Wild Ride

The earthquake we experienced on Tuesday, along with the aftershocks, reminded me so much of our days living in Southern California in the mid 80's.  I quickly recalled what that unmistakeable shaking was but had to "shake" off my disbelief that we were having an earthquake in VA.  The epicenter was about 30 miles south of us and it really shook us here! Fortunately, we didn't have any damage, but I cleaned up a lot of books that fell off shelves, drawers and cabinet doors opened, linens and fabrics fell off shelves, but nothing broken!  The classy looking ladies at the hair salon turned into world class sprinters as we all headed for the door of the salon while the ground shook.  It was amazing to see women in various states of "hair do" sprint for the door and then hang out in the parking lot with their protective smocks on and hair all foiled up for color and highlights.  We're lucky it wasn't worse.
Speaking of worse, the hurricane affectionately known as Irene is heading up the coast.  It's scheduled to make landfall in NC tomorrow and work its way up to NYC and beyond.  We'll get smacked by that to a lesser degree than those closer to the coast.  What a week with an earthquake and a hurricane!  It's a wild ride and we're not through it yet.
It's all good and yes, it's a wild ride!

Making a difference

My kids have lead me a lot of places, the most interesting to date is to the ranks of Military Mom.  When our oldest son left college to enlist in the Marine Corps I couldn't breathe.  It was so hard to "allow" my young adult son to choose danger, run willingly towards it, accept the charge of military members to die if necessary for our country.  When asked if he could be talked out of joining the Marines, my son clearly said, "I want to make a difference" and he sure has.
His decision has changed him in so many ways that are good, but the adjustment for me has been interesting.  When he left for boot camp I searched for support from other military moms and found the Virginial Military Families based in Fredericksburg.  This group of ladies invited me to their monthly dinner and got me breathing and even laughing again.  They hugged, listened, and taught me that life can go on.  They encouraged me, they shared stories of their active duty sons and daughters, and they were consistent.  These women are amazing and are bound by intense love for their own children and the need for support if the unthinkable should happen.  Tragically it does.
One of my friends lost her son, a Marine.  The loss is beyond painful, it's unthinkable, it's too hard to process.  It's been more than a year and it still hurts too much to think about.  Another friend's son is physically wounded, and his life is forever changed.  They made a difference.

Book Club

My book club meets today. We are discussing Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See this month and I look forward to the discussion. There are so many characters, issues, relationships and events that will spark our discussion. The ladies of book club are wonderful! I've known them as long as I've lived in Fredericksburg, because whiletaking a break from unpacking boxes in June or 2006 I stopped by Targets book area. I saw a nice smart looking woman selecting books and asked her for a recommendation. After an hour of visiting right there in Target, she recommended a number of Jodi Piccoult books and invited me to join her book club! I've been going ever since! Today I'll be wearing the black capris I bought at Talbot's yesterday and a new summer (not tucked in) top. I'll find some whimsical jewelry to add a little flash and some flip flops for comfort. It's going to be 90 + degrees again today! I hope the heat or a hot flash doesn't cause my mineral powder foundation to slide off my face. : )