed hit the Chicago-land area.

Mr. Bean grew up in Japan which means he has lived through his fare share of earthquakes. This also explains his gasp in the midnight hours. What we experienced was mild, but certainly brought up the appropriate fear of an impending natural disaster in his mind. He told me he considered that perhaps a snow plow had hit the building, but dismissed that after the shaking went on long enough. (I should mention we were in the middle of a large snow storm during the earthquake!)

While the earthquake we experienced in the Chicago-land area was no where near the severity of the earthquake that hit Haiti in January, it was a surprise and shock for all of us here. We just don't expect this kind of event in Chicago!

My sister lives in northern California and has been regularly experiencing earthquakes the last few months. I just had to update my facebook status to let her know she was not the only earthquake survivor in the family. My grandmother's response was, "What is it with you sisters that causes earthquakes????"

For those who are wondering, String Bean slept through the entire episode.

Practical Jokes

I was reminded today of the day my sister tried to prank me for getting her into trouble. In all fairness, she deserved it. My dad told her to do a chore and she turned around and told me that dad told her to tell me to do it, and I did it. Then dad thanked her at dinner for doing said chore. Imagine my surprise!

Well, I said tried to prank me and here's what she did:

• Saran wrapped the toilet. Unfortunately, she didn't do it tight enough and it just fell in when I...uh...went.
  
• Rubber band around the kitchen sink sprayer. Well, let's just say my dad discovered it before I did.
  
• Short-sheeting my bed. I got in and recognized the problem, yanked on my sheets and went to sleep, She didn't do it right.
  

Not understanding why I was getting pranked when she's the one who pranked me in the first place, I got her back.

• First, I snunk into her room after she was asleep and set her clock forward by several hours; when she thought she was getting up at 7 am, it was really 3 am.
• Second, I set my alarm to be up 5 minutes before hers went off.
• When I got up, I went into the bathroom and steamed it up with hot water. I listened for her alarm to go off and put a towel on my head and crept down the hall.
  
• I told my sister a whopper about our older sister being sick and not going to school that day.
  
• I went back to bed and locked my door--just in case.

I found out the next morning that my sister had gotten up, showered, dressed, eaten breakfast and watched TV. Mind you, she passed multiple clocks that were set correctly by this point. It wasn't until she was getting ready to go out to catch the school bus that she realized it was 3 something in the morning. Mwaha ha ha ha!

Don't mess with me, Holly.

What's left to do

Don't forget to sign up for our giveaway which ends Monday, December 8 at noon!

I'm nearly ready for Christmas. Go ahead and throw tomatoes. There are a few things I have left to do before I can sit back and enjoy all the holiday has to offer.

I have 3 addresses left to find. (Wade and Jenni, Nicolette, and Kurt and Jen if you are reading this, get them to me pronto.) Once I have all the addresses, phase one of getting the card out is finished. Phase two involves folding the Christmas newsletters I so lovingly wrote (that Mr. Bean hasn't bothered to photocopy for me, yet). Phase three is writing "May your days be merry and bright, and my all your Christmases be white," or something like that in each of the cards. Phase four is putting the photos in the envelopes sealing, stamping and dropping them off at the post office. Lucky for me that I got an e-mail from CVS today telling me those photos are on their way to my local store! I'm excited because I got the prints for 10 cents each. I so totally rock.

I have to finish shopping for Mr. Bean and String Bean. I have one stocking stuffer for String Bean. That's it. You'd think this kid would make a list of what she wants for Christmas. Is that asking too much of a 12 month old? I don't think so. Maybe she'll just get an extra donation to her college fund this year...and the cell phone stocking stuffer so my cell can be mine again. Mr. Bean made me a whopping list of one item. I guess he knows what he's getting. No surprises under the tree this year.

Mr. Bean is one of those "Christmas babies", so I have a birthday to shop for. I already got him tickets to the Bears Jaguars game on Sunday, but that is a bit anti-climatic to have your birthday present 11 days before the big day. So, I'll get him something small to go along with it. My sister, Holly, is a Christmas baby, too, but I got her gifts (Christmas and birthday) mailed to California earlier this week.

I have to wrap about half the gifts I bought. The other half, including those for my parents dog, Leia, and cat, Mango, are already wrapped and in my closet. I suppose I should bring them out and put them under the tree.

That's about it. Today is December 3rd. I'm doing pretty well. How about you? What do you have left to do this season?

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Don't forget to enter our giveaway which ends 11/30 at noon!


My sister, Holly, just discovered a new galaxy! She knows it is a new galaxy because, "its coordinates aren't listed in the tome of known celestial bodies."

Holly's taking solicitations for names. If you've got an idea, we'd love to hear it!

For you astronomy buffs, its "address" is RA: 1hr 50min 36sec; DEC: 10' 50.