Wow. First time I've ever felt a quake, and I've wanted to a long time. I woke up AFTER one in Germany and went back to sleep never the wiser. I've spent lots of time at my father's place out in the Mojave where they have several quakes a day and have never felt one.Of course, he's lived there over ten years and he's only felt a handful.

It's funny, I've had SOOOOO much going on and have not slept SOOOOOO many nights. Then, yesterday was the best day I've had in YEARS. Literally.

I couldn't sleep.

A wink.

NO idea why.

So, here I am at 4:30 in the morning at the kitchen table about to jam one of the bamboo skewers I'm trying to build a model of the effigy out of through my eye in frustration and sleep deprivation, when I notice that there is a field mouse running circles around me...big sucker too, for a field mouse.

No, I have never heard or seen a mouse in that apartment before. Not once. They had traps out when I moved in, but I tossed them and decided I'd just keep an eye out. I keep a pretty clean (but often cluttered to nearly uninhabitable) house...so...never seen one in two years. No poop. No scratching noises. No holes. Nada.

So, he circles me for almost 45 minutes total, eating crumbs under the stove, running circles around me, stopping occassionally to look at me, four times making a direct run AT me before I stood in defiance and repelled his advance.

Then, I SWEAR I'm not making this up...no more than a couple of minutes before the quake...poof. I had literally JUST thought "Oh, good. Rodentia buggered off," when I heard a rattling sound getting louder, then shakes, then me giggling.

"That was fun."

"Oh, wait. I hope that wasn't just a little pre-tremor."