National Preparedness Month - Evacuation Plan

Earlier in this series we talked about creating a plan. Today we are going to talk specifically about a plan for evacuation. Hurricane Ike is certainly a vivid example of how practical all these preparations are to millions of people!

Homeland Security suggests the following steps to take: -

"Plan places where your family will meet, both within and outside of your immediate neighborhood.
- If you have a car, keep a half tank of gas in it at all times in case you need to evacuate.
- Become familiar with alternate routes and other means of transportation out of your area.
- If you do not have a car, plan how you will leave if you have to.
- Take your emergency supply kit unless you have reason to believe it has been contaminated.
- Lock the door behind you.
- Take your pets with you, but understand that only service animals may be permitted in public shelters. Plan how you will care for your pets in an emergency.

If time allows:
- Call or email the "out-of-state" contact in your family communications plan.
- Tell them where you are going.
- If there is damage to your home and you are instructed to do so, shut off water, gas and electricity before leaving.
- Leave a note telling others when you left and where you are going.
- Check with neighbors who may need a ride."

You may want to print out this list and keep it with your emergency kit. By having a list, you won't need to think in a time of emergency. I wrote down all my credit card, bank an other important information in a spiral notebook that I put in my emergency drawer. I also added my "what to grab list" to it - those things I use every day that I would want with me: contacts/glasses, meds, etc. I'll print the above list and stick it in my notebook so I'll be ready.

We keep a car phone charger for our cell phones in each car at all times, so we always have phone capabilities. And we have a car adapter for our laptop. I have added that to our list of things to take in an emergency.

Related Posts: National Preparedness Month - Making a Plan, National Preparedness Month - Determining Potential Emergencies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #1: NOAA Radio, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #2: Landline Phone, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #3 - Water, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #4 - First Aid Kit, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #5 - Additional Supplies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #6 - Food, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #7 - Medications and Medical Supplies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #8 - Emergency Documents

Source: National Preparedness Month

Another Local Opportunity to Get Prepared - CPR Anytime Class

CPR techniques will be offered by The American Heart Association on September 30 from 6 - 7:30 pm at the Cuyahoga Falls Natatorium. The City of Cuyahoga Falls, MC Hair Consultants, and Valley Savings Bank are co-sponsoring this free event.

Participants will receive a CPR Anytime Kit including a practice DVD, a personal inflatible CPR mannequin, and a CPR booklet. They will also hear from people who have been saved by CPR and AED.

Free Local Paper Shredding

Have some sensitive documents you need to shred? The Summit/Akron Solid Waste Management Authority and Neoshred Inc. are partnering to offer free confidential paper shredding for Summit County communities through September 26.

Shredding will be available by appointment only from 9 am to 3 pm at Neoshred, located at 621 Tallmadge Avenue, Akron. Call 330-253-8260 to schedule your appointment.

You are asked to remove binder clips, rubber bands, hanging file folders, binders, paperclips, and report covers. Shredded material will be recycled into tissue paper and paperboard.

What a wonderful way to get rid of your excess paper!

National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #8 - Emergency Documents

Are you ready to get back to National Preparedness Month? When I actually looked back over my blogs, I wasn't that far behind, but it was nice to take a break.

Today's topic is rather time consuming, so prepare yourself! It helps if you have a printer that is a copier, as a lot of our work will be copying documents.

I keep thinking about the Ike victims and how life must be upside down for them! Today's topic is very applicable to such disasters - having copies of important documents at your fingertips. Doing this and the things we've been talking about would make having to go through such a time a tiny bit easier, I think.

When we plan for an emergency, we need to plan for the worst. That would include loss of property and God forbid, loss of life of a loved one. To prepare for recovery following an emergency, it is important to have documents that will facilitate that recovery.

Homeland Security suggests copying the following documents, placing them in a waterproof container, and storing them in your emergency kit:
- family records
- medical records
- wills
- deeds
- social security number and contact information
- charge account numbers, expiration dates, and contact information
- bank account numbers and contact information
- tax records for the last five years
- medical insurance information
- Medicare cards and contact information
- the style and serial number of medical devices or other life-sustaining devices (include operating information and instructions)
- contact information of your medical providers
- the names and contact information of your support network (we’ll talk about your support network soon)
- if you have a communication disability, make sure your emergency information notes the best way to communicate with you.
- my addition: the name and phone number of your insurance carriers, lawyer

I would suggest keeping another copy in your safe deposit box, one in your safe, and giving a copy to a family member.

Any documentation we're missing?


Related Posts: National Preparedness Month - Making a Plan, National Preparedness Month - Determining Potential Emergencies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #1: NOAA Radio, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #2: Landline Phone, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #3 - Water, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #4 - First Aid Kit, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #5 - Additional Supplies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #6 - Food, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #7 - Medications and Medical Supplies

Source: National Preparedness Month

Interview by Mommy's Idea

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Mommy's Idea, a brand new blog created for moms. To help them kick off the new site, I donated a couple of my books for giveaways: Three Steps to Clever Cleaning and Three Steps to Planning Your Child's Parties. Stop by to give Mommy's Idea a vote of encouragement and sign up for the giveaways!

Review by Just a Mom's Take on Things

Deb over at Just a Mom's Take on Things has reviewed a couple of my books: Three Steps to Decluttering and Three Steps to Time Management for the Working Mom.

Deb was very thorough (and kind). Why don't you stop by and check it out. While you're there, spend some time browsing through her fabulous site! She even has some giveaways!

Getting Organized for Winter - Your Chimney

Fall is an excellent time to prepare your fireplace or woodstove for use in the winter. It's another way to prepare your home for sale in the spring, if that's the case. Actually, the best time to clean your chimney is in the spring after your last use. But if that is not the case, it may be good to have it cleaned before you use it again.

How long has it been since you've had your chimney cleaned? The research I've read says you should have your chimney cleaned every year - more often if you use it frequently. Monthly if you use it as the main heating source for your home. Other sources say to clean your chimney after you have burned a cord of wood or when there is a 1/8-inch accumulation of creosote on your chimney wall.

Creosote is the problem - a gummy substance that collects on your chimney walls. If it builds up significantly, it can cause a fire in your chimney which usually must burn out by tiself. This can cause your chimney lining to crack. Authorities suggest burning lengthy fires that reach over 400 degrees, which cuts down on the creosote build-up. Burning short, low-temperature fires "to take the chill off" produces creosote.

How to find a reputable chimney sweep? The Chimney Safety Institute of American recommends: "A complete chimney sweeping includes the chimney flue and smoke chamber....Ask for a Level 1 chimney inspection and a chimney sweeping. If the sweep doesn’t know what a Level 1 inspection is, find one that does. A Level 1 inspection is detailed in the National Fire Protection Association 211: Standard on Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents and Solid Fuel-Burning Appliances." (This publication for chimney sweeps lays out the requirements that should be followed.)

You can clean your chimney yourself, but it involves going up on your roof. My personal feeling is that this is a job that would warrant hiring a professional! They take the risk and they don't make a mess!

I'm a Brilliant Weblog Award Recipient!

What a lovely and encouraging surprise to receive the Brilliant Weblog Award from Mommy Meryl today!



I am deeply honored, and as part of the award, I get to bestow it on seven deserving bloggers:

Campus Calm

a website and blog dedicated to helping college students combat stress

Concept Design Studios

my graphic design expert, webmaster and daughter

I'm an Organizing Junkie

need I say more?

Laurel Wreath's Reflections

Laurel's logo: come, grow, go. Laurel writes book reviews for Christian Women Online

Adventures in Kazakhstan

my other adventurous daughter

Shake the Salt

reviews, giveaways, free stuff, frugal shopping, and mommy stuff

BooMama

guaranteed for a laugh

Why not stop by and see why I like them so!

Destressing Christmas, Part 1 - Think Through Your Expectations

Christmas already? Did you know that it is 97 days until Christmas? If we really want to destress Christmas, it might be wise to start thinking about it now. Last year I did a series on Destressing Christmas. I think I'll repeat one part of the series each week just to help us get started. Here's the first one: Thinking Through Your Expectations

As you anticipate the holidays, think through your expectations. Talk with your family members or those with whom you will be spending the holiday season. Ask what is important to them to celebrate at Christmas - activities, traditions, food, spiritual emphasis, giving, service opportunities, etc. This is the time to determine what is important to emphasize.

Make a list of all your traditions, from decorating to Christmas caroling. Keep the ones you love (forget about impressing other people), and cross off the ones you don't. Without realizing it, I tend to feel a need to incorporate all we had ever done, which becomes unwieldy, and it's rediculous if no one wants to do it!

Be flexible when things don't fit your expectations. Christmas Day doesn't have to happen on December 25th, for example. When we lived in Kenya, we worked with an expatriot medical team who gave their staff Christmas Day off. So we celebrated Christmas as a team on other days.

My husband and I are going to my parents' home for Thanksgiving, but have to fly on Thanksgiving. So we are celebrating on Friday instead of Thanksgiving. Our children won't be with us for Christmas, but we'll adjust.

Enjoy the moment rather than compare it to memories or expectations. Be present and relish what is happening. And if it's not the greatest, do what you can to make it pleasant. Be other-centered rather than self-centered.

Keep a sense of humor. I like things to match and I appreciate beauty. However, my son-in-law secretly placed a very ugly decoration on the tree one year. I did manage to resist my urge to snatch it off the tree, and we left it on the tree for giggles. It has now become a tradition.

Be realistic!!! Know what you can handle and what you cannot. Be kind to yourself and live within your limits. Each year is different. One year we were moving right after Christmas and our holiday preparations for that year were very few. Other years I decided to have a theme - stars, hearts, trees, etc. But after a few years, the number of decorations were getting out of hand so I stopped that tradition. Don't hesitate to limit activities so you can enjoy the season!!

Planning Interesting Lunches

Making lunches was never my favorite thing in the world to do. But when I did some planning, it made it a lot more interesting for me and for my girls!

I made a list of different options (so I would only have to think once!) and would try to provide variety and nutrition, so lunch would not be boring and would be eaten. Here are some of the things I came up with:

- peanut butter and banana sandwiches (the bananas would usually stay nice until lunch)

- peanut butter (in a container) with an apple or banana

- fluffy nutter sandwich (yes - I even did this occasionally - peanut butter with marshmallow creme)

- a bagel with cream cheese or peanut butter

- yogurt

- string cheese and crackers

- sliced cheddar, monterrey jack, or colby and crackers

- deli meat sandwiches on bagels, english muffins or bread

- cream cheese and olive sandwiches

- boiled eggs

- pistacchio nuts

- trail mix

- fresh fruit

- fresh veggies

I tried to be creative and put unusual things in their lunches that they liked - mangoes, kiwis, etc. Making interesting lunches was a little work, but it told my girls I loved them. And I wrote notes on their napkins, even through high school! (They said they liked it and all their friends wished they had similar lunches. If they had been embarrassed, I would have stopped!)

These days, green experts are saying to use foil and reusable containers for food and drinks - another thing to consider.

What do you put in your lunch or your kids' lunches?

Prioritizing Fall Projects

Fall is a wonderful time to do some of those home improvement projects, especially if you are wanting to put your house on the market in the spring. For many who wanted to sell this year, take advantage of the fall to prepare your home for sale next year! Hopefully the market will be more receptive.

It's amazing how just a few little touches can improve your curb appeal! Our house was built in the 1920's (I think) and had a black wrought iron hand railing along the steps going up to the front door. I decided to give it a little punch and painted it red. It seemed like a small project, but scraping and sanding and painting five coats of red was hardly a small project! But I loved the result - well worth it. Neighbors would walk by on all those evenings I was painting, and comment on how they liked it. :-)

We also got a new front door and storm door (all glass), so I painted the door light yellow, and it really looked nice with the red railing. And I painted wooden address numbers the same light yellow and put them above the door. They are very easy to see, and look friendly (if you can say that about numbers!) Just those few things made our home so much more inviting! And along with the flowers I mentioned yesterday, we added a lot of color to our brick home.

Indoor painting is another great fall project. You can open the windows and reduce the fumes. My father-in-law had a system in which he painted one room a year. So, at any time, his painting was pretty current. I have never known anyone so organized with painting! When my in-laws decided to move into a retirement community, they were able to put their home on the market in two weeks!! Amazing!

Whether you're putting your home on the market or not, doing a few projects is invigorating. Make a list of projects you want to do and prioritize them. Then decide how much time you want to spend each week/month. Start with #1, and see what you can accomplish! You're a step ahead for Christmas and spring cleaning, not to mention having created a more pleasant environment for yourself and those you love!
What fall projects are on your list?


Related Posts: Chopping Big Chores down into Bite-Sized Chunks, How to Clean the House

Fall Organizing for your Spring Garden

Plan ahead now to get that wonderful garden and lawn in the spring! Especially, if you're planning to put your house on the market next spring, this will give you a head start on your curb appeal.

My husband just put Scott's Turf Builder Winterguard on our lawn to beef up the grass over the winter. It comes in varieties that get rid of weeds and other pesky problems. For some reason crab grass has become very obnoxious this year in our lawn.

Another suggestion from Scott's: don't bother raking your leaves. Go over them two or three times with the mower until they are dime-sized. Next, feed your lawn. And the nitrogen and microbes will take care of the recycling. Sounds good to me!

Scott's website has helpful information, including a schedule for lawn care according to your zip code.

This is also the time of year to plant those tulips, narcissus, and other bulbs that look so inviting in the spring. A couple of years ago, we dug up our entire front garden, mapped it out, and planted perennials so we would have blooms the entire spring and summer.

One of those perennials, however, took over a lot of the garden and I'm not happy with the color, either. And not enough tulips and narcissus came up. So we're going to redo it again. I'm not so sure I would be motivated to do it again so soon, but we are having to have the drainage system redug because it is leaking into our basement. So if we are going to have to dig up the garden anyway, we may as well be intentional about it.

By now, I know what I like in the garden and what I don't want to see again. I've also learned what grows well here and what doesn't. A lot of it is trial and error, isn't it? I had the idea that once we mapped it all out, it would all grow just as we planned and I would love it. But some didn't come up and some grew too much and some I'm tired of. It's a lot of work, but it sure pays off when flowers pop up each year and it makes our house look so cute!

What do you do in the fall to prepare your lawn and garden for spring?


Related Posts: Using Your Snow Shovel Year Round - Another Gardening Tip, Winterizing your garden

National Preparedness Month - I'm Overwhelmed!

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the National Preparedness Month lists! I was tempted to take a break from it, but felt I should probably plow through the whole thing. However, when my daughter said that she was overwhelmed, too, she convinced me that maybe we should take a breather. We'll start again next week. If you're feeling the need to have closure, go to National Preparedness Month. I'm going to use the break to get caught up on all those lists.

National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #7 - Medications and Medical Supplies

It's easy to put off getting perscriptions filled until the last minute. As I've been researching National Preparedness Month, however, I've seen the importance of having at least a week's supply of medications (both over the counter and perscriptions) on hand at all times. We never know when we might encounter an emergency, and we want to be preapred!

Think about all who are evacuating for Hurricane Ike in Texas. The last thing they need is to have to stop by the pharmacy to get their perscriptions filled! Imagine the lines!

Homeland Security also suggests:

- Making a list of prescription medicines including dosage, treatment and allergy information, and putting that list in your emergency kit.

- Talking to your pharmacist or doctor about what else you need to prepare. I would recommend writing it down and keeping it in your emergency kit.

- Talking to your care providers if you undergo routine treatments administered by a clinic or hospital or if you receive regular services such as home health care, treatment or transportation. Find out what their emergency plans entail. And obtain a list of back-up service providers and incorporate them into your personal support network. (We'll talk more about your personal support network in a few days.)

- Making sure you have extra batteries for hearing aids and wheelchairs in your emergency kit.

I would add eyeglasses, hearing aids, walkers, wheelchairs, oxygen and any other medical devices you (or family memebers) use to your emergency list of things to grab (those things you use each day and can't keep in your emergency kit).

Isn't it amazing to think about all the details we need to get together for an emergency? It shows that we don't want to do it at the last-minute!

Do you have medical items in your emergency kit that I haven't mentioned?


Related Posts: National Preparedness Month - Making a Plan, National Preparedness Month - Determining Potential Emergencies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #1: NOAA Radio, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #2: Landline Phone, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #3 - Water, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #4 - First Aid Kit, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #5 - Additional Supplies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #6 - Food

Source: National Preparedness Month

National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #6 - Food

Here’s what Homeland Security suggests for your food supply for your emergency kit:
"Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.

- Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking and little or no water.
- Pack a manual can opener and eating utensils.
- Avoid salty foods, as they will make you thirsty.
- Choose foods your family will eat.
- Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables
- Protein or fruit bars
- Dry cereal or granola
- Peanut butter
- Dried fruit
- Nuts
- Crackers
- Canned juices
- Non-perishable pasteurized milk
- High energy foods
- Vitamins
- Food for infants
- Comfort/stress foods."

As I’ve said before, our designated shelter is in a closet in our basement. I’m storing my food in dishpans on shelves: easy to pull out and easy to transport, if necessary.

The food I included in my emergency kit: granola bars, cans of ready-to-eat soup, tuna, peanut butter, crackers, beef jerky (even though it’s salty), canned fruit, canned veggies, canned drinks, juice boxes, cookies, and water.

What foods do you have in your emergency kit?

Related Posts: National Preparedness Month - Making a Plan, National Preparedness Month - Determining Potential Emergencies, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #1: NOAA Radio, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #2: Landline Phone, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #3 - Water, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #4 - First Aid Kit, National Preparedness Month - Emergency Kit #5 - Additional Supplies

Source: National Preparedness Month