Well, unless you've been living under a rock, of course you've heard. I think yesterday's earthquake just a short distance from Alexandria, VA proves that the WEEK OF ALEX quite literally rocks! 

Seriously, Wendy goes out of town and I get to experience an actual earthquake. Let me tell you, she missed out. 

Now all of you Californians out there are going to scoff in my general direction for having "survived" a 5.9 magnitude quake, but don't make me remind you that you can't drive in the snow. Regardless of whether or not it was a "real" quake by your definitions, it was still a rather crazy experience for me, and something I won't soon forget.

I was at the dentist's office (which is actually a small house in Old Town) in their 2nd floor waiting room when I heard and felt a low rumble. At first it felt like a truck was driving by, then it progressed to an off balance washing machine feeling, and a few seconds later it was rocking and swaying the whole building. Another patient in the waiting room and I just sort of silently looked at each other for a few seconds until we both decided, without saying a word to each other, it was time to get out of that place. 

With the house swaying I jumped out of my seat for the door and headed down the stairs. I bounded down the 20 or so stairs with my feet touching only about 3 or 4. I know you're supposed to stand in the doorway, but I didn't trust these non earthquake tested homes enough to do that, so outside was my logical option.

No sooner than I reached the street than the shaking stopped. It went on for about 30-40 seconds total, but it felt much longer. I immediately got on twitter and searched for #Earthquake to see what others were saying. Sure enough, DC, Philly, NYC, Richmond, Columbus, the entire East Coast was a buzz with "An earthquake, here...really?" posts.

After the excitement died down a bit, I went back inside, had my teeth cleaned, and got in touch with many friends to let them know I was ok. I checked in on Lulu using our web cam, she was doing fine and just looking around. The phones were overloaded so it took me a while to get in touch with Wendy. Thanks to Facebook, Wendy's cousin Julia was able to see I was okay and then spoke with Wendy. The Internet is awesome.

Here's a great video that shows the effect the quake had on the rest of the country.

When I got home I surveyed our "damage." It looks like we have a new small crack or two in the hallway wall, but the most significant issue was simply that a few items fell off of the wall and shelves. 

The office cabinet door opened. *The horror*