A little shakey shakey

"It's time to go to sleep. I love you Mo" I said while closing the door. 
Down the stairs I galloped, nap time had arrived which meant it was "me time". Eagerly, I look forward to the hour or two of peace and quiet. While I love my two little ladies, their time napping gives me the opportunity to recharge. It's time for me to eat, use the bathroom uninterrupted, and watch what I want on the television.
I sashayed into the kitchen. My hand reaching for my nearly empty glass of water. Opening the fridge, I found the raspberry lemonade. Refilling the glass, I then returned the bottle to the shelf and closed the door. Walking into the living room, I approached the arm chair. Placing my drink on the side table, I picked up the remote. I eased into the chair, allowing my weight to shift as I sat back. My feet stretched out on the ottoman as I clicked on the television.
Flipping through the channels, my fingers found the "up" button.
Soap Opera,
Soap Opera,
Soap Opera,
Spanish Speaking Soap Opera.
I continued up the channels and nothing appealed to me.
I remembered I had missed an episode of the The Big C. Eagerly I clicked On Demand and within a minute, the opening credits began. Forwarding ahead to the start of the show, I became immersed in the world of Cathy, her family and her cancer. Witty dialogue and fabulous acting, make this one of the few shows on my must watch list this summer.
Initially I thought it was Mo.
God what is she doing up there? 
I thought I told her to go to sleep, not kick the wall. 
However, the rumble was too loud and the movement to great.
I jumped off the chair, attempting to pause Cathy, as the rumble continued.
Oh my God!
The dryer exploded!
I frantically raced up the stairs.
Opening Mo's door, she rolled over.
Obviously woken from slumber, she rubbed her eyes and said, "What you doing mama?"
"Nothing baby. Go back to sleep" I replied closing her door.
My stomach dropped as thoughts of a basement catastrophe filled my mind.
Down the stairs, and into the kitchen I went. My hands beginning to shake as I came to the basement door. Reaching out, my hand rested on it.
Cold.
Thank God.
Slowly, I opened it. Descending down two stairs, I heard the dryer's familiar tune.
It had not exploded.
As I returned to the comfort of the living room and my favorite chair, I noticed my racing heart. My hands continued to shake as I assessed the situation.
Could it be a plane crash?
Possibly. 
It's not the dryer. 
Oh my God, it couldn't be an earthquake, could it?
I grabbed my cell phone, immediately thinking of my friend in town, D.
Did ur house just shake? I typed.
Pressing send, I watched, and waited.
Waited and waited for it to go through.
The ring of the house phone shifted my focus as "Bry Work" lit up on the base.
"Are you okay? Are the girls okay?" he started. "I tried calling four times, and I just got through!"
"I'm fine. We're fine. Do you know what happened?" I asked.
It was in the next few minutes we discovered that in fact, it was an earthquake. A few hundred miles away the epicenter, the middle of Virginia, had in fact reached us in the greater Philadelphia area.
Over the course of a half hour, I fielded phone calls from my mom, mother in law, and messages from my brother ensuring our safety. We exchanged stories of where we were while "IT" happened and our disbelief spanned across our respective homes.
Hanging up the house phone, I reached for the lemonade glass. Taking a sip, I could finally feel myself calming down. My heart rate had returned to normal and my hands had stopped shaking. The chime of my cell phone indicated I had another text message. It was D. Apparently due to the influx of cell phone calls, it had taken nearly ten minutes for my text to be sent.
Like me, she too was in disbelief.
I typed a quick message back, clicked send, and grabbed the remote yet again.
The weather man obviously was flying by the seat of his pants, as he discussed the causes and statistics related to earthquakes.
Not more then ten minutes of watching, I remembered Cathy. The episode was still waiting for me and the girls were still napping upstairs.
Regardless of earthquake, nap time was still in effect!
Back to the Big C, I happily returned.