As you all know, I like to be the center of attention. It’s why I began my own website dedicated to me and my family almost 15 years ago. It’s why I blog.

Yes, I’m quite the narcissist.

So what did I do this week? Well I stood not 30 miles from the epicenter of the rockin’ and rollin’ earthquake that rattled people up and down the eastern seaboard yesterday.

See what kind of dedicated person I am? Oh that’s right!

It started as this really gorgeous non-August like day here in Virginia. Couldn’t even tell that people kept flipping on the weather to see what Hurricane Irene might do to us this weekend. No, we were just basking in the glory that is awesome weather.

Just before 2 PM I laid down in my bed with my laptop. The plan: Check movie showtimes to see if there was something for me to watch while the kids viewed “Spy Kids 4” with friends. The next thing I knew, I was rumbling and shaking.

And this wasn’t the sort of shaking from my chihuahua that just jumped onto my water bed. That’s more like surfing. Even the windows rattled!

What happened was just this…

The house, to pitch

And suddenly the hinges started to unhitch

Just then…

The immediate thought – tornado! I slammed my laptop shut, and jumped out of bed. Pretty snazzy trick coming from a water bed! By the time I hit the door frame and could see out my living room window before I remembered, “Oh yeah, blue gorgeous skies and wonderful weather probably means no tornadoes”.

Then I thought, “No way this is a bomb. We wouldn’t feel anything in DC in Fredericksburg. Though I’m glad Megs isn’t in DC today!”

Finally it dawned on me… could it be? Yes! Earthquake!

And that was when the fear set in. Mostly because I knew that we’re long overdue for our regular “big one” and I’ve never experienced an earthquake. Let’s face it, earthquakes seem an everyday occurrence these days, and the devastation and constant aftershocks and the like? That’s a little freaky!

I yelled for the boys, “EARTHQUAKE! GET IN A DOOR FRAME!”

The boys called back from their bathroom, “It’s not a tornado? We already ran into here!” (Kudos to my boys for fast action!)

Now, do I go downstairs to be with them or stay upstairs? As we all know, I can’t navigate these crazy stairs in my split foyer when the earth is still… I stood at the top of the stairs, grasping the banister, and thinking “No freaking way am I going to try to go down those stairs.”

So instead I carried on a conversation with the boys while simultaneously watching stuff dance across my bookcases and china cabinet and looking out the window.

Soon, Terra became a little more Firma and we zipped about assessing the damage.

Sadly, we had one fatality in the Kingdom of Sir Megabyte:

Not knowing about possible aftershocks, I decided to leave the fallen stuff where it fell. Especially with the chance of high winds shaking the walls of the house this weekend in event of The Wrath of Irene, it just seems easier this way.

All in all, we’re just fine here in the little Kingdom of Sir Megabyte. That is what is important.

So far, the few aftershocks really left no effect on us. Thank goodness. I’ve noticed nothing at our house, so I have high hopes we’re good to go there.

And I’ll say the same thing I always say when something wacky like this happens:

This would be really cool… if I didn’t live here.

What can I say, that journalist inside of me lives for this kind of adventure. I just don’t want to have to worry about my family or my house. That is truly what scared me more than the shaking. Honestly, the shaking was a wee bit fun.

There seems some argument on if this quake was 5.8 or 5.9. All I know was, I didn’t think it would rank that high. All I know about earthquakes, I learned from TV. That quake in Christchurch, NZ was like a 6.0 or something! I know the Chili quakes in the 8.x range actually moved things like inches! Wow!

All I know is this was surely not something on my bucket list, but hey, I can cross off “Be in an earthquake” anyway, right?

So, how was YOUR Tuesday?  Bet it wasn’t near as exciting as mine! Wanna trade?

–Lady O