I apologize.... my relatives are in Japan, and I lost my crafting mojo right now...

It's been 3 days since the catastrophic Japanese earthquake and I've been having a hard time getting back in to my crafting mode.  Just as a background - my mom is Japanese and my dad is Vietnamese.  So, all my relatives on my mom's side lives in Japan.  My mom was actually having a chat with my aunt in Japan discussing how my aunt was going to go catch a movie.  Then she said that there's an earthquake... a big one...  and then they disconnected.  We then could not connect to anyone there...  I remember turning on the TV Thursday night (we have a Japanese channel at home), and couldn't believe what I was seeing.  All that tsunami coming in, wiping away all the farmlands, houses and buildings, cars and trains and boats...  You hear about these natural occurrences from time to time, and you see these scenes in the movies, but you never really fully connect with it, until it happens to your loves ones.

I was awake all night, watching TV and doing Facebook, trying to get a hold of my family.  I didn't want to miss anything, if anything ever did happen while I was asleep.  I slept on the couch, with the TV on, iPad by my side and a phone, just in case.  I think I had about 2 hours of sleep...  Close to 5am in the morning, I got a message saying that my family was fine...  that was a great relief. 

Anyway, since then, the number of deaths and unaccounted people has increased dramatically, the threat of radioactive leak from nuclear power plant failure/explosion, and Japan Meterological Society released a report that another big quake is 70% likely to happen in the next 3 days.  I am so worried, and that is all I am able to think about right now.  I wish that I could just fly all of them here to be with me, right now.

I did receive messages and pictures from my family  - and can't believe what they are going through.  My cousin's house had holes in the walls, the bedframe was broken, things scattered everywhere...  took over 4 hours to walk home...  In the supermarkets and convenience stores (yes, the Japanese convenience stores are really convenient - they have heat up lunch boxes, ready-to-go meals that take up literally half of the store!) they have no rice, no bread... not even toilet paper.  There's no water bottles, and the automobile gas supply is hard to find.  There's still millions without electricity right now and there's thousands without a home. 

Anyway, I'm sure you're all aware of these things, but I just wanted to let you know that my mind is on my family right now and have hard time getting inspired....  I take some tools and paper out, and I just end up staring at it or going back to trying to find the latest news online...  crafting may have to just wait....and I hope that you all understand :)

Take care, and be grateful for what you have as things may suddenly change <3
- Thienly