Step 2

Emergency Prep Made Easy Step 2!! Okay! You've got your 72 hour kits, in the closet, or car, wherever works for you. But what is the next step?

WATER! Good Clean Drinking Water!! Or at least stored water that you can sanitise to drink when you need to. Why? Well, now let me explain.

When devastation strikes, it is the dirty water that has the lingering effects long after the storm has passed. Consider Haiti. Long after the typhoon has hit more people continue to die from lack of clean water. Dysentery Town!


Next Question: How much water? We're not talking a year's worth. Let's just say go for the three days, like in your 72 hour kits. Then build onto that a week's worth. Then a month's. Build slowly. Eventually you may have a year's worth, or you may have experienced a reason to have the water supply to begin with and be starting over.

You want to find containers you can store somewhere in your home. And remember under your bed is just fine for thing kind of thing! Be sure they are SAFE containers. I love being as GREEN as possible. But lemme tell ya, folks. Those GREEN bottles, they LEAK!!! So go with good old reliable hardcore plastic! You can reuse them over and over and there ya go. Recycling! You're still GREEN. And be cheap. This is not a Martha Stewart competition!

Now like I said. You can either build up an already clean supply. Or build up a supply you may need to purify later. There are TONS of ways to do this. The most economical way is Bleach. But Bleach actually has a pretty short shelf life. So you may want to check out a few other alternatives; such as: iodine crystals and the like. The flavor of bleach and iodine not appealing? You want to know that at least your water will be palatable? Well, well, well... lookey here:

www.pazumpa.com

The tops water information site I've come across. Complete with videos, how to's, etc! There is a video just on water purification with bleach or iodine, and he tells you how to make it palatable. Such cool stuff!

So, step 2? WATER! Drinkable water. Don't worry about toilet flushing yet, I promise we'll get to it next time. Easy Peasy Emergency Prep!

Everyday Prep

A little something for you to listen to... a radio show. A great life story and everyday reasons to be prepared. Please listen to Cherlynn Bell's stories and ideas that have worked for her and her family.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/cherlynn-bell/

Emergency Prep #2

Okay what's the first step to becoming prepared for an emergency? A 72- hour kit. This kit is great for a house fire, for becoming stranded away from home due to flood or storms, and many other short term emergency.

A 72-Hour Kit is a bag or back pack, nothing fancy, and I'm sure you have an empty unused one laying around the house. What makes this backpack special is what's in it! One of the ways to pack this bag is to pack it all individually. Another way it to pack your items within ziploc bags or other plastic containers. You'll want to label them, so that little brother Jimmy doesn't get stuck with sister Linda's undies in his bag, in case you are separated for any reason. Here's a brief list of what is usually packed:

1- toiletries, for ladies don't forget your menstrual cycle stuff - you never know, right? oh, and don't forget a little roll of TP, just in case you're stuck without some! Which, by the way happens more often than you think!!

2- a food pack- within this bag you want to pack enough small food items to last for 72 hours; such as protein bars, tuna and crackers, etc.

3- Water!!! Enough for 72 hours!

4- a flashlight

5- a set of clean clothes, nothing special, just sweat will do if tightly packed.

You need as many bags as there are people on your house. This way if you need to hop in your car because of an emergency, such as a loved one getting rushed to the hospital, all you have to do is grab the bag and go. And then you are sure of at least having some clean undies and a drink during your stay away from home. And just like on a long plane ride, deodorant is SOOOOOOO nice to have!

Some people keep these in their closets, by the door, or in their cars. Whatever works for your family... SO! If bags don't work for you stack able plastic handled containers work just as well. Really, it's any container you can grab in a hurry and be on your way.

So this is a great start to becoming prepped for any emergency! See, it's no big deal. A few bottles of water, a book bag, and little thought and you're prepared. You can store them away and not worry about it anymore, if you happen to need your Kit in the future. You're ready!

Be sure to check out these sites for reasons why, ideas, and other neat info on emergency prep!

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/72hourkit/

http://www.survivalsolutions.com/

everythingunderthesunblog.blogspot.com

www.provident-living-today.com/index.html

www.simplylivingsmart.info

www.emergencyhelps.com

Stay Tuned for the 2nd step in Emergency Prep Made Easy!

Emergency Prep- Why!!??

It's not just for those crazy Mormons!! Now, people I can say that, because I am an LDS member. I am allowed to poke fun at myself! So let me say it again- Emergency Preparedness is NOT just for those crazy Mormons!!! And it is NOT just for the paranoid either. In this day and age it is for EVERYONE!!

First let's talk about what emergency prep is... It's a lot like training your children what to do and where to go in case of a fire in the house. And how many of us have fire alarms? How many of our kids know how to stop, drop, and roll? This is not something we do because we're nuts, or paranoid. It's something we do because we are thinking ahead!! And making our family prepared!

Now then : I'm not gonna get into the three year food storage, or canning, or dehydrating, etc. Emergency preparedness is what your family is prepared to do at a moment's notice if : There is an earthquake in your area; if there is a flood; if there is an ice storm; if there is hurricane; any other natural disaster; or if you and or your husband loses their job. Let's face it, with what's going on in the world right now, any of this is possible. Especially the job situation, right? If you live in CA, or Asia earthquakes are something you expect. If you live on an island in the ocean typhoons are predicted and experienced on a regular basis. Fl - floods, storms, etc. And yet, most times these areas' people are NOT prepared for any of it. We could go through a list of places and natural disasters that occur there; but I'm sure you all are aware of what to expect in your area. IF you're not - you should make it a priority to find out.

Why? Why, should you find out? Won't the government come to your aid? Not in the first 24 hours, and sometimes not within the first week or two. Anybody been keeping up with the news in the past 5 years? And after they come, if they run out of funds - they STOP COMING! What about your church? Is your local church prepared to house, feed, and clothe for ALL of the area? Or were you planning on turning away nonmembers? Your parents? You're gonna go home in an emergency? Assuming they are prepped for you and your loved ones on top of their own needs, what if you can't get there? Parents? Thinking of going to your children's homes? The same thing applies. Your neighbor!! Ahhhh, of course! You're neighbors will let you in! What if their house was totalled and they were on YOUR doorstep first?? There are LOADS of reasons to begin your preparedness plans today.

What if you lose your job? Happens a lot lately, doesn't it? Do You have enough savings in the bank to cover a year? More or less? We don't. It's tough to get that $ into savings after paying all of the bills, isn't it? Some of us don't have any savings. So maybe we don't have enough to pay our bills AND buy groceries for a year... but we do have some food put by, so we could pay our bills for a while, while not having to worry about groceries. How stable is the workplace?

These are the why's we should think about being prepared for an emergency, although there are more! Read my next post to learn about the 1st step to emergency preparedness without going insane, spending too much, or feeling like you're being paranoid.

The adventures of children...without TV

The other days it was pirates and indians. Today they younger ones are pigs, G is a pig eating giant. I found the "pigs" tied up to a post outside, one in the "oven", while the giant ranted and raved and explained his dastardly plot. Even the 2 yr old was involved, as the giants accomplice. She was so cute to watch as she listened intently to her instructions, responded, and followed as best she could the villain's plan.

Sometimes they take out all of the scarves and a picnic blanket to create a pirate ship. Sometimes they steal all of the bandannas, find a bunch of chicken feathers and play indians. Sometimes, they march around the house with sticks for rifles, singing "soldiers of the old home guard", then pretend the picnic table is a magic flying bed. Some days they get out all of their costumes and create a zoo of regular and magical creatures. Other days they'll go crazy with Mom in the kitchen baking, mixing, melting, and cleaning up. Yup, they even like the cleaning up when we get in there and get to work.

Our children are book reading, puzzle solving, make believe, musical kids. Any story they act out they can and will put lyrics to and sing at the top of their lungs. They collapse on to the couch in giggles while the eldest reads aloud Junie B. Jones. They build tents, boats, cloud paradises in their bedrooms. They paint newspaper, make bookmarks, and other paper crafts on rainy days. They make up fantastical stories about anything their imaginations can come up with. They love to write them down into their own "books".

Sure, they get an hour or two a week of computer time. Sure, we watch a movie here and there. But there is no such thing at our house as Saturday morning cartoons, or Nintendo, or whatever game boy-like-thing is the latest and greatest right now. They have better things to do. They express themselves. The interact. They socialize. They PLAY! And I never hear them say they're "bored" except away from home, where they don't know what they CAN do yet.

Sometimes I think that if we didn't live "all the way out" here this wouldn't be possible. They would be pestered by neighbors, whose mold they won't fit. They'd be constantly trying to figure out where they stand with the kids in public school and why can't they afford all the stuff their friends have. The older ones would feel pressured to give up make believe prematurely. And like so many other children now, they would be looking for some source of entertainment instead of using their minds to entertain each other.

We live a pretty simple life out here with our goats, chickens, cows, and so on. But our children are really happy kids - Who get to enjoy their childhood in ways not available to most children nowadays. I am very grateful for this opportunity for them. I am very grateful for the challenges we face out here, because we reap great rewards when overcoming them. One of those rewards is this blissful childhood for our children.