Shake Rattle and Roll

Well I have been initiated to Southern California. I was at work and all of a sudden the building started to shake and roll. Now I hate hate hate earthquakes. I was in a very bad one in 1966 in Peru where about 20,000 people were killed and I developed a deep fear of earthquakes. Not sure of what to do I grabbed my purse and one of my co-workers and we decided to get the heck out of the building. Fortunately after what seemed like an hour it subsided. But the whole experience left me wishing I were back in Oregon. I immediately tried to call Michelle on her cell phone as I was worried she was home alone with the baby and scared. It took about 15 minutes before I could reach her and as luck would have it Mike was home with she and Brooklyn. After reaching her and knowing they were fine I sat down and shed a few tears. It is a very scary thing to not be able to reach your kids during a crisis. Thank goodness my cube is in the back so no one saw my fears and tears.

There is a hilarious part of this that has kept me laughing. Actually our whole department has been laughing. Let me explain. We have a designated person who is trained for emergencies who is supposed to take care of us in our hour of need. Now this person sits right next to me and I have wondered why in the world he was selected. He is hearing and sight impaired and I have wondered how he would keep us out of harms way.

Once during a drill I watched him struggle to put on his emergency vest. He kept fastening and unfastening the Velcro and ended out with the jacket upside down. Then he couldn't 't use the walkie-talkie. He kept talking into it saying he couldn't hear, he couldn't hear. Someone finally told him he was pressing the wrong button. It was pretty funny. Anyway to get back to the earthquake story when the building started to shake I looked over at this person to see what we should do and I saw him go under the desk. It appeared it was every man for himself. Later he tried to say he yelled, "get under your desks" but I told him he didn't say a word and it must have been the voices in his head. I grabbed my purse and the girl in the next cube and preceded up the aisle where another co-worker was yelling out to the emergency person "what do we do...what do we do". I told her to forget it as he was under his desk. When the quake was over he came out put his vest on backward and frantically told us not to leave the building. Then he precedes to tell the head emergency guy we are all accounted for. Unfortunately that wasn't true. Two people were missing. One was out on the patio trying to phone home and the other one was in the parking garage snoozing during his lunch. So bottom line if we have another emergency our entire department is going to find another emergency person to find out what we are supposed to do. I know my plan is to grab my purse and get the hell out of there. I think the safest place is in the stairwell. And I am convinced my fear of earthquakes is well founded. Every one keeps telling me this is a forecast of the "Big One". Now no amount of fun in the sun makes living in California worthwhile especially if there is a "Big One" coming.

Frankly I foresee a migration to Oregon what with the eminent "Big One" around the corner and a lunatic for governor of the state. His big plan to save California's economy is to cut wages and lay off the state workers who are struggling to survive. What a concept! That should increase crime, crowd the jails and courts, and increase the use of food stamps and Medi-Cal. Californian seems to thrive on electing actors for Governors. Then they "act" like idiots.

On another note I babysat Brooklyn and had such fun. She stayed awake the whole time I was there. She is grinning and starting to giggle and is so much fun to take care of. She is very sociable. I think it is from Michelle's side of the family. Mikey was a tad cranky as a baby and not what you would call good natured. Good natured in the Fields family seemed to skip a generation. Mary Etta was very good natured, then Andy was terribly cranky. Isaac was good natured then Mikey was fussy all the time. We shall see if their next child has such a sunny disposition.

Maddie the dog was fun too. She has been the baby for so long that her little nose is out of joint having to share the limelight with Brooklyn. The entire time I was there Maddie had to lay next to me with her head in my lap reminding me she's the baby too. She is not aggressive at all towards Brooklyn so we don't foresee any problems. She is always licking Brooklyn but we aren't sure if it is the smell of milk, poopy diapers or her love for her. We all try to give Maddie attention too. In fact that night when I slept over Maddie had a hard time deciding who to sleep with. All night she went between bedrooms. So even though Brooklyn slept through the night Maddie kept me awake. Oh the pains of being a Grandma. Love it!!!

I am adding a link to the Fields Family Blog that Michelle started a couple of days ago. It has lots of pictures and is very cool so check it out. http://fieldsfamilywebsite.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

Michelle is very talented so it will be an entertaining way to keep track of us all.

It has been very warm this past week. Quite humid in fact. I will be glad when it cools down a bit.

I will try to be more consistent in keeping up my blog. Jo puts me to shame as she finds the time to keep us posted on her news so frequently. And wasn't it great news to hear about her positive result of her latest scan. I think being such a positive person keeps her healthy.

Andy is going to come down in a month or so. I am looking forward to seeing him as he has lost 95 pound and I want to see what he looks like. He won't send any picture so I guess I will have to wait. He is driving taxi in Portland now so I am sure he will entertain us with lots of taxi tales. I am not so thrilled with his career change as I worry about the danger but I have to remind my self he is grown. That's is always the hard part of being a parent, as we all know.

Well must go now dinner is ready and I certainly don't want to be late for one of Diane's meals.

Love to you and yours,
NanaCarol