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.

It Has Arrived!

The new-to-me oven has arrived. It is installed. I can begin baking now!

Our handyman friend, Eric, installed the new oven for us. We had to run across the street to Ace Hardware to get a part for it. Of course, we are having a frigidly cold day today and the snow is falling and blowing everywhere. Eric entertained String Bean on our walk by purposely sliding in the snow. Incessant giggles followed. One 88 cent part and we had no other snags.

I am looking forward to getting going with my holiday preparations now.

Snow Again

I was not around for the majority of snow this area has seen this winter, so I shouldn't really complain, but we've gotten a huge downfall again. I think we got an inch or two last night and then overnight and all day today it has been snowing equaling another 6ish inches. How is it that the snow plow has not arrived yet to clean up our parking lot?

Since the snow plow hadn't come yet, I went out with a shovel and cleared nice wide paths around our cars and put the excess snow in the middle of the parking lot for the plow to get. Now those people who park next to us better not push all the snow off their cars into our neatly shoveled parking spaces!

How much longer is winter?

Good or Great

The opinions below are that of Mandie and not necessarily endorsed by Amy.

Good: Chocolate
Great: Dark Chocolate

Good: Small amounts of snow
Great: Large amounts of snow that close everything down
(Bad: Snow that I have to drive in)

Good: Vacation Time
Great: Vacation Time with a destination that does not include a long drive

Good: Health Insurance
Great: Health Insurance with low deductibles

Good: Free Stuff
Great: Free Stuff you actually need and like

Good: E-mail
Great: Personal snail mail with good news

Good: Weekends
Great: Long Weekends

Do you have anything to add?

Snow Days

My dad was in the Marines and I lived in a lot of places, but for the purpose of this story, I grew up in North Carolina. Anyone who has ever lived in the south knows that when the snow falls there, the towns roll up their sidewalks, hang their "closed" signs and brace themselves for the worst. In fact, much like hurricane preparation, there is a run on food and beverages of all sorts at the grocery stores when snow is even predicted.

It is no surprise that as a child I got incredibly excited about the possibility of snow for two reasons: 1. we never got it, so it was a special treat and not guaranteed to stick around for long and 2. there was a 95% chance we would have a snow day!

I have distinct memories of getting up for school, seeing some white stuff falling and waiting impatiently in front of the television to see my school's name scroll across the screen. Fingers crossed. Then, the glorious moment would come and boy oh boy would my sisters and I rejoice. I think it drove my mother nuts.

Here I sit looking at the snow outside. It has pretty much ruined my plans for today. When did I grow out of the joy and excitement of snow days? Welcome to the Midwest.