Evacuation Plan. . . Do you have one? Are you prepared?

www.flylady.net  mailed out a great essay on emergency preparedness and how to plan for an emergency evacuation.   It is important to be ready for emergencies and I know I don’t often think about being evacuated.  I usually think about having to “hunker down” and stay home for long periods of time.  Having to leave your home for self-preservation is just as real.   As you read flylady’s essay, don’t panic and think you have to get prepared by yesterday and go rush to the store and spend a million bucks right this moment.  Work on each step a little at a time.  Perhaps each month take care of one step.  Here’s what she has to say about it:

Could You Evacuate your Home in Minutes?

Posted by: “FLYLADY” FlyLady@FlyLady.net   sheflylady

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:12 pm (PDT)

Dear Friends,

Here it is that time of year again when we are faced with the threat
of Evacuation from our homes. We never know when we this could happen
because of fire, train wreck, floods or hurricanes. It is up to us to
be prepared!

1. PEOPLE: Have a plan for getting out of the house and make sure
everyone knows it. Have an emergency bag of food and water for your
family. Include wholesome snacks and treats for the children: dried
fruit, nuts, peanut butter, crackers and granola bars.

2. PETS: Keep pet carriers and leashes readily available to lead pets
to safety. Also take pet food with you.

3. PICTURES: Keep negatives or CDs of pictures in a lock box or at a
family member’s home. Have picture albums in one place ready to grab
and go at a moments notice.

4. PAPERS: Have all your important papers in a lock box at a bank and
only keep copies at the house. This keeps you from panicking. If you
have them at home then put them in a folder that you can easily grab
if you have to move fast. Color code it so you can find it!

5. PRESCRIPTIONS: Take your medications with you. Don’t forget the
ones that have to be refrigerated like insulin. Have small ice chest
and cold packs readily accessible to pack and go. If you have babies;
remember their formula or medications.

6. PURSES and PETRO: This is where you keep your identification,
credit cards and cash. Keep a stash of cash for emergencies and grab
it. You may not be able to use an ATM in the event of a power outage.
Make sure your car always has a half a tank of gas.

7. PROPER CLOTHES and COMFORT ITEMS: According to the weather
conditions; gather up a change of clothes along with outer clothing:
coats, rain gear, boots, gloves and hats. If you have babies remember
diapers. Remember to grab your children’s favorite blanket, stuffed
animal or toy. A game or a deck of cards could keep them occupied and
calm too.

8. PLANNER/CALENDAR/ CONTROL JOURNAL: These documents have all the
information you will need from phone numbers, insurance numbers and
important dates. They are small and filled with things you don’t have
to try to remember.

9. PERSONAL PROTECTION: Many of us still have that time of the month.
Be sure and grab a box of your preferred protection. It may be hard to
find if you have been evacuated. Stress can cause our bodies to do
strange things too. So be prepared. Take medication for cramps too.

10. PHONES, RADIOS, FUEL FOR THE CAR: Many of us have cell phones now.
Always keep them charged up and have a charger in the car or an extra
battery. They may not work in the event of power outages, but then
they might. Know which local radio station has emergency bulletins.
Keep your battery powered radio tuned to that local station and have
plenty of batteries for it. Also keep a old type regular phone that
does not operate with electricity. GAS PUMPS don’t work without power
either. You can’t leave if your car is on empty. So keep your car fuel
tank topped off when it hits a half of tank. This way you will have
gas to drive at least a couple of hours. Evacuation routes are usually
bumper to bumper traffic. Having a tank filled will keep you less
stressed.

11. PATIENCE: This is one of the most important things to pack. Keep
it inside of you so that you have a clear calm head. Having your P’s
to Preparedness list guiding you will keep you patient. In the event
of an evacuation there will be lots of displaced people. Being patient
will make things less stressful. Your children need to see you calm
and collected. This will help keep them calm too.

We can FLY in the face of Danger and Emergency if we are prepared.
Don’t wait till you are being asked to evacuate. Everyone thinks that
it could not happen to them. Well it could and it is up to you to make
sure you are prepared.

Don’t wait! DO IT NOW!!

FlyLady

“At home” vacations. . . .

Funny thing happened this summer, a multitude of farming responsibilities piled up and prohibited us from going on vacation!!

1. Despite flooding earlier this year, we are now in a drought here and the irrigation system must be run and babysat. . . . .
2. We have a grain bin getting built and although the company who is building it is quite capable, they need my husband’s help. . . . .
3. We have our second irrigation system going up that should have been up by now but delays by the contractor have changed all that. . . . .
4. Recent chin injury on my #3 kid has reduced his behavior to where he was 1 1/2 years ago.  Outbursts, inappropriate behavior, etc.  He’s not quite capable at this point to sit in a van for hours and then be expected to go to restaurants and visit relatives too.  That’s alot to ask right now.

So, I promised the boys we would do an at home vacation!  An at home vacation is a vacation that do in your back yard or within close proximity to your home.  It’s less expensive for those of you out of work or cutting back for other reasons and it’s doable for a country mom like me who doesn’t travel very far from home with 3 boys and not their father. . . . lol  If you need to plan one, think about the things in your community that are “touristy”.  Things that maybe you have never been to or things that you went once when you were a kid yourself but have never been back.  Pretend you are from another state and coming to your home town for vacation- what would you do as a tourist here?  Below is my list of “warm fuzzies” to get your mind thinking. . . . I know this is late in the summer season but, hey, this is when we go on vacation!

1. Put up a tent in the backyard and let the kids play out there.
2. Build a campfire in the backyard and cook a few meals on it.
3. Go for a hike in the woods- if you don’t own property, get permission from someone who does- make sure to follow their rules and enjoy yourself!
4. Go wading in a river or stream.
5. Go swimming at a local lake or pool.
6. Take a picnic lunch and spend a few hours at the kid’s favorite park or playground
7. Locate an animal rescue or zoo in your area and go visit
8. Take the kids to the animal shelter and volunteer to pet/play with the animals for a few hours.
9. Are there any museums or historical sites in your area?  Find their open hours and go there for a visit- nothing like learning about your local history!
10. Most libraries have special activities in the summer- check that out!
11. State and county owned parks departments have wonderful parks with walking trails, educational buildings, and special programs going on all the time.
12. Is there a water park or water slide in your vicinity?
13. Go to the local farmers marke our “U Pick” place and enjoy!
14. Is there a children’s hospital near you?  See if you and your kids can go and read stories to the children.
15. Locate all the different churches and find out when their Vacation Bible School programs are- send the kids and enjoy yourself while they’re gone!
16. Go to the movies.
17. If there happens to be a Cabela’s store near you- go there and check out all the cool stuff!
18. Invite all the neighborhood kids to meet you at the park or even invite them and their parents over for a cookout!
19. Play soccer, baseball, frisbee, wiffle ball, etc in the back yard.
20. Spend some time with the dog, teaching him new tricks.

Anybody else got some other ideas for at home vacations?  Let your creativity run wild!!!

Freezer door won’t seal?

We had a bad seal on our freezer (the one on the refrigerator) a while back.  It had come loose in places and was a great collector of mold and ice but didn’t seal.  I called the manufacturer and ordered a new seal.  When we finally got around to actually putting  the new seal into place, quite some time had passed (months, yes, really. . . . . .)

We discovered when taking the seal out of it’s packaging that it was bent/kinked just a little.  The  instructions told us not to worry about such things.  The instructions said to use a blow dryer to warm up the rubber and all would be well.  We did this and it all seemed good!  My husband very carefully replaced the old seal with this new one and reattached the freezer door.  Hmm??  Kink was still present and right at the side where it opens too!  I used the blow dryer again, for quite some time and it seemed to pop back into place. 

Over time that exact spot started gaping again.  Ice started collecting and every few days I was scraping ice from the freezer just to keep the opening the same size so the door would at least go where it was supposed to.  We hated to put more money into another seal and my husband joked about putting a fastener of some type (probably one that used to be used to keep a pasture gate closed or a chicken coop latch LOL) on the door to keep it shut tight. 

I got tired of scraping ice one day and decided that perhaps duct tape would keep the door shut tight enough to force that seal against the opening of the freezer.  I got out about a 10 inch piece and pushed in on the door to make sure the seal was touching really good (squished, even).  I slapped that duct tape into place and for the last few weeks it has been our freezer latch!  Now, I know this sounds a little rednecky okay, a lot rednecky  but hey it was working and I’m sure saving our electricity bill quite a bit!!

My husband and I noticed something strange today. . . . . . The duct tape, that had been removed and replaced numerous times, was no longer very sticky but. . . . . . . .the door’s seal was now where it was supposed to be!!

Yet another miracle use for duct tape!  Praise the Lord!!!!

4-H Livestock Auction

I’m assuming that all or most 4-H organizations have an auction at the end of the fair or sometime.  My understanding of this is that businesses and families in the community purchase the animals from the kids at the auction.  A portion of that sale price goes back to the 4-H organization and the rest goes to the kid who showed the animal at the fair. 

This year, I noticed an increasing trend.  Buyers are spreading out their money!  Multiple buyers will go together and buy multiple animals.  This spreads out their buying power and benefits more kids.  I’m wondering if it doesn’t increase the total revenue of the auction some too. 

I like this concept a lot!

Our 4-H organization’s tradition is that the kids thank the buyers with some kind of gift.  Some thank the actual person who is at the auction doing the bidding and others thank the organization that person represented at a later date.  We do both in our family.  I provide bottled water and/or chocolate for the boys to deliver immediately to the actual person/s who won the auction and then later we make up some homemade goodies to thank the entire organization or business.  We try to find out approximately how many employees and make the gift appropriately sized for each business.

To give you some ideas for your own thank you gift-

Homemade cookies

Fudge

Bread

Cinnamon Rolls

Tea Bags and Individual packets of instant coffee /cappucino

Candy

Gift Certificates to a local bakery/restaurant

Don’t forget to include a thank you note that is signed by the kid him/herself!  When they are in high school, they are capable of writing the note themselves as well!

Beef, it’s what’s for dinner!

Today’s meal: 

• Hamburgers,
•  leftover corn,
• leftover mac n cheese,
• raspberry lemonade

 

When we have our cow processed at the plant, we pay extra for them to patty some of the ground beef.  This makes it so much easier, come meal time.  There is no thawing or prep necessaary!!  I light the grill, throw the frozen burgers on and voila!- Dinner!

You can buy pattied burgers at the store too.  If you go to the freezer section of your grocer, you should be able to find an 8 lb box of burgers.  These patties are flash frozen and then put into a cardboard box.  If you want to save yourself some time and money, you can patty your own burgers and freeze them.  After you have shaped them, place two (2) sheets of waxed paper between each burger.  Wax paper doesn’t freeze and so separating them will be much easier.   To separate frozen patties, bang them on the counter on their side or slide a butter knife in between.

If you are preparing your meal in the house instead of the grill, you have a couple options for frozen patties.  You can put them in a hot skillet with a small amount of water and a tight fitting lid or you can broil them in your oven.  I don’t have a broiler pan but I do have two cookie racks.  I put the cookie racks on a cookie sheet and this works as an excellent substitute for a broiler pan.  Heavy cookie sheets work best, thin ones may warp and spill the grease into your oven.

Some of you may like to flavor your burgers with something.  We do not use anything but salt and pepper but I know some people use garlic salt or seasoning salt with excellent results.  When grilling them I also grill onions- they are delicious!!

Enjoy your burgers!

Cooking doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive

My niece called the other day.  She’s a newly-wed (aaaah- isn’t that special!!!) and trying to figure out what kinds of things that her husband will enjoy and what is simple and inexpensive.  I answered her questions the best I could and I did a lot of listening.  When I got off the phone I remembered more of my own days as a newlywed.  I would work so hard at preparing these wonderful meals and then find out that they were not what my husband was used to eating or that he didn’t like it.  My husband kept telling me to just make him plain food.  I kept thinking that it sounded totally boring and not “good enough” to make him just plain old food.  Then something happened.  . . . . . .our church was called upon to do an after funeral meal for a family in the church.  I needed to make a dessert for it but I really didn’t have much of anything on hand and I didn’t want the expense of another trip to town.  I had a box of jello and a container of cool whip and my husband insisted that it would be good enough- to send plain jello with cool whip on top.  So, I did just that.  Well, I was also a volunteer server at the meal and after everyone ate, many of them (as is tradition) came up to our kitchen serving window to thank us.   Time after time people stopped by and complimented the jello!!  Questions like, “who made that wonderful jello?” and comments like, “that jello just hit the spot” poured in through that window.  I was amazed that something so simple could be soooo impressive!!!  So often when we visit other people’s homes for a meal we are greeted with their best food cooked to the fanciest of their ability.  This is all fine and good but it is not expected that every meal in every home in America be fancy or the best cuts.  Family is about spending time together not about having to do the absolute perfect meal at every opportunity.  Just regular, plain food is good and good for you!

And that’s what it’s really all about.  Meals like a fried ham sandwich with a bowl of fruit sometimes just hit the spot.  Or what about plain grilled cheese with tomato soup?  Here’s some ideas of just plain good cooking that are served often in our home.  If you need recipes, just comment on my blog and I will be happy to add them for you at a later time!

1. Crunchy or Soft Tacos made with beef, lettuce, cheese, and taco sauce.  Served with a bowl of fruit.
2. Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato Soup (or Chicken Noodle)
3. Ham and egg sandwiches on toast with fruit and raw veggies
4. Macaroni and Cheese (Kraft really is the best box brand- homemade is always better though!)
5. Sunday Dinner – Beef Roast with potatoes and carrots and onions (optional) baked in same pan in oven.
6. Boiled Dinner- Smoked Sausage (cut in slices), potatoes, green beans, and onions boiled together until done
7. BLT’s with a hearty side of cheese and a nice dessert of ice cream or pudding
8. Chicken and Biscuits with Jello for dessert
9. Potato Soup with Corn Muffins and raw veggies
10. Chili
11. Lunchmeat Sandwich served with lettuce, cheese, and mayo with chips and dill pickle
12. Stew served with hearty bread and butter
13. Egg Salad Sandwich with fresh veggies and an apple
14. Hash
15. Salmon patties with boiled potatoes and green beans
16. Beef and noodles with broccoli cheese
17. Creamed Beef, Tuna, or Eggs on Toast served with mashed potatoes and corn
18. Hamburgers, potatoes, and baked beans
19. Broiled pork chops with rice and peas
20. Stir Fry

Tip for Bread Pudding

I made muffins the other day and no one seemed to be eating them so I decided that I needed to do something with them before they got moldy.  I made bread pudding with them!!!  It turned out, even!

These particular muffins were the raisin bran muffins – the ones you can store the batter in the fridge for several weeks and use as needed.  I did not have quite enough for the recipe so I added enough regular bread to make it work.

Not bad!

What odd tips do you have today?

Kids can and will help

I woke up this morning to the sound of someone else’s very loud radio alarm and a sinus headache.  How do you teach alarm clock etiquette to children???  I’ve made this deal with them that they can get up w/ their alarm clock at 6:30 if they want (I wake kids at 7)- IF they get completely ready for school before playing or watching TV.  For a while, it was just #2 kid and that creature of habit was doing really well (except for the alarm clock- he can’t get the volume adjusted to loud enough to wake him but not loud enough to wake everyone else).  #1 gets half ready.  #3 does nothing until he gets in trouble. 

I’ve been meaning to share something that I started last week that is working out really well.  Quite a while ago, I made 3 chore lists for the boys that we rotate between them.  A week or so ago, I ordered the Brat Factor (Pam and Peggy Young) 3×5 card download at www.bratfactor.com .  I knew better than to print all the cards and think I would do them all.  Instead, I made a to-do list from the card system for the bathrooms and the laundry room and taped them inside the medicine cabinets and laundry shoot doors.  These are now part of the boy’s daily chore list (along with feeding animals, etc)  Every day of the week has a different chore.  Some of them Pam and Peggy recommend be done daily but since many of them were not done at all before, I made them weekly chores- adapted it to fit out life (we tolerate more dirt than others apparently- lol).  It’s working out quite well!!  Most chores are obvious that they are done- I see the start of clean surfaces after the boys work!!!  I need to get them to put their cleaning supplies back better but otherwise I am very proud of them!!

Sidebar- the boys chores (they are 10,8,6-well, just turned 7) come with these rules attached to them: 

1. We eat supper when the work is done – or we go to their activity when the work is done, whichever comes first.
2. They get paid, but only when they know they did the chores and ask to be paid.  It’s not mom’s job to pay them if they don’t come to her.  They then decide whether to keep the money or put it in the vacation fund piggy bank (a larger than a  shoe box box with a slot in it- when it’s full we can take a special vacation!)

 

Anyway, my point being- maybe I need to make morning routine lists for them so they can get themselves ready the same way they do their chores.

Here’s an example of one of  the boys’ chore lists:

1. Feed and water dog
2. Dump little garbage cans into big one, tie it shut, put in fresh bag.
3. Pick up any garbage and dirty dishes in living room.
4. Do upstairs bathroom chore
5. Spend 15 min. on a 4-H project of your choice

I gave them step by step instructions at first to help them know they were getting the jobs done right.   The bathroom  and laundry room chore lists have step by step instructions because these chores are new to them.  Here’s an example of one but without all the detailed instructions:

• Monday- bathtub
• Tuesday-sink
• Wednesday-toilet
• Thursday- tub/shower walls
• Friday- mirror
• Saturday-floor
• Sunday-shelf/window sill 

I guess I’ll get back with you when I have a morning routine list made up.  For more tips like this try www.shesintouch.com or www.flylady.net or the Brat Factor site I mentioned earlier

Another thing learned living with boys

In Cub Scouts, my middle kid learned how to carve bars of soap. He did a project for CS and then did a second one for a report in school. There is a lot of “wasted” soap when one is done with such a project so his group leader suggested that they use the shavings in the bathtub.

Flash forward : He came home from a sleep over very tired and grouchy. I told him to go take a long bath to calm down and offered a motivation of being able to use his soap shavings. While the tub was filling, I told him to wash his hair in the running water so he wouldn’t have to dip his head into the tub later. Well, he didn’t want to. So he washed his hair in the tub water. The same tub water that had very cheap soap shavings dissolved throughout it and a nice scum of perfumey “crud” floating on top.

Have you ever dipped your arm into really yucking dishwater and lifted it out to discover all the grease had clung to your arm hair? Well, that is what happened to his head hair!!! He had so much soap scum in his hair that it was stiff!!!!! We rinsed and rinsed and it just stayed and stayed. I called a beautician friend and asked her what I could try before paying for a Malibu treatment (build up removal stuff). She suggested baking soda and shampoo mixed together or anything acidic. We joked about turning his head into one large volcano by mixing the baking soda with vinegar or lemon juice. I asked him what he wanted to do and he agreed to try baking soda and shampoo first. I was a little leary that my cheap shampoo would not work so I mixed equal amounts of baking soda with Shaklee’s Basic H (those who don’t know this product, it’s an all purpose, all natural cleaner that is safe for use as a bath gel if needed). Basic H is highly concentrated but I used if full strength anyway with the baking soda. The first try it worked like magic!!!! I got huge lather with the combo of the 2 products and his  hair looked beautiful!!! Not dull like little boys who hate to shampoo’s hair usually looks like- shiny, healthy and squeeky clean! Impressive!

Those of you in the same boat as me, tuck this into your memory banks until you need it!!

For more information on Shaklee products go to www.shaklee.net

Get Burned stuff off pans Automatic Dishwashing detergent

Yesterday, I pulled a stupid.  When my spagetti noodles got done cooking, I poured them into my plastic strainer/colander and then sat the strainer on top of the stock pot that I had cooked them in.  This is my usual way of doing this, except yesterday I forgot to turn the burner off that the stock pot was sitting on!!!  The heat from the burner burned the inside of the pot nearly completely black and that same heat had begun melting my strainer.  I pried it off the pan to discover that the heat combined with the weight of the spagetti had drawn the colander down into the pot.  It was not liquid plastic yet but it was like salt water taffy as it starts to set up.  The plastic colander sat in the sink, noodles and all until it was cool enough to put in the garbage and the pot went out on the porch, in the rain, to cool off. 

Anyway, this morning I put some dry Cascade (automatic dishwashing detergent) in the bottom of the pot and put hot water in on top of it.  They say that automatic dishwashing detergent is harmful to skin so I stirred with a metal spoon to dissolve the detergent.  I let this sit for a while and you could see the chemical moving around in the water mixture.  When it was nearly cool I stirred again and black flakes of burnt stuff started swirling around!!  I rinsed it thoroughly and then scrubbed with a scouring pad and nearly all the black stuff is gone!  My favorite sized pot from my stainless steel cookware is saved!!!

This same recipe worked on set tea stains in my plastic “diner” cups as well.

 

BTW- Angel hair pasta cooked up in 10 minutes, from before boiling water to ready to eat!!!  Lets say we had bread and fruit for an appetizer to the main course while we waited!! LOL