The times they are a shakin'

Lately I'm looking more and more like the Old Woman Who Lived in the Shoe: Frazzled, surrounded by children...that's really all, though. I guess that was a bad analogy. I'm so tired I can't come up with anything better.

Since returning from vacation, we've been working hard to expunge any inappropriate resurgence of Vacation Ethan, but it's been difficult because our house seems to have been cursed by the anti-sleep fairy. None of us are sleeping well, Ethan's been waking up at least once almost every night, etc. It is a season of change, of course. Back to school, which affects Noah and his schedule, and which actually affects Ethan and me as well. Although not traditionally, for this semester I'm taking a hiatus from school. Partially because Noah will be leaving for bootcamp next month (!) and I'll be single momming it up in here, and partially because my biannual urge to Take A Principled Stand against the school (which is as user-friendly as a midcentury telephone switchboard) is now justified by what I consider exorbitant and ultimately prohibitive tuition increases. That being said, I'm disappointed.

I'm directly affected by the school season, though, because my friend Heather is also going back to school, and I've offered to keep her darling girl, Ava. Ava is 1.5 years old, gorgeous, and very laid back. Basically she's better behaved and less trouble than Bonnie. I'm thinking of dressing the Bonster in some of Ava's clothes and trying to send her home with Heather instead. Today, though, I also have my nephew Grayson while his Mommy's at work saving lives (nurse). SO. I have THREE kids today, and two dogs, and less than seven hours of sleep under my belt.

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In other news, we had an earthquake yesterday (Duh, it's news everywhere). We're a couple hundred miles from the epicenter in Virginia, but for me—a seasoned earthquake survivor—I knew exactly what it was. Thought it was a strong gust of wind at first, the way the house groaned and listed, but when it didn't stop and the couch I was sitting on began to move beneath me, I was quite excited.

I haven't been in a discernible earthquake since we lived in California, the land of epic 'quakes (that's what people in the know call them). If you don't know what an earthquake feels like, the simple answer is: like nothing else.

There are different sensations, depending on the quake, as well. While things in your house will shake, typically the ground feels more like it's moving in tiny concentric circles, or sometimes it even feels like it's rolling the way a small wave does.

This one was so small for us that people driving didn't even know it happened, and my dogs didn't even react. Which, considering Cody's issues with irrational fear and frequent experiences of temporary dementia, is really saying something.