EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just finished editing this photo. It's taken me 4 trips and probably over 100 shots to get this one that I liked relatively well. This is a tough bridge.

"Who has turned on the washing machine?". That was my first thought at 4:37am this morning when I woke up to a weird noise? I have a front-loading washing machine and if you don't knock the spin cycle down to low, it feels as if the space shuttle is going to launch right from the middle of the house. Well, after a minute I realized my bed was shaking - and thought one of the kids was trying to crawl in with me. I was opening my mouth to gripe when I realized there wasn't any child around. So I looked on the floor next to the bed thinking they were shaking it from a dream (maybe?) with their foot. Nope. Then "AAAAHHHHHHH! EARTHQUAKE!!! came to mind as it dawned on me the bed was shaking pretty darn good, the windows were creaking, the blind cords and wands were swaying and there was a really weird whirring noise. Oh yeah, that noise is flippin' weird and creepy!! Once the shaking quit and noise stopped, it was even creepier as there was dead silence. You could've heard a pin drop from anywhere in the city. Totally creepy! Mike and the kids slept through it and I decided since the house didn't seem to be creaking anymore to go back to sleep and wait until morning to see what the heck happened. Turned on GMA at 7am and this was the lead story - must've been a slow news day. The quake registered at 5.2 magnitude, which was a downgrade from the original 5.4 they gave it to begin with. Looked around the house and it shifted a few things around like jewelry chests, photos, china and crystal - but no cracks in the walls or anything actually falling and breaking. Checked the gas lines, water heater, etc. - all looks good. Yippee!