michaeldthomas

1- Yes, we had an earthquake this morning in Northern Illinois. It was a 3.8 magnitude quake with an epicenter about 18 miles from our house. It woke us up at about 4 am. rarelylynne thought a semi passed our house. I suspected that it was either an earthquake or an explosion. Our lazy cat stayed asleep. The only damage was to an Ood action figure that got knocked off of a bookcase.

2- The snowstorm dropped about 10 inches over 36 hours. Caitlin spent the day watching TV. She preferred that to school.

3- rarelylynne, taraoshea , and contributor Carole Barrowman (co-author with brother John Barrowman of Anything Goes and I Am What I Am ) will be at A Room Of One's Own  (Madison, WI) signing copies of Chicks Dig Time Lords on April 25th at 2pm. Some of the other contributors are also probably attending.

It's still freaking cold outside. One of the things that I hate about my state is that the first week of January always sucks. If it's not a major snowstorm, it's Arctic air. The weather doesn't exactly give one a lot of incentive to leave the house and GET THINGS DONE. I would much rather cover myself in blankets while watching too many episodes of Ghost Hunters (one of my top guilty pleasures).

Like most Americans, we started a new fitness routine this morning. We're going to try to do some Yoga every morning. rarelylynne knows what she's doing, but this is my first time. I'm finding it difficult to learn from a DVD. I keep falling out of position so I can see the pose on the TV.

There's not much else going on today. I need to make a bunch of appointments for Caitlin. I also need to go grocery shopping. The adventure never ends. :-)

Caitlin woke up with a sore throat that kicked off some vomiting. After sleeping for most of the morning, she just woke up with the giggles. Hopefully, this means that she will be fine by tomorrow.

On the plus side, a sick day means we don't have to go out in the heat. I'll probably spend most of my day watching her and reading my stack of Doctor Who Magazines. I'm currently reading the "200 Golden Moments" special.

We've been stuck in the house for days. After two days of Arctic temps, we've had two days of snow. Everybody says the roads are awful. Still, we are going to venture out. It's that or insanity. rarelylynne just left to pick up some last-minute gifts. If she thinks the roads are safe enough, the whole family will make a trip out for lunch with friends.

Not much else is going on around here as we wait for Santa. Caitlin received some Hannah Montana gifts from her Speech Therapist. They included the Hannah Montana dress-up wig and the make-up bust. There are pictures of my daughter as Hannah. Cute and disturbing.

I also scanned a bunch of Lynne's high school photos. They're up on Facebook. That alone is a reason to join.

We've had record rain falls in Chicagoland over the last couple of days. It sucks out there. Luckily, our house has been okay, and our local “river” is only flooding a little. The biggest excitement came yesterday when we lost power. Turns out there was a loose power line that was setting the pole on fire a few houses down. The lovely people from the electric company fixed it in 45 minutes.

Today should be quiet. After the Bears game, we're off to the public library to see how much trouble I can get into during the dollar-bag book sale. By that point, the rain should finally be gone.

Speaking of rain, WTTW's PBS pledge drive hit a new low. I'm used to the make-more-money seminars, Doo Wop spectaculars, and mediocre-Irish-singer specials. I put up with it knowing that such pandering brings in the money. Last night, though, they unleashed the worst thing ever to get foolish baby boomers to give up their money. They actually showed a concert of a tacky Beatles tribute band called Rain.

Don't get me wrong, I've been known to enjoy the occasional Beatles tribute band at a summer festival. The problem with Rain was that they weren't actually any good. Their musicianship was lackluster, and their “singing” sounded nothing like the Beatles which is kind of a problem if you're a tribute band. To top it off, their Paul seemed to have had extensive plastic surgery to look more like Macca. His close-ups burned my eyes as his results made him look like a McCartney/Phyllis Diller love child.

I have an idea, how about PBS tries showing some intelligent, creative programming during pledge drives?

Caitlin is in bed, and I have a Molly kitty in my lap.

Tonight was less than fun. A line of storms whipped through the area. Sirens went off, and I got to carry my daughter down to our unfinished basement to wait it out. No tornadoes dropped down around here, and we still have power. Both are very good things.

Well, I’m off to bed.

Nature continues to assault us. Tornado-producing thunderstorms are rolling in with a cold front that might produce flurries in a couple of days. Meh.

In other news, I am starting to pull out of my post-resignation funk. I know that I did the right thing for me and my family, but it still feels terrible. As rarelylynne say, there were Aicardi conferences before me, and there will be conferences after me. It's still a world of suck.

I haven't been able to write a lick in days. I'm hoping to get some writing in tomorrow.

Just Finished Reading: The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle
Currently Reading: Hyperion by Dan Simmons