EARTHQUAKE!!!!!

So...an earthquake hit Virginia today. Weird.

I didn't really know earthquakes happened in Virginia. Apparently they do sometimes. And apparently this earthquake, while a modest 5.8 magnitude, was felt all the way between Toronto to North Carolina, according to reports.

I can't really speak for those more outstretched areas, but I can tell you it was felt in Washington, DC. Maybe my disinterest in the sciences really shows here, but I don't remember learning anything about fault lines or anything on the East Coast, so I wasn't quite prepared to recognize the sudden trembling and shaking as an earthquake. Particularly because I didn't want to sound stupid, if it happened that earthquakes were impossible out here.

It would seem they're not impossible out here, though.

It didn't last too long, but long enough to throw everyone in a bit of a tizzy. When I first noticed the shaking, my initial thought was, "honestly, what are they rolling down the hallway upstairs to make our office shake like this?" It was a valid question because sometimes you feel the impact of things happening in the hallways, and the shaking was just slight. About 30 seconds later, I thought I felt it calming down, so I started to turn my attention back to my work.

But then my monitor started to shake harder, and my chair shook harder, and then the picture frames on the wall started shaking, and the doors trembled, and I pushed myself out from my desk and looked around the office anxiously. When the shaking stopped, I popped up out of my chair, swapping nervous and confused looks with new staff assistant Rebecca (today was her second day on the job). The other 3 people in the office came out from the back, we decided it was an earthquake that had caused the trembling, and we wondered what to do with ourselves. It was over, but should we still stand under a doorway, so we could say we did? Do we get out of the building? Do we just go back to work?

I have to admit, the scariest part of it all was hearing people running through the hallways to get out of the building. Apparently some people thought our building - which is the oldest office building on the Hill - was ready to tumble right then and there, and they weren't sticking around to find out differently. But hearing them running out made me suddenly worry that it wasn't an earthquake, but maybe a bomb that had gone off somewhere, or we were being invaded or something. Because let's be honest, the Capitol probably has more evacuation procedures set in place for outside threats than from natural disasters. So for whatever reason, my mind flitted to the idea of noxious gases spreading through the hallways. I only thought it for a second, but still,  it was thought. I must've hit the hysterical phase.

New staff assistant Rebecca seemed like she wanted to do something that seemed like an evacuation procedure, and I wanted to talk to some people who had left - we talked to some people in the hallway who had come down from the 5th floor, which had really felt the impact - so we decided to go outside. No evacuation alarms or warnings had come on, so I didn't think anything about a real evacuation happening.

It happens that I'm the office emergency coordinator. Probably not the best job for me. I try to avoid the idea of emergencies whenever possible, so that they just don't happen. Plus, the only time I've had to act my part was for a practice evacuation, and it was when I was about 2 weeks on the job. Yikes. Turns out, I'm not that good at this. I didn't clear out my office, I didn't grab our emergency 'go bag,' I didn't even grab my own purse or phone or blackberry to check with co-workers who were out of the office. I just walked out, hoping to hear from other people what their earthquake experiences were. And then I found out we were officially evacuated. Luckily, another guy grabbed the bag (the waters in it were lifesavers about an hour into the evacuation), and we found some shade to hang out in when we were told to clear the area that was originally our official evacuation spot.

And government offices seem to be particularly attentive and thorough in their checks for structural soundness in the buildings, because while other offices nearby had allowed their employees to go in and grab their belongings before going home (everyone everywhere closed their offices early), the Capitol Police refused to let anyone even near the buildings. And there was no way anyone in the building was going to go get my purse for me (which I hadn't actually believed would happen - but I had to ask, all the same). Finally, our Chief decided that we could all go home, when he found out it would be at least "a couple hours" before they opened the buildings again.

So co-worker Matt lent me some money for the Metro, and we shoved our way onto the train to get home. Literally, we shoved people so we could get on. It was necessary. What was not necessary was Matt's comments about how it didn't seem too smart to be stuck underground in tight tunnels with no good way out after an earthquake had happened - while we were stuck on a train underground in a tight tunnel. The train had stopped because another one was in front of it at the metro stop, and when it started again, it made a few weird noises that just didn't sound right. Matt then learned one of my top 2 fears is being buried alive or stuck underground, and he quickly shut up.

But I made it home. Purseless and phoneless, but home. And early. And safe. So I think in general, the afternoon was more interesting than bothersome. But I don't think I've every wanted to be able to go back to work the next day as much as I want to tomorrow. I really feel lost without my belongings...

And now I can say I've been in an earthquake. I can't say I've experienced a whole lot of dangerous natural phenomena, and I can't say I want to experience many other types, so I'll take this one and call it good.

The Newest Barlow Birthday

Guyz, it's official: big brother Zach is now a Paw-paw!

Welcome to the Barlow clan, Zoe-bot! You are now two days old, and I'm counting down days on multiple chain calendars to possible opportunities to meet you. You need to learn early on just how wicked cool Fun Aunt Kate is, so this meeting must take place as soon as possible.

Your parents are ridiculously awesome, so I have no worries that your childhood won't be total bliss.

Congrats Zach and Jamie - all the best to you three!!!!

Happy Christmas, Summer!

I suppose I've just been feeling bookish lately.

And after finishing the Tolstoy's masterpiece, Anna Karenina (which I like to remind myself of constantly - it's my equivalent of enjoying running a marathon), my literary taste buds have been craving Classics. Today, I decided that Hugo's Les Miserables should be next on the list; Proust's Swann's Way has resurfaced as a contender for 2nd place (it crosses my mind strongly about once a year, trying to make itself a permanent resident on my 'books to definitely read' list. I don't know why it doesn't ever stick). Both are Father's picks, if I were a bookstore and had Family Staff picks. So Happy late Father's Day, Dad - I'm dedicating myself to your library.

And it looks like Les Miserables is going to have to be another loaner from my Library, because I sadly found out that Borders may be liquidating all their stock before going out of business, but I'm not the only person who thought to benefit from this by growing my personal library with Classics - the 4 books I made a note to look for specifically were gone, as well as most other works I could think of as I rummaged through the picked-over shelves.

BUT. Because I was at a bookstore, looking at each and every book in the "Literature" section, scouring the shelves for specific books that might (likely) be shelved incorrectly, I still found some gems left behind, which I gladly took home with me. AND because Borders is going out of business, I happened to get everything for 30-50% off, plus an additional 15% off for buying 8 items - the 8th purchase was a last-minute postcard for 50 cents. What?!

Why yes, I did save more than I spent at Borders this evening. Oh, and that's right, I did pay $7 or less for each purchase minus one book that deserved $10. I know, I too am quite pleased that I spent roughly a total of $30 for 8 items, from a bookstore where a single book might run close to that amount normally.

It was like Christmas in August - which is so much nicer than chilly December.

What I got:
Great Expectations - Dickens
A Christmas Carol - Dickens
Cyrano De Bergerac - Rostand
No Exit & 3 other Plays - Sartre
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead - Stoppard
Major Tales and Poems - Poe
Postcard of the Capitol by Moonlight
1000 piece puzzle of a pointillism painting by Seurat

I'm Finished

You guys, I finished Anna Karenina! All 923 pages of it! In exactly one month and 2 days! I'm quite pleased with myself, if I may say so. And I thoroughly enjoyed my Tolstoy experience.

I tell you what, I'm a fan of that book. I felt too much of myself in it - which is strange, since I don't often look at  my life as similar to a 19th-century Russian aristocrat's. But all the same. I've learned a lot about myself in the 33 days it took to understand the lives of 7 Russians and the goings-on of the surrounding societies. And I laughed out loud quite a bit at multiple points in the book - that Tolstoy (and/or the English translator) is surprisingly funny, more often than not. I laughed a lot at much of the social interactions and situations that I still see happening so often in my own social circle. Could it be that the courting rituals of young, single Mormons are that similar to Russian aristocrats from 200 years ago? Actually, maybe I'm not that surprised.

This book is getting a nice spot on my shelf of favorite classics (as soon as I buy it cheap from the liquidating Borders - and thank you, Library of Congress, for your graciousness in loaning my current copy out to me).

If you like studying philosophy, theology, sociology, or 19th-century Russian farming techniques, I think you'll really like this book. 

The Arlington County Fair!

It's Fair Season!

Every year I get a little nervous that the Fair (whatever one I go to, depending on where I am) won't be as fun or enjoyable as the years before, and every year, the Fair holds its own and affirms that it is just as great as I remember. In a dingy, dirty, random activity sort of way. 

I think going to the Walworth County Fair in Wisconsin last year showed me that I really need to experience the Fair when I go - at least one ride, one treat, or one game. Going to the Wisconsin State Fair growing up, we experienced the Fair by waiting in line to get our free cup of flavored-milk. With 20 flavors to choose from, ranging from Strawberry to Root Beer, that was an experience. When I went to the Missoula County Fair in Montana, we rode the fun slide in potato sacks and cheered on our friend as he rode his first mechanical bull (somewhat unsuccessfully). At the Utah State Fair, I cheered and screamed at the Boys II Men concert, along with several 40 year old women nearby. At the Walworth County Fair, we rode ride after ride until my nephew and I worried we'd be sick for the rest of the week. And at the Walworth County Fair, I had my first experience with deep-fried treats, a Fair staple I'd been missing in all my years of Fair-going (the deep-fried Milky Way is really the way to go, y'all). 

Perhaps I could be guilty of romanticizing the Fair to warm my nostalgic heart which aches for a bygone era, but I refuse to change. I've had such fun times at many a Summer Fair, and I'm so pleased to include the Arlington County Fair in that special Fair-focused place in my heart.

I went to the Arlington County Fair last night with my dear friend Jillian, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not a big Fair, by any means, but pleasing, nonetheless. The Fair itself is free - it's $1 for the shuttle to and from parking lots nearby, and that's it. Of course, food, rides and games require $$/tickets, but I appreciated that we didn't have to pay an entrance fee as well. And it was only about 10 minutes from where we live, so we were engrossed in the Fair in a jiffy.

At the top of the Ferris Wheel - eeeeeeek!

We rode on the old-school Ferris Wheel - a two-seater (an antique, compared to the newer teacup designs that hold 5-6 people). We ate deep-fried Oreos - Jillian had never had a deep-friend Fair treat, and her first experience was a SUCCESS! We deliberated on whether Jillian should or should not try to win a goldfish - we ultimately walked away after the smell of the garbage can holding the goldfish overwhelmed any feelings of nostalgia for the prize. We checked out the ponies standing around for rides and the piglet racing track - we'd missed the races by two hours, sadly. And we checked out in the booths in the air-conditioned indoor unit - an amenity that earned itself one of the highlights of the Fair, according to the website. We also almost rode the Carousel, but we didn't want to stand out too much next to all the children riding on it - plus there may have been a weight limit that we didn't know about. But if we had, I know what ones we would have ridden - Jillian would be speedy on the Raptor and I'd be enjoying the bouncing wobble of the Rooster. What happened to the standard, brightly colored plastic ponies?

The View from the top of the 'Wheel'

Deep-fried Oreos....sooooooooo goooooooood.

I really don't know what this is, but it placed in the Ceramics division of the Fair competition, and it made me giggle.

The Raptor never got a rest, with boy after boy racing for it. And what's with the creepy circus monkey? Oddly enough, I never saw anyone riding it....

But can I tell you, the Arlington County Fair may also be the nicest Fair I've ever been to - in terms of people and workers. Every 10 minutes, Jillian or I would have reason to remark just how nice someone was or the people were. Right when we walked in, the McDonalds cart had free smoothie samples, and when I walked up, the guy inside said, "I really like happy people," and gave me 2 cards to earn free smoothies at a local McDonalds (one for both of us). Then we asked if we could try both the Strawberry Lemonade and Mango Smoothie, and he said sure, then told me to keep on smiling as we thanked him and walked away (I had been smiling the whole time I was talking to him, he was a funny guy). By the way, the Mango Smoothie was delicious.

Then the Ferris Wheel guy kept trying to get us to cheer when we'd go past him at the bottom (I usually obliged), and he was kind of flirting as we got off, but not in a super-creepy way. The man we ordered our oreos from was very kind and energetic, and when Jillian stood contemplating whether to try winning that goldfish, the young man working the booth near where we were standing offered us both a trial toss. When we failed miserably, he quietly handed us two more ping pong balls to try perfecting our toss. Turns out we just weren't meant to win a goldfish that night, but we certainly appreciated the worker quite a bit. We also made quick friends with 2 people working a booth inside, when we decided to get temporary tattoos of brightly colored, vine-swinging monkeys. The woman and young man thought we were much funnier than I think we were meaning to be, and when we left the Fair, we ended up walking out right behind them and they recalled the fun we had had earlier regarding our bad-a#$% tats we were sporting on our arms.

My green guy is a little harder to see in the dark...but he's one tough cookie, I tell you what. Or he was, until I unceremoniously rubbed him off this morning - what, I wore a short-sleeved tee to work today!

And every time someone ran into me or cut me off, they quickly looked back at me, horrified by their own impertinence, and apologized deeply for whatever they had seemingly done. I tell you what, maybe it's because only good people go to Fairs on Thursday evenings, but I was impressed with the high-caliber of people we got to enjoy the Fair with last night. 

So thanks, Arlington County, for putting on a great Fair for us. You only deepened my love affair with the Fair (ba-dump, chhhh!).

The Puppy, Revisited

I got to hang out with this guy this afternoon:

Oh hey, hi there! What's in here? Can I eat it?

Chief of Staff Derek asked me earlier today if I was up for helping with some dog sitting, and I, busy at work on a crossword puzzle (it's all the work I have during August Recess....), promptly sat alert, exclaiming that yes indeed, I was up for the job. He said he was going to home and get the Pup around 2:30 (which means 3:45) and bring him back to the office, so he could take him along to a dinner right after work with a friend who wanted to meet Pup. D hoped I could maybe take the Pup outside for awhile, hang out with him, while D did some work.

I was happy to help with the special task set before me.

After D brought him back to the office, around 4:30, and doted on him a little bit, he gave me some instructions and guidance, and then sent us off to play for the rest of the afternoon. Pup and I crossed the street to the lawn of the Capitol and got cozy in the shade about 15 feet from the sidewalk. In our lovely deseret, we played with a rope, a noisy chew toy, and a tennis ball - rather, I shoved these things in his face to distract him from eating my flip flops, the buttons on my cardigan, my fingers, my blackberry, and the plastic bag that carried all of his official chew toys. The distractions didn't work out too well. And I spoiled him with treats, also to distract him from my flip flops and cardigan. And of course, he preferred chewing on the bag of treats rather than the treats themselves...

Wait, the treats are IN the bag? I thought you said the treat WAS the bag. Are you sure it isn't?

Pup would sometimes get tired and clamber onto my legs for a quick breather. Then he'd get distracted by the sound of the gates squeaking as they moved for cars to pull in/out of the Capitol parking lot. And the cars on the road drew his attention as they honked at each other. He was very attentive to the goings-on of the streets.

It's a car, it's a car, it's a car!     Squirrel!

As we played, whispers of excited passers-by on the sidewalk floated to ears, communicating gleeful notices of "it's a PUPPY!" and "look at the cute little dog!" and "awwwww, what a cute PUPPY!" I agreed with them all (except when he kept trying to eat the my sweater buttons - he couldn't leave them alone...), but tried to act like I didn't hear them - to save us all from the actual recognition that Pup and I were basically just another museum display for the tourists leaving the many Smithsonians for the evening.

Pup strikes a dignified pose for the ogling onlookers

One little family went so far as to stop and say they should get a picture of the Pup, as he had decided at that moment to saunter a bit in the direction of the sidewalk. Then they saw me and asked for permission for a picture - I said sure (what do I care, he's not mine anyway), but then Pup grew bashful and ran back to me (and by run, I mean wobble) and buried himself under my leg. Apparently, he's more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy.

Please don't make me smile, I'm tired of looking good for the camera...

I finally decided it was time to go back inside about 45 minutes later, when Pup wouldn't take no for an answer regarding eating my flip flops and we had a fun 5 minute game of tag/try and catch my feet without me stepping on you accidentally. As you can see, tag is a much shorter name, so we mainly called it that. We got our exercise from tag, and I got Pup riled up enough to push out a few little yelps from his wrinkly little body - he's not much of a barker. I grew tired of this game faster than he did, so I picked him up, gathered his toys and put them carefully in the tattered plastic bag, hoping everything would stay in it until I made it back to the office, and we made our way back in.

It turns out, security guards at the Cannon building are A:) huge dog-lovers and/or B:) SUPER bored during August, because I came through the metal detector and the 2 tough guards came up to me and fawned all over little Pup. They gave him some good loves for a minute and one of them remembered he had a bag of doggie treats (the House buildings are very dog-friendly, it seems), so he ran and got one for spoiled little Pup. Then we made our way back to the office, where Pup ran into the welcoming arms of his smitten master.

It was a great Wednesday afternoon on the Hill, if I may say so.

Things I Didn't Do Today

I didn't see President Obama when I went to lunch at Good Stuf Eatery today, because the crowd waiting to glimpse him coming out from enjoying a delicious burger was too big, and the police had blocked me and co-worker Matt (and everyone else on our side of the street) from crossing the street to get to the Eatery/President.

Consequently, I also did not eat a delicious burger from Good Stuf Eatery today.

I didn't get a funnel cake from the Special Cart today, despite one of the funnel cake makers trying to sweet talk me into satisfying my sweet tooth. I did, however, gleefully let everyone in my office know about it so they could enjoy the fun Fair cuisine offered. It's Fair Season, hurray!!

I didn't spend all day playing with a puppy in the office - I only spent a short amount of time playing with it before I left to go home. The Chief just got a cute little English Bulldog puppy, and brought it in for us to meet late this afternoon. I was supposed to be the puppy watcher while the Chief met with one of our staffers about something, but it got delayed and he got stuck in traffic, and yada yada yada, the puppy got here just before I left (and we all actually stayed late to see it...worth it!).

The puppy in the office!! Old man face on little boydog body = SO CUTE! He waddles around like a tough guy with a wedgie. In this picture, I'm holding him up and he's totally high-fiving co-worker Josh. Then he crawled on my lap, slobbered on my pants, chewed on my shoe, and then sauntered to the back office, where he promptly peed on the carpet. Oh puppies, what's to be done with them? This one's a keeper alright. Especially after lovingly licking co-worker Matt all over his face, causing Matt to giggle like a schoolgirl.

What didn't you do today? I also didn't go to bed early like I keep telling myself I'm going to every night this week...maybe tomorrow will be better.