Rockin and rolling

I’ve been trying to write this all day and just keep putting it off. Sorry to all you wonderful people who have sent us such lovely messages. We’re all safe and everyone’s homes are intact with only minor damage.
Maria was in Auckland when the big one struck. I don’t know if that was any easier for her though as her mother was here going through it all alone.
Anita was away as well in Hanmer Springs and didn’t even wake up for the major event. But no major damage at her house, only a mysterious dent in her car from a stored oil heater in the garage.
Sarah lives the closest to town and it must have been really scary. Hopefully she still wants to stay in Christchurch.
Trisha was here and apart from being a bit scared has only had minor breakages. Her husband may sustain more damage though as he’s had to leave town on work tonight and she’s not happy.
Here in the Valley we’re all fine. My biggest problem was that Cory my 16 year old wasn’t home when the first big quake struck and I patiently sat at home until dawn waiting for it to be light enough to safely go and get him (he was only in Halswell 5 mins away), but when I left here I really did wonder if I was doing the right thing. There were power lines down and the road was a mess. Very scary. Here’s some photos of the roads from around here that we use everyday with thanks to Maria's great photography skills.
Power and water are our main issues. The power came back on Monday morning after 2.5 days. We coped fine as we’ve got all the gas camping gear, but it’s not fun getting after shocks in the dark with no lights to turn on. We really are over it and ready to move on.
That’s the next big issue. We are all ready to get back to being as normal as possible.
It’s just the best to see an email coming in with a call to action. With no water coming on to the property it’s not practical for everyone to be working from here so everyone has their work stations at home and we’re fully operational again. Emails and phones and couriers are all operating as normal.
Deadlines are great as you can see that you have a goal to achieve and you can contribute by doing what you do well at. Life. It’s all part of being normal and not afraid or scared.
Thanks everyone for all your support and for keeping things rolling along. We’re here, ready and able and looking forward to getting on with it. Just keep the work rolling in.

The good news is the aftershocks have been a lot less today, although they do like to come back at night time.