Okay, I have a MILLION (almost literally) pictures to post from Christmas and I've been enjoying time with the fam instead of taking the time to blog. But, this morning I had something I just HAD to share. So, Christmas pictures and stories to come!
Anyway, back to the story - last night, I was having a hard time getting Caleb settled. We had a long couple of days with family gatherings, and he didn't get to nap in the afternoon and I think he was just overtired. He finally fell asleep around midnight. Literally, it was 12:02am and he was in bed with me. All the sudden, a huge noise like an explosion rumbled our entire bedroom. I shrieked "Shawn, what the *^%& was that!?!?" Shawn, who had been softly snoring, had been aroused from his sound sleep, but he was too out of it to remember why he was up. He said, "I don't know - what was it?" I said, "I think our furnace just exploded!!! Oh my God! It's brand new!" So, Shawn tore off the blankets (meanwhile, Caleb was still sleeping - as long as he's pressed against me, he sleeps pretty soundly), and my gracious husband rushed downstairs. After checking every room on every floor, he told me he didn't see anything. He checked the furnace, the computer, and everything else without any luck. I asked him to check and make sure the doors were locked. I put Caleb in his crib (who promptly woke up but re-cried himself to sleep) and I checked on the still-sleeping Bean, who was also exhausted.
I couldn't sleep. I knew I had heard something awful. I told Shawn that it literally shook our bedroom. I half thought he didn't believe me, and yet I knew he had gotten up to look, which he doesn't always do unless he thinks there's a reason. He agreed something had woken him, but he said there was no point in worrying about it. We both REALLY needed some rest. The only thing that gave me comfort was the fact that our neighbors lights went on. I know this is terrible, but the last thing I said to Shawn before we nodded off was that chances are something in our neighbor's house exploded and maybe it shook our bedroom. That - for some odd reason - helped me fall asleep. Isn't that awful? I think Shawn thought I was crazy. I wasn't sure that I wasn't going crazy.
Then this morning after we finished devouring a delicious big breakfast of hot coconut creme coffee, bacon & pancakes cooked in bacon grease, I was cleaning up the house from all the gifts, Shawn was sitting at the computer, Caleb was napping and Joshua was playing with his new toys....I heard Shawn laugh out loud. It was a different type of laugh than normal - more like a shocked laugh than an amused laugh like when he giggles at something the boys do. He said, "this is why..."
READY??? It was an EARTHQUAKE!!!! Read the following news story:
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Dec 27, 200801:40 EST
Quake hits
County residents alarmed
By BILL HANNEGAN, Staff Writer
An earthquake was felt across a large part of Lancaster County shortly after midnight today.
There were no initial reports of damage or injuries.
The quake measured 3.3 on the Richter scale and was centered about one mile north of Salunga in East Hempfield Township, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Seismograph readings on the Millersville University Web site showed a sudden, short-lived movement at the time of the quake.
The USGS said the quake occurred at 12:04:34 a.m. today.
The Intelligencer Journal newsroom was flooded with calls from residents of the city and Lititz, Manheim and Mountville Boroughs and East Hempfield and Manheim Townships who said they heard what sounded like an explosion.
A caller on Blossom Hill in Manheim Township said she felt "a rumbling in the house, like a truck hit the house." She said she felt an aftershock.
A caller from Ephrata said the earthquake "knocked all of the pots off of her stove."
Residents of Marticville and Smoketown also called in.
A newspaper receptionist said a caller from Manheim Township was speaking with her mother in Bel Air, Md., when both parties suspected hearing "what sounded like a train wreck" at the same time today.
A woman from Centerville said everybody in her trailer park community "felt the ground shake, and their lights went off and on."
County police and fire dispatchers said they had no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. No ambulance or fire calls were reported following the incident.
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