This morning, after lying awake for an hour before the alarm went off, followed by a mini nervous breakdown, making my husband late to work on account of my head being firmly attached to his soaking wet shoulder (he’s a school teacher—not good) making my Little Guy cry in the car on the way to school (he’s the sensitive type) and writing whiny emails to a number of friends (if you didn’t get one, your turn is next. I try to spread the joy around. I’m nothing if not thoughtful) I finally realized something. Today is October 17th.

Aside from the fact that it is my brother-in-law’s birthday (Happy Birthday Chris!), a fact I would expect to elude most of you, it is also the 19th anniversary of the Loma Prieta quake of which I was in the epicenter (well, close), another fact I would expect to elude. The point is, the week prior to the anniversary of the quake always makes me tense and stressed whether I am conscious of the impending anniversary or not. And the day of is always pretty bad.

No, I did not lose a loved one, a home, or anything really important in that quake, just my innocence. Lest I have alarmed some of you (and made others sit up and take notice) I am referring here to the innocence of naïvete, that part of the inner psyche that has you convinced nothing truly bad will ever happen to you, that you are not going to die in some horrible house fire, car accident or earthquake. It is the anniversary of the death of my sense of safety and each year I go through a bit of a temporary post-traumatic stress disorder.

Once I figured that out, my funky mood began to lift. Not only that, but many of you (most of whom got one or more of said whiny emails) said something that lifted me even higher. So, LinkLuv all around today! (sorry, still don’t know how to do Mr. Linky . . .one day)

For my good friend Shirley who puts up with almost daily emails full of incessant questions and whiny reflections with regards to being an author (and other random stuff—I don’t discriminate), her site is here:
http://shirleymarks.com/

For Jami whose encouraging emails and blog make me smile: http://supermisc.blogspot.com/

For Heather of the EO who called me a “witty wordsmith” (be still my beating heart!) here: http://theextraordinaryordinary.blogspot.com/2008/10/you-say-it-best.html

For Kimberly who cheerfully volunteered to help me with a vexing problem: http://temporaryinsanitybykym.com/

For Kazzy who is almost always the first to comment on my posts and who is a special ed assistant so has my heart forever: http://kazzysponderings.blogspot.com/

For my cousin Roxanne who has been a huge supporter since day one of this blog and of my book and who, just today, called me smart (I like being called smart): http://rbseely.blogspot.com/

For Katie who leaves thoughtful comments on my blog: http://kilpatrick.wordpress.com/

For my beautiful niece Jenny who is designing my Christmas cards: http://marcusandjenny.blogspot.com/

For Johnna, because she "shows up": http://tetlkjfoisdfjasojfn.blogspot.com/

For Jen and Sarah who don’t have sites but I am grateful for them anyway.

And last but not least, for Miss Delacourt, who doubled her library sales today (from one to two—woo hoo!): http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Miss%20Delacourt%20Speaks%20Her%20Mind

Way to go Miss D!