A Little Emergency Prep for the Weekend

I actually started writing this last Saturday. I had great hopes of attaching pictures, but I can now see that that's just not going to happen, so here you go......


This next weekend is General Conference. Part of our tradition this time of  year is to change out our 72-hour kits. I've got some work to do this coming week.

In the past, I wrote a bit about this preparation. Here is a link for you. I thought I might go out and purchase another wheeled garbage can this week. The two we have have never really been enough to store everything we need. And I would, if circumstances around here were normal, but who am I kidding?

Let's just say that I'm relieved that we haven't had to use these kits over the past six months....one of my children, who really had no clue what they are for, just thought I was hoarding snacks in the garage, decided that some of the things in those backpacks were really desirable. Let's just say that if there had been an emergency, the Hess family would have gone extremely hungry.

While I was cleaning out the garage this last time, I pondered about the luggage we have up in the far corner of our shelves. They just sit there nestled inside each other. Actually, one is the massive suitcase that got me into so much trouble in Japan. Ugh! Bad memories. Anyway, I think what I may do this time, until younger kids learn the importance of those supplies, is put our backpacks in those suitcases. The kids'd really have to work to get those down. For the adults, it wouldn't be a problem. Issue solved, no?

In the event of an emergency, we open the garage door, throw open the back of the van, and toss those puppies in. Seems like it would work.

I just have to make sure that the little ones don't see me putting them in there. Then we'll be good for another six months.

So, I've got a bit of extra grocery shopping to do this week. I'll be using the money from the "Emergency Prep" envelope. Now, the debate....milk jugs or Ziploc bags? Here's a helpful link with a great video for this kind of thing. Ziplocs might just be a little too easy to get into for our family right now.

The list for the Ziploc bag idea is a bit different. I'll include that in another post this week, so you can see and follow it if you decide that works better for your family.

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Loving It!

image: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net

I ran across "Food Storage Made Easy" a long time ago. They would send me emails frequently telling me which step I should do next, and I, being the rebellious soul that I was (and am--but I'm working on it), would just delete them--nothing done.

For about a week now, though, I've been working with their 3 month supply worksheet. You can find it here--go to the link they have set up to find the spreadsheet. It's AMAZING!

You figure out and type in the names of the recipes you'd make each day for a month (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) across the top. Down the left-hand column, you type in the ingredients you would use to make the recipes you've put in and how much of each thing you'd need under each recipe.

I have also set up hyperlinks to the recipes I will use, so all I have to do is click on the name of the recipe, and it takes me right to it. Lovely!

image: preparednotscared.blogspot.com

When all is said and done, they figure out how much of each item I need for one month and for three. I can put in the price and size of an item, and it will tell me how much I will be paying for a three-month supply of that item. No guess work left to the process.

Oh, I can also type in how much of something I have on hand, and it will tell me how many I still need to buy. Voila! Inventory not a stressor anymore.

Love it! If you're working on getting your food storage set up, this is definitely the best way I've seen to get it going. Check it out.

My Eyes Have Been Opened

image: alpha-business.blogspot.com

TOTAL eye-opener today.

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Because I have two boys struggling with asthma lately, I came to the realization that I would have to get a new inhaler for the school to have on hand for #5. I contacted our pharmacy first thing, and they told me to come on in, and they'd take care of me. I went in, pulled a number, and sat and waited. I was the only one there, yet I continued to wait.

After about ten minutes (I may be exaggerating just a bit--time flies when you have two little ones in tow :oP), a pharmacist emerged and asked me if I was there for something urgent. I told him the nature of my visit and said it wasn't "urgent urgent, just urgent." I could run the inhaler we currently own up to the school and administer it myself if necessary.

image: woassociates.com

He shared with me that their computer system was down, and they didn't know when it would be back up. He said it could be up to half an hour or 45 minutes, but he really had no clue. Whatever the problem was, it was system-wide.

I thanked him, got up and walked out. Oh, btw, my car was making some interesting noises too, so that totally shot my entire morning--the morning when I was going to get my life in such great order.....Oh, wait, that's every morning, but as you can see, it never happens.

Needless to say, I didn't get the inhaler, but what I did get was a big ol' dose of reality. Wow! We are SO reliant on computers. What would we do without them.

image: surroundedbyimbeciles.wordpress.com

My next stop was the gas station. As I'm sitting there, I'm thinking, "Man, oh man. I hope their computers are working. Don't those pumps work on some kind of computer system?

I tend to have a bit of an active imagination, so my thoughts just flew from there....No wonder we, as members of the Church, have been asked to have a year supply of food, clothing, and fuel. All it takes is the wrong power to step in and revoke ours, and we're sitting ducks.

I called the pharmacy again later and asked if things were back up and running. The woman on the phone, rather embarrassedly, told me "No." I asked if there was a back up system that they used for times like this. Again, and more embarrassedly, the answer was "No."

How prepared are we? I'm guessing not very, so my next and most obvious question: "How prepared am I?"

It's Been Awhile Since I've Just Blithered to Blither

I just need to write to write tonight.

image: principlesforlife.org

I got my bedroom all straightened up and rearranged last night. It feels so good. I've been really grumpy lately, so I think I did it mostly just to see if it would straighten me out a bit. I think it helped quite a bit. I really have no reason to be grumpy, and I'm usually not one to be that way.

image:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing

I'm thinking that I need to go back to writing everyday. Maybe it'll help me even out a bit. It's funny. When I have lessons that I'm learning or things that bug me, I have no problem writing them, and they seem important, but when I don't, like lately, I wonder why anybody would ever want to read it. It makes me hesitate to write anything. It seems that I've forgotten the whole reason to keep this blog isn't really for anybody but me. Sorry. If you're at all interested in reading, go for it, but for awhile things might be a bit boring. Nothing's bugging me right now.

image: manassascity.org

I'm working on emergency preparedness. That's hugely on my brain right now. At this point, I'm just working on clearing spaces and attempting to create a plan so that I cover all of the necessary bases. I'm still working on editing the document about this topic. Because of the guilt I've been feeling as I've been editing (am I doing enough?), I thought I'd keep a very simple blog about the steps I'm taking to prepare my family for the future. It's not much, but if you're at all interested in reading along and joining in, here's a link. It's really not a big deal, just kind of a daily log to keep me in check and accountable.

The two birthday boys

I can't believe October starts tomorrow. We'll have two birthdays in the next ten days. #2 will be 17!  Woah! That's so hard to believe. Two years until we send out our first missionary.Yay and yikes at the same time.

I've got some pretty serious birthday shopping to undertake in the next few days. I did a little bit this weekend. You won't believe what #2 wanted for his birthday. I'll have to share later.

image: jennyphillips.com

We're getting ready for our Primary presentation. We have such great kids in our ward. They did great today as we practiced for the first time. It was wonderful to see things come together. It's times like these when I come to understand why my counselors are my counselors. They are such beautiful, strong, talented women. I'm grateful to work with them.

image: groworganicmeals.com

So, I have to share a funny story....my son and one of my counselor's sons sing in a regional LDS choir. We discussed carpooling, and I told her I'd just drive. It gives me two hours of uninterrupted time to get some things done on Sunday evenings. She asked me if she could help with gas. I told her, jokingly, that I liked to be paid in chocolate. Last Sunday, her son got in the car and handed me a really AMAZING chocolate bar. Again, tonight, there was another one. These aren't like Snickers bars, these are like gourmet chocolate bars--the likes of which I've never tasted before. I tried to tell her today at church that I was just joking around with her, but she assured me that she's made it part of her routine when she goes grocery shopping on Fridays to find me some kind of yummy chocolate. Wow! Okay, so this may sound funny, but even just knowing that somebody thinks about me makes me happy inside. I told her I'd happily drive her son anywhere any time.

image: housefulofhandmade.blogspot.com

This kind of reminds me of when I was a kid....A woman in the ward brought something to our family. I can't remember why, but it was food in a 9"x13" pan. Somehow, the pan broke, so I remember my mom going out and finding the prettiest 9"x13" pan she could find to replace it. She also found the yummiest dessert recipe she could to put in the pan. She made it and gave it to the woman who originally gave us the food. The next week at church, that woman gave the pan back to my mom with something yummy in it. Prior to this, my mom hardly knew this woman, as her family was new to the ward, but this went on week after week trading delicious things back and forth. I remember being so excited about that pan coming back to our house every other week. My mom was close friends with this woman from that point on--even after they moved from our ward.

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We got the missionaries written to today. It's fun that a few of them are #1's friends. It's very weird to write for #6. Today, he started his letter "'Sup dudette?" as he wrote to a sister missionary friend of ours. It's been such a fun experience for our family. I'm so glad for dearelder.com.

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Sometimes it's just so good to blither. Nice to get some of the overload out of my head and heart. If you've taken the time to read this far, thanks! Hope you have a great week!

Writing My Requiem

image credit: pippinmovies.blogspot.com

Have you ever watched the movie Amadeus? The film about the life of Mozart? I don't know how historically accurate it is, but it, near the end, promotes the idea that Mozart died as he wrote a requiem, a mass for the dead, for an unknown person--an individual who comes to his door in a mask and pays him a large sum of money to do it. This experience haunts him so much because of the recent death of his father, with whom he had a love/hate relationship, that it induces and leads to his own death. Mozart works tiringly, night and day, to complete the project. Here is a scene:





By the title of this post, I am not foretelling my own death. I don't plan on dying any time soon, but in many ways I feel like Mozart. In a very real way, In regard to how I choose to deal with my current situation, I could be driving nails into my own coffin.

image credit: http://omogun.webs.com

I have been working on a project with a gentleman I have never met. We have spoken on the phone a few times. I have been commissioned to "rework" an emergency preparedness document.

If any of you know me, I tend to be a bit driven. When I feel passionate about something, I go for it. After the experience in Japan, this is definitely something I feel more than strongly about. I feel honored to be asked to work on such a project. In many ways, I feel that it's yet another step in a journey I'm already on and have been for quite some time. I feel drawn to it.

image credit: http://phantasytour.com

Here's the thing, though. The deadline for completion is past and has been reset. The gentleman has been forgiving (hmm...a lot like Mozart); for which I'm grateful, but do I foresee the end of this project? At this point, to be honest, no. It's completely overwhelming me. It is a lengthy document and requires a lot of rewriting. I have been chipping away. It was easiest to start with the lists but now that the lists are somewhat in order, I have to jump into the meat of it. There is no avoiding it.

Each day, from the beginning of this project, I have woken at 4:30am and gone to bed at 11:30pm, at the earliest. I don't work on it all day, I work a bit at nap times and when I can steal a moment here or there, but early in the morning and late at night, there I am. I have missed meetings because of it. In some ways, I've rearranged my life around it.

Most of this time, I'm not being paid for. That was part of our agreement. Am I happy about that? I will refrain from comment at this time, but I feel that this document has become my project for my own learning. I will finish it. I'm determined. Only, here's the problem....

Let's go back to Mozart.

image credit: geolocation.ws

I got up yesterday morning and knew I was going to have to go at this differently. I, before I started to write, got to my knees. I expressed my frustration--I feel like I'm in a very confusing tunnel and am not able to find the way out. I prayed for direction and inspiration to know what to write.

I got into my chair, logged in, and opened the document. I started to write. As I wrote, I suddenly recognized the feeling I was having. GUILT. It was a feeling of shame. It was a feeling of hypocrisy.

image credit: informl.com

Am I prepared for an emergency? No. Yes, I have 72-hour kits out waiting in wheeled garbage cans in my garage. Yes, I have some food storage to hold my family over in the event of an emergency, but I'm not even a portion of the way there. To be honest, this idea so overwhelms me that it's to the point of inaction. I'm drowning in it just like I'm drowning in this document.

So, I fought through it and continued to write. The ideas that came to my head were these....

• Obedience must be the focus. Just do it to obey God.
• It's not too late to start being obedient.
• It's a lifetime commitment. You're never done, so it needs to become a daily focus.
• Baby steps are all that's required, but consistent baby steps are key.
• You must have a plan--but where to start? (This is my biggest problem).
• God desires my success (1 Nephi 3:7)
• Because of the previous point, every effort, no matter how small, will be rewarded.

This document in no way justifies my current existence, so it is very uncomfortable to write. The previous version of this book was very condemning to those, such as me, who weren't actively, or maybe I should say were half-heartedly, involved in preparing for the future. As I write, I feel despair, so as I rewrite, I rework it and interject words of hope. I add encouragement because as I write and feel pulled down, I feel impressions that bring me back up....Up to the point of knowing that I must do something. Anything....daily.

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Any step in the right direction, no matter how small, is just that....a step in the right direction.

So, before I went to bed last night, I straightened the kitchen. As I did so, I pondered on the document I'd just been working on, and the impression came to do something. HaHa! Yah, right. What was I going to do at that time of night?

image credit: nationalgeographic.com

My eyes fell on the empty bottle from the apple juice we'd drunk at dinner. There it was sitting on the counter waiting to be washed out and recycled. Then it occurred to me that there were two others sitting at the top of the recycling bin under the sink. The one on the counter had a lid. The other two did not. I remember throwing one of them away earlier and #4 had already taken the garbage out for the day. No matter. I would wash them all because that's what I felt I should do.

I washed them and filled the first with water and put the lid on. Sure, the quandary of no lids for the others really tempted me to put them back where I'd gotten them from, but I thought I'd fill them with water anyway, what the heck? I was almost done filling the second when something caught my eye. I looked down at my feet. There, on the floor, sticking out from under the fridge, was a lid. I don't know, am I just lucky? Or could it maybe go with one of the principles above? I know what I think, but some people think I'm nuts because I think that way--thus the "madhouse" theme of this blog. One person's madness is another person's miracle.

image credit: rosemaryl.blogspot.com

So, am I writing my requiem? If I continue to write and do nothing about what I'm writing, then yes, I believe I am, but if I am wise and take all that I'm writing and do just what it says....Then, I am blessing my own life and that of my family. Not only that, but I believe in the points I've shared above. I believe in prophecy--ancient and modern. I believe these are the "last days," and I believe that hard times are upon us and harder times are ahead. Do I hide under a rock and hope it goes away? That's where I've been, but the time has come to change. It's time to "awake and arise." I'm pretty sure, because of past experience, that if I can move ahead even in just my little baby steps, there will be miracles as God meets me on the path and moves me ahead to the next step. I've seen in before; there's no doubt He wants to see me succeed.

image credit: begreeninfo.com

I will make sure that my fate and Mozart's are very, very different, but I'm the one that chooses that. The ability to change my fate may lie in something as simple as an empty apple juice bottle.

Preparing for a Disaster

If you do nothing else with what I've written here tonight, please take a moment and read this.

As I prepared to do a presentation on our trip to Japan last year, I ran across this blog. It impressed me in so many ways, but this particular post left a HUGE mark. A mark that will probably never leave me.

One thing that going to Japan did was make disasters take on a new facet. I have been concerned with emergency preparedness for most of my life, but I have to admit, because I've lived in safe circumstances, that I held these kinds of things at arms length. The experience in Japan made tragic circumstances so real and so human. I realized that part of our preparations had to be more than just having enough water and food for our family in the event of an emergency, it had to include some kind of emotional preparation.

A few months after returning, we sat down as a Primary presidency and created a plan to begin some of this emotional preparation for the children we look after. We know that if a disaster were to occur, our church building would become a Red Cross shelter. It is a fact that if something terrible were to happen to any of our family, the rest would gather there. It is possible that in such a situation, our children could be in the care of complete strangers. This is an awful reality to face, but I'm sure that the mother in the story from the link above would never have dreamed that her little girl would be essentially alone and in such circumstances.

image credit: cowalbagpipes.com

We decided that we wanted there to be a greater chance that the 70 +/- children in our ward would know at least someone that would end up at that same shelter. We decided that the children needed to know more of the adults in our ward, so each week, we invite four people--two children and two adults or youth--to share a talent with the children. One child and one adult present in junior Primary and the other two in senior. It is a simple thing, but it has been so eye-opening. We have had everything from bagpipes played to expressions of love and care for animals to drawings with chalk on chalkboards. My own son got up and showed everyone how he could write his own name. We've had one child share what a good balancer he is and have experienced a drum solo, a guitar solo, and a number of piano solos. We've even had a child doing cartwheels in the back of the room. I have learned so much that I didn't know about the people I rub shoulders with on a weekly basis. It has been truly fascinating!

Although the purpose of this exercise is to make the children aware of those that surround them each Sunday and at church activities, today, something else became very clear to me.

image credit: www.hoosier-rainbows.com

As I greeted children at the door this morning, our talent child walked in proudly carrying a Ziploc bag with all kinds of colorful things in it. I was excited to hear what she had to share. When it was her turn, she and her mom stood in front of the room and told us about all of this five-year-old's creations. She showed us Legos that she'd put together, bracelets and rings made from beads, pages she'd carefully colored and even a stained glass butterfly wind chime. I loved it and secretly wished that I could do such things, but my talents lie elsewhere.

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After this little girl sat down, one of the women in our ward stood up. In her hands she held a very large, green textbook. On the spine, I could read the word "Calculus." She shared that when she was little,  she loved school, and particularly, math. She told the children that she had struggled with it even though she loved it, had worked her way through it and in college decided to become a math teacher. Wow! I had no idea. Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to think like that?!

As I sat there and listened to these talents, a very strong feeling hit me. During all of these months of seeing kids and adults bring in sports equipment and piano pieces, I learned that we are all so different. Our talents and our experiences are so varied. We all complement each other so well, but although we are different, we are also so much alike through our beliefs and our spiritual experiences. These things bring us together and to a similar place.

What a relief and blessing it is to think that if something were to happen to us, our children would be in the hands of such people as these. We never explained the reason for our "talent spotlight" to the children. We didn't want to scare them. We only wanted to build a foundation. My hope is that through the willingness of these individuals to share a small part of themselves, they will come to know our children and our children will come to know them. My hope is that the emotional strain of a tragedy would in some small way be decreased, and that a repeat of what happened to Luna would never happen to any of the children I know.