Here Comes Science

GEOGRAPHY

Madison can point on a map to where Mommy was born, and where Daddy is born. Obviously, she can point to a map showing where Disney is as well - that's important stuff there! Tonight before bed, we were playing with the Tag pen again, and using the map that Ye-Ye and Nana got for her. It's an interactive map, which tells Madison the places she points to. There are games on it too, and pictures as well - but the big thing for tonight was the pop quiz when Daddy asked Madison again, "Where was Mommy born?"

Sure enough, Madison pointed it out for us. And then she did the same for Daddy after that!

PHARMACOLOGY

It's another night tonight with medication for Mommy and Madison. Although both seem to be much better than yesterday, there's still a bit of a cough and a bit of drainage still in their systems. Hopefully after tonight's good rest, things will improve.

NEUROLOGY

Talk about a brain lapse. Tonight there was a parent teacher meeting. It was out of nowhere, as we didn't know there'd be one until this afternoon. Regardless, Daddy made the trip and got to know some of the school officials. Madison's teacher reaffirmed that she was doing well, which was great to hear. Obviously, we'll see some communication issues initially. But that's what she's there for. Also: she's there to learn how to act in large scale social situations. She's been "normal," according to her teacher, which was also good news. She's got a sharp little mind!

METEOROLOGY

The weather is getting cooler. It's a brisk eighty-something degrees outside, which used to sound awfully hot. But after the summer we've had, it certainly seems cooler. In other weather-related events, we've got a hurricane bearing down on the coast. This will be the first one in quite a few years to reach our coast.

(Officials dusted off evacuation plans and readied for the first hurricane to threaten the U.S. in three years. It's been more seven years since a major hurricane, considered a Category 3 with winds of at least 111 mph (179 kph), hit the East Coast. Hurricane Jeanne came ashore on Florida's east coast in 2004.)

Madison was born in 2006, which is actually when we sent off our dossier. SO, you can tell it has been quite some time. Goodness - it seemed like for a while there was one hurricane after another, and each one a monster. This particular hurricane's name is Irene, and news reporters are no doubt itching to start using words like "roared," "barreled," "pounded," and "slammed," or phrases like "wreaked havoc." Hopefully they won't have to, but we'll see in a few days.

SEISMOLOGY

The other big event of the day would be a 5.9 earthquake that hit north of here. As the last one of this magnitude to hit the east coast was in 1897, you could say this was pretty rare. A lot of people were very concerned, as we would be too. We did not feel the earthquake here, but they certainly did in Washington DC and New York. This was naturally the talk of the day late in the afternoon, certainly on the social networks. Obviously, it was absolutely less than nothing when compared to the earthquake in China in 2008. Such devastation! We were so worried about Madison when we first heard about the quake there. It occurred just after we got our referral letter, and a few weeks before we were to travel to China. It really cast a long, dark shadow with unspeakable tragedy. It still moves me to think about it.

But again, today's earthquake was nothing. We still haven't heard about any significant injuries, and for that we're pretty grateful. I imagine if the epicenter was in a large city's limits (like Washington DC), that we might be hearing quite a bit of terrible news.

By the way, did you know where the epicenter was? Why, it was in Virginia. Madison can point out Virginia on a map. It's where Daddy was born!