Last time I blogged, I was headed back to Tennessee for the weekend and a ton has happened since then! I had an amazing time spending time with my family and catching up with friends. My time at home always seems to go by so fast, but then of course when I get back to work I feel like I've been gone forever! I feel like I have so much to catch you up on, so let me try to tackle the big items first - Earthquake, Pat Summitt, and Irene.
Earthquake in DC?
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit the east coast Tuesday approximately 100 miles south of Washington, D.C. and was felt in NYC, Boston, and even in North Carolina and Tennessee. Luckily, I was still at home. Although initial reports from my landlord left me worried about my little apartment, the only damage I had were a few broken picture frames that had fallen off of shelves. Since then, I've seen a lot of comments about how D.C. overreacted to the earthquake - and maybe they did - but I don't think D.C. residents deserve all the grief they've been catching. Let's think about this... living in D.C. you live in the one of the most targeted locations for terrorists attacks in the world. It's not something I like to think about, but more specifically, working at the Capitol, White House, Pentagon, or Senate/House office buildings, you are even closer to the risk of a terrorist attack. Especially for those who worked on Capitol Hill during 9/11, it doesn't surprise me that their initial thought was a terrorist attack. I know it would have been my first thought. Come on, earthquakes of that magnitude don't happen on the east coast. So, cut D.C. some slack - especially Capitol Hill staffers and people at the White House and Pentagon - it's a little different than most cities along the east coast. Regardless of how scared I would have been had I been in D.C....these are some of my favorite tweets/status updates from the day:
"DC... what you felt was just the entire country shifting to the right. Bring on 2012!"
"Evidently the quake occurred on a fault known only to Obama called "Bush's Fault."
"Breaking: Obama administration points out they "inherited" these fault lines."
"That was no earthquake, it was the Founding Fathers collectively rolling over in their graves."
"Breaking from Jay Carney: "We apologize for the disturbance, the president's ego collapsed under the weight of all his bullshit."
"That was no earthquake, it was Obama's approval rating hitting rock bottom."
"In related news, Maxine Waters blamed the Tea Party for the quake and told them to go to hell and Obama missed a putt and blamed Bush for the mulligan."
"Finally, some movement in Washington."
"This shouldn't surprise anyone, Obama just dropped the ball again."
Pat Summitt Diagnosed with Dementia
The Tennessee family has been through a lot the last few years. It's been a rough run as a Volunteer fan, but nothing can even compare to the hurt of this one. It's still hard to even process the announcement Coach Summitt made on Tuesday. (You can read Sally Jenkin's article breaking the news here) I had heard over the past few months that this season might be Coach Summit's last season, but I thought maybe her arthritis was getting worse - I never expected this. Dementia (specifically the "Alzheimer's kind" as Coach Summitt describes it) hits close to home for me, as I'm sure it does for many around the country. My great-grandmother has Alzheimer's and I have seen what it can do. It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that some day Coach Summitt might not remember her legacy and how much she means to so many across the country. When I heard the news, I cried... and I've cried many times since then watching different stories and reading different articles. Growing up so close to Knoxville, Coach Summitt has always been my hero. Coach Summitt made me want to be a Lady Vol. When I wrote my admissions essay for the University of Tennessee, I wrote about Coach Summitt. I wrote how since I was a little girl I wanted to be a Lady Vol because of Coach Summitt and although I knew at an early age I would never grow tall enough, quick enough, athletic enough, or physically strong enough to play for Coach Summitt, I still wanted to be a Lady Vol. I wanted to be the type of Lady Vol Coach Summitt builds - a strong young woman who carries herself with class and respect, puts a high priority on academics, supports her community, and is committed to her Volunteer family. Of course, I never played for Coach Summitt, but I still strive to be the type of Lady Vol Coach Summitt builds, Coach Summitt still impacted my life. She still is and will always be my coach, Vol nations coach. I wish Coach Summitt the best of luck tackling this disease. If anyone is strong enough to fight it, it's Coach Summitt. As Gene Wojciechowski with ESPN put is so well, "If it happens, if Summitt one day fails to remember Tennessee because of the fog that is Alzheimer's, it won't change an eternal truth. And that truth is this: Tennessee will always remember Summitt." (Wojciechowski's must read article on Coach Summitt here). Best of luck, Coach Summitt! This Vol fan is rooting for you!
Wearing orange in support of Coach Summitt on the Capitol steps. We even made the local news in Knoxville!
Hurricane Irene
Two "natural disaster's" on the east coast in one week? Who would have ever predicted that?! Luckily, Hurricane Irene wasn't as bad as they were predicting. We were under a tropical storm watch from yesterday afternoon until this morning. Was I scared? Absolutely terrified! But... keep in mind that I get scared in normal thunderstorms, so I don't think my fear is a good judge of how bad the storm actually was. Honestly the only difference in Irene and a normal thunderstorm was that it lasted FOREVER. My biggest fear was a large tree (see below) being knocked over by the wind and onto my building. Sure, there was probably a 2% chance it could actually be knocked over, but trees were falling in D.C. and it scared me. I ended up sleeping on my couch since my bed is right beside the window. Although, I didn't get much sleep since it sounded like I was inside a car wash most of the night because of the wind. Hopefully this is last big "non-event" D.C. has for a while! Thanks to everyone who checked in on me over the past week. :)
This picture doesn't do the massive tree justice. It probably is double that in height, my photo just cut it off A lot more happened while I was at home, but those seem to overshadow the things I would have normally blogged about. I got to see all of my sisters during recruitment, I spent time with friends and family, and caught up on some rest. Trips to Tennessee are the best! I guess that's all for now, time to get back to Sunday chores. Have a great week! |
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