Worst Winter in Years!

I'm not actually certain what the "official stats" show, but in my mind this has to be the worst winter weather we've had in years here in St. Louis.  Down in the river valley at the confluence of three great waters, the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Illinois, we enjoy significantly milder weather than our very near neighbors.  But strangely this year the snow has fallen and had uncanny staying power.  I'm not complaining, I love the wintery weather.  The snowfall and hot chocolate.  Kids playing outside.  Icicles on the gutters.  Rabbits and squirrels frolicking.  (Of course, driving can be a trick.)  I am always amused at the rush for bread, milk, and eggs.  It's a long running gag in my circle of friends.  But in light of this blog that I write, it's great.  I really appreciate people thinking ahead to make sure they have what they need when they are snowed in.  The smart ones are avoiding a disastrous car accident or maybe just a disastrous meal.  Either way, today I say, "Kudos to you! And while you're there, maybe you'll pick up a few shelf stable and ready to eat items, just in case."

Here are a few extra items I like to have before the big storm rolls in:

Extra ice melt (salt or other chemical melts)
Extra windshield washer fluid
Two ice scrapers in each car
Extra gloves, hats, and blankets (or hoodies) in each car
Water and snacks in each car
Snow shovel and a bag of sand (if you're traveling, put it in the car)

Bread, milk, and eggs
Boxed cereal (sometimes I le the kids get their junk-y favorites)
Easy to cook favorites (mac and cheese, grilled cheese)
Soup (soup mix, soup ingredients, soup in a can, whatever) and crackers
Pasta and sauce
Hot chocolate

Toilet paper
Facial tissues
Ibuprofen and cold/cough medicine
Hand and body lotion

Flashlight and batteries
A good book
A new kids' activity
Heat and cooking source during a power outage

And here are a few things I do before the storm:

Fill car with gas
Check gas grill tanks for propane (Never use a gas grill indoors! Never!)
Pick up a few 5 day DVD rentals (Sometimes our internet goes down first.)
Put an extra blanket on each bed
Check weatherstripping on doors and windows
Charge all cordless devices (and power it off, if possible)
Start the chili (insert name of good soup here) in a slow cooker
Stay out of major traffic all day
Get everyone indoors and snuggle down before the weather hits

Functional Friday Go Bag Part II - The Purpose

Scenario One: The teen-ager that live a few doors down pulls out of the drive and heads by your house to go to school.  Her cell phone rings, and as she pries it out of her pocket it falls on the floor.  She reaches down to grab it, but in her distraction she rams the corner of the lawn chemical truck servicing your neighbor's house.  Thankfully, she is wearing her seat belt and her airbag goes off.   She is safe, but the truck is in the middle of the neighbor's lawn and the the tank of lawn chemicals has split open like a dropped watermelon. In a scene reminiscent of Batman, green goo is flowing down the neighbor's sloping yard across the drive and into your landscaping.  As the police arrive, they ask you to leave your house until they can assess the risk and confirm the contents of the tank.  The officer asks you to safely exit your home in the next five minutes.  They have a hazardous materials crew and containment unit on the way, and they aren't sure when you'll be able to return.  What do you grab on your way out the door?

Let's mix it up now.

Scenario Two: You plan to stay at work till 5:30 since the train was late getting you there this morning.  Your 18 month old is at the company run daycare in your building, and your 12 year old just called to say his homework is done.  Your husband is at a job site today and will try to be home in time for dinner at 6:30.  A thunderstorm rolls through about 4:30 as predicted.  Strong winds cut power to many homes and businesses, including some in your neighborhood.  Your building is fine, but the sister office across town is without power, and all calls and transactions are forwarding to your site, leaving everyone a bit flustered.  No one is answering the phone at home.  When you try your husband's cell a message plays saying all circuits are busy.  You take a ten minute break to run down and check on your daughter in daycare.  She's fine, but two workers left due to storm related emergencies and you'll need to pick her up promptly at 5:00 pm.  To make matters worse, they forgot to tell you yesterday that they are out of her baby food and are running low on diapers.  And you just found out that flash flooding has closed one of the bridges you cross to get home.

I hope I'm not frightening you.  I cannot predict these or any other scenario will happen to you, but they are events that will occur in some form, somewhere soon.  Admittedly, they are both pretty dramatic, but I hope you can see that they are plausible.  Knowing you have a plan will help you navigate both of these situations with some degree of confidence.  Preparedness planning is a support that may sustain you through a difficult situation.  Both of these situations emphasize the need for a pre-planned supply kit at home, at work, at daycare, and in the car (or your commuter bag.)  Next Friday, we'll pick a bag that suits your needs.

This Series' Links
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Need
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Purpose
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Bag
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Basic Stuff

Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - What's Next?

The Emergency Twenty

Do you carry emergency cash in your wallet, bag, or maybe car?  My family is debit card based, and I often find that I would like to have a bit of cash on me for something or another.  I always try to carry an emergency $20. (Tucked away separate from the few bills I know I'll spend right away.)  I'd like to upgrade it to $50 or $100, but for now it's a $20.  (Note: If I DO upgrade, I'll likely keep the bills small anyway.)  Here are a few things it could be for.

• Cash "thank you" for someone who stops to help change a flat tire or jump my dead battery
• To cover the items that "grandma" in front of me can't afford at the grocery store
• Unexpected trip through McDonald's to quiet the kids for 15 minutes
• A meal and cup of coffee for someone on the street less fortunate than I
• To pay for the next couple of customers at the Starbucks drive up
• To drop in the donation box I notice while I'm out and about
• To indulge at the only ice cream shop left in the world that doesn't take plastic yet
• A girl scout cookie seller ambush

What else do you find you need instant cash for in your life?

Food Safety and the Trouble with BPA

Having a mouse in the house (we think they're gone now) really made me look at our food safety and preservation methods with a little more appreciation. Can you imagine what it was like for our ancestors to make bread every? single? day? That was after they'd milked the cows. Rodents, insects, spoilage threatened pioneer food stores all the time. And when they had to throw something out, they couldn't just run to the Wal-Mart Super Center for more, they had to make do without it. Cleanliness, safety standards, canning, packaging, freeze-drying, pasteurization have all given us food with a long shelf-life and the confidence that it will not make us sick. But will it?

In 2011, I'm trying to be more conscious of my food.  I want to organize my freezer and pantry, be more economical and plan more meals, but I'm also trying to buy organic and reduce the potential of bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure. Luckily, buying organic is becoming easier and easier. But eliminating BPA is not. BPA is a chemical that is used to make plastics more shatterproof - everything from Christmas ornaments to helmets to water bottles. It's presence in  water bottles, the lining of canned foods, the lining of some canned soda concerns me. BPA is an endocrine disruptor, it mimics the hormones in people's bodies, and while the effects haven't been proven in humans, it's been shown to cause harm in laboratory animals. Causing everything from obesity to diabetes to cancer.

Avoiding BPA is difficult at best.  Its presence in food containers is prevalent and labeling is not regulated.  Many infant products and toys are listed as BPA free on the packaging, but testing often shows trace amounts still present.  After starting with BPA-free materials, manufacturing and processing equipment containing BPA leaches it into the food and other products manufactured.  While some corporations are beginning to eliminate BPA from their lines, other companies aren't forthcoming with the contents of their packaging.

The biggest concern is tomato products.  The acidity of tomatoes is a catalyst to the leaching process, leaving a substantial amount of BPA in your food.  Canned tomatoes are particularly troublesome, but even the lids of many glass jarred tomato sauces may contain BPA.  According to Frederick vom Saal, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri, a liter of canned tomatoes may contain 50 mcg of BPA, which is enough to "impact people."

Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Need

Some of my best emergency and disaster training comes from watching movies.  Action movies are especially ripe with examples, suggestions, and references for anyone wanting to increase their preparedness in an emergency.  Example: This week my husband and I watched SALT (starring Angelina Jolie) after the kids went to bed.  As the action builds, she grabs a bag that contains EXACTLY what she needs and executes a plan that she has been contemplating for years.  The moment came and she was ready... with the perfect go bag.  (I'm sorry that it's difficult to see in this photo.)  Although, it's doubtful that your go bag will contain magnetic explosives like a CIA agent, I hope to help you start planning what you need to include in yours.

First, a glimpse into emergency planning.

1) Consider your likely and possible emergencies.
Your Home (fire, sewer back-up, gas leak)
Weather (tornado, thunderstorm, blizzard, drought,winds)
Natural Location (flood, tsunami, volcano, wildfire, earthquake)
Man-made (hazardous material spill, nuclear plant malfunction, crime)

2) Consider your special needs, situations, and/or circumstances.
Household members include young children, elderly, mental/emotional/physical disabled.
Very urban and very rural settings can present special challenges.
Work requires you come in during an emergency. (medical personnel, emergency service, small business owner, company management or engineers)
Resources available to you will determine your capability.  (ie Those with a Hummer will fare better during a storm.  Those with a motorcycle will fare better when there's no power to pump gas.)

3) Make a plan.  (...even a little plan.  We'll make it better later.)
Write it down and hand it out.
Your plan may dictate what you need with you.  Keys, money, tent, 50 gallons of gas?
Make sure your friends, family and emergency contacts know your plan.

4) Consider your friends, family, and neighbors in your plan.
Do you have an elderly neighbor or single parent neighbor you'll want to help?  Plan for it.
Does your grandmother live across town?  Plan for her.

Now make a basic last of the things you think you would need if you had to go right now, and you weren't sure when you'd be back (hours? days?).  Next Friday, we'll look at why and when you might need and use a go-bag.

This Series' Links
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Need
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Purpose
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Bag
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - The Basic Stuff
Functional Friday: Go Bag Part I - What's Next?