I'm going to try my posts in italics because I was reading a blog in the NYTimes website in italics and it was somehow easier on the eyes...
Anyway, we had an earthquake here this morning. I woke up and the windows were rattling and the bed was shaking. I had two bleary thoughts: 1) oh it must be an earthquake, cool OR 2) a bomb just went off. I wandered outside and everything was as it should be but i heard a siren in the distance and a plane going over head. Squinting through sleepy eyes, I peered up at the plane but it appeared to be commercial. The thought actually crossed my half asleep mind "man, if we're being invaded, I probably won't get to go home Monday". Goodness. Can't decide if that's the American or the kiwi resident in me that, in some corner of my brain (probably the one that was still in REM sleep), thought we might be under attack.
But no, it turned out to be an earthquake. The epicenter was 10km south of Palmerston North and 41 km deep. It measured 5.1 on the scale.
In the process of discovering whether we were being invaded or the ground was simply splitting beneath our feet, I turned on one of the national morning shows and discovered an ensemble of fun-loving kiwis that make me giggle exceedingly. All in all a good start to the morning.