Hurriquake

Nothing like having an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week. I meant to make a post earlier this week, but I was pretty busy. Now, I am posting in the middle of Hurricane Irene. Anyway, this week, we experienced a very rare earthquake - magnitude 5.9 at epicenter in Mineral, VA. Our house actually did get some minor damage due to this earthquake (but I really do mean minor - more of annoyances than problems). The biggest issue being that the upstairs (i.e. 2.5 floors above ground) walls shook a little too much causing the drywall nails to tear through the paint -- but only in the rooms that I had painted. Of course. 

So, I will need to spackle and paint these areas. My mom said that the best way to nail these back in without damaging the paint is to put a sock over the hammer. However, I have another problem in that the nails went all the way through.

We also had an issue with our upstairs lighting fixture. At first we weren't sure what this was, but upon looking up, we figured out that the band around the light shook down.

And the worst part...

Just kidding. Actually, we were pretty disappointed about the loss of one of our vases that was a centerpiece for my MD bridal shower. And the second being a picture frame of J's 311 stuff that shook off the mantle and broke. Luckily, nothing else was damaged.

Now, we are sitting through Irene. We have taken in much of our outdoor stuff in (including the umbrella), and I have "bottled" about 3 gallons of our own bottled water (use of mason jars #134). We have flashlights and candles so we'll see how this all goes. Stay safe friends.