A day before my 34th birthday, we were rudely awakened by our phone emergency alert saying, “Ballistic missile threat inbound. This is not a drill.” I honestly put my phone back down, one because I was a little hungover and two because how unreal does that sound? It didn’t make any sense in my brain.

Scariest. Alert. Ever.

The Mr though, immediately jumped out of bed, changed clothes and turned on the tv and started making some phone calls. I followed suit.

We’ve never been trained on what to do in a situation like this. The extent of Hawaii’s “emergencies” are typically hurricanes, not bombs or incoming missiles. I had no clue what to do or where to go; I really thought this might be the end of our lives so I stayed in the corner and cuddled with Luna waiting for instructions from the hubby.

Seeing as how we had minutes “seek immediate shelter” there was nothing to do but wait. Oddly though, there was nothing on the tv or radio, but you can’t take any chances, right?

After a whole 30 to 40 minutes, we found out it was all just a mistake. Majority of the people I know were so upset and wanted the guy who made the mistake to be fired.

I cannot say what he deserves; all I know is I’m happy and thankful it was only a mistake.  I was so relieved. We get to live another day so let’s always make the most of it.

This event, although it may not really be considered a “near death” situation, it does put things into perspective. These are things I need to work on:

1. Be more prepared
2. Don’t take things for granted

Life is precious and I am thankful for the life I have. Luckily, since we survived the “missile,” I got to celebrate my birthday the very next day with family and friends.  I even had time for a hike!

Kicking off 34 with an easy hike! Even spotted some whale mist!

I bid adieu to 33 and say hello to 34! Thank you missile inbound threat for being one scary mistake!

We live to see another day! *smiles*