Earthquake day has come and gone but I still have e-mails to answer so I'll address it here. They say that animals, especially dogs, inherently know when quakes are about to occur. I am convinced I must be part dog. After being awake till 4am, for some reason, I popped awake at 7:05. It was the kind of "popped awake" where your mind is racing, and you have a sense of panic that makes you want to run through the house making sure everyone is breathing. Couple minutes later the quake happened. See? Part dog- explains it for me! The first one hit hard and lasted. I was holding my breath in anticipation of the crashing noises I would hear as all of our stuff fell off walls or vibrated off the shelves. When it was over I ran downstairs and asked all the kids if they felt it. Nothing was out of place and everyone was ok. Half of them were still sleeping soundly (we were having a sleepover). I turned on the news and the next one hit. Then we lost power. We spent the day with friends and neighbors. We all gathered at my house and cooked on the grill all day. I had my small AM radio, a hurricane lamp, lots of candles, tons of water, extra propane- I thought it might be a couple of days before they restored power to the entire island. The day passed without incident. The lights came back on around 9pm. It was actually a good day. It was an event that pulled friends together and we all hung out, played games and enjoyed each others company.