If Krazy, Greg and Rory are right, 40 is the new 27. I can't decide if this makes me 1 year old (not much fun) or 12 years old (just getting the party started.) Either way, it seems like a good deal.

So, we may be getting aftershocks for weeks to come ... I could let this knowledge paralyze me with fear as the actual quake did (who's never gonna be a California girl? ME) or I could embrace all the blessings the world has to offer and start being more creative, less of a wimp. I still don't want my building to sway and I'm still really afraid of getting in the elevator, but I'll deal. (Does the emergency phone work in a power outage?)

Last night one of the amazing artists in my watercolor class offered me a piece of her empty nest ... even though her scare was compounded by her son getting into a major sports accident that very morning in So Cal and possibly needing surgery (they're still not sure), she saw through my comedy during class and gave me her number in case I ever needed a mommy and mine was out of town. That simple kindness, just passing on her number, lifted me out of a major pit last night. If she, who rode out the quake from the 41st floor of her building and who has had to deal with her son's injury long-distance and might have to fly out at the drop of a hat, could offer me a shoulder ... I can get up in the morning and deal with my kids for 6 and a half hours a day. And maybe even smile once or twice.

Happy Wednesday ...