Another Day, Another Earthquake!

A 7.1 earthquake, tonight, a little after 8:00 p.m.!  I felt that one more than the previous 6.4 one, as it was stronger.  I was in the kitchen, cooking, when it struck.  Poor Dancer didn't know what was happening and ran back and forth a couple of times, before running under a bed to hide!  Again, nothing fell or broke and we are fine.  The epicenter is about 150 miles north east of me.  They are calling Thursday's 6.4 quake a foreshock to Friday's 7.1 earthquake, since Friday night's one was stronger.

Friday morning, daughter and I woke up at 7:00 a.m. as she wanted to get to the Convention Center a little earlier than on Thursday.  She said the line had been so long, on Thursday, that it stretched over 7 blocks and she waited more than 2 1/2 hours to get into the building!  This was her costume, on Thursday:

Daughter as Gatomon

Gatomon is a character from the anime show Digimon (which stands for Digital Monsters); it is a cat digimon.  She bought the white dress from a thrift store for the purpose, made the ears and tail, and painted a pair of white gloves to resemble the character's paws.  She said she received quite a few compliments on her outfit and several people asked to take her picture - apparently, that is the highest form of compliments one could receive for ones costume!

On Friday, I dropped her off at the Convention Center at 9:00 a.m.  Then, on the way home, I went to the bank and went to the dollar store to stock up on more water and canned food for earthquake supplies and also bought some bananas.  I haven't decided yet if the canned food and water will come from this month's grocery budget or from another account (miscellaneous or, even, savings).  It doesn't matter.  I now have a few additional cans of food, just in case!

I came home, after that, and had a sandwich for brunch.  In the afternoon, I went to the post office to mail a bill payment and to mail the package of medals, etc. to my aunt (in addition to the box of medals, I included some photographs, my step-father's cuff links and tie pin, and two of his baby shirts!).  I called my aunt to let her know that the package is on its way (she should receive it on Monday, according to the post office). 

Then, I went to the craft store (Michael's) because I had a 40% off any regular item coupon that was going to expire on Saturday.  They also had some yarn on sale and I gave into temptation and bought three balls of yarn!  I bought a packet of candle wicks with my 40% off coupon - I have some candle wax that I want to remelt and make new candles with the wicks I bought, today.

After that, I hurried home to get home before gardener friend M came to do the garden!  I was just pulling into the drive way when he drove up!  I had a cup of tea and watched news and relaxed a bit.

Then, I started to cook the chicken I bought on Thursday.  I cut up the leg quarters and made plum sauce glazed drumsticks, baked the thighs with a dry rub of curry powder and chili powder, and made a curry with the bony back portions.  I was still cooking them when the earthquake struck and the house started shaking.  I turned the oven and the stove off and stood by the kitchen doorway, trying to decide whether to get under the big dining table or not.  If the shaking had been stronger, I would have taken cover under the table.  But, as it was, the shaking wasn't too bad and, again, nothing fell or broke.  As soon as the shaking stopped, my daughter texted to ask if I was OK - she had been at the last event she wanted to attend when the earthquake struck.  I turned on the news to find out the details and cousin P called to check on me.  It's a blessing that we didn't experience too much damage, in our area, from this stronger quake. 

Then, it was time to go to pick up daughter!  I gathered a couple of bottles of water and a packet of granola bars to take with me, just in case, and drove downtown to pick up daughter.  There were a couple of road closures due to special events taking place, downtown, but, I got to the Convention Center without any trouble. 

Came home and finished cooking the chicken and cooked some broccoli to go with it.  After dinner, daughter worked on another accessory. 

Friend R and neighbor T had both called and left messages, so I called them back.  Friend R said a few glasses fell from her shelves and broke.  Later, Aunt C called, too.

We have been told to expect more aftershocks and perhaps another big earthquake in the upcoming days!  I am hoping that the big earthquakes won't be too big!

On Friday, I am grateful for:
- The latest earthquake didn't do any damage to my house and its contents
- It wasn't the Big One!
- Daughter had another fun day at Anime Expo and she was safe
- My family and friends are all fine
- We have electricity, gas, and water

Today's joyful activity was buying more craft supplies!  LOL!

Saturday's To Do List:
- Take daughter to downtown
- Put gas to the car
- Stock up on more toilet paper and paper towels (I'm down to the last pack of toilet paper and last roll of paper towels!)

How was your Friday?