Quick Starting a Disaster Preparedness Plan for Your Family

© Darko Kovacevic | Dreamstime.com

You can take a few simple steps to be more prepared.  Really! It can be simple.  Most people don't give much thought at all to planning for emergencies.  They just do what everyone else does (like put jumper cables in the trunk and smoke detectors in their halls) and hope for the best.  Those ideas are a helpful, but you can easily do more.  Give it 10 minutes right now.  Grab a pencil and paper and let's get started.  (If you've already started a kit and a plan.  Great job!  Use this article to review, refresh and update your plan.)

Christmas Gifts: The Best Gift Ever

Merry Christmas, everyone!  I've invited my friend, Judy, to contribute today's blog celebrating Christmas Day.  Judy makes me laugh, cry and grow every week on her blog "Out of Control." I hope you enjoy.

The Best Gift Ever

Gifts are a big part of Christmas and, I will have to say, one that I enjoy very much.  I love receiving gifts not knowing what is inside.  The excitement and anticipation build to the point that I have been known to shake a few presents under the tree well before Christmas morning.  As much as I love to receive gifts, I think I enjoy giving gifts even more.  I have been known to go on searches that border on insanity for the perfect gift.  I have stood in early morning lines, I have done doctoral level research to find where a certain gift can be purchased and I have risked life and limb on Black Friday to fulfill the wish of someone I love.  There is just something about being able to give someone a gift that will light up their eyes and bring a smile to their face that I just cannot resist. 

Christmas Gifts: Stadium Blanket

A fleece blanket is a must-have item for a car emergency kit.  How much more fun when it shows off a favorite color, team or design? It is an easy item to purchase for all ages, and these are super easy to make yourself (even if you're not crafty) for that personal touch.  They'll use it again and again.

Here's how we have used a blanket from the trunk of our car:

• As ground cover for an impromptu picnic in the park
• To bundle up when the driver wants the A/C a little too cool

Christmas Gifts: Backpack

A backpack (or duffel) is the critical beginning to every go-bag.  A go-bag is essentially a portable emergency kit for one person.  At my house, we each have a go-bag containing everything we might need for a week if we had to live out of a hotel room, a friend's house, a shelter, or our car.  But this kit starts with a backpack large enough to hold what we need and small enough that each can carry our own bag (smaller bags for the kids.)  Backpacks are ideal because they leave your hands free and help you carry a load more safely than other styles of bags.

Get someone on your list started on their go-bag or emergency kit with an appropriate backpack and a list of starter supplies.  Or better yet, get their kit started with a flashlight and batteries, a can of soup with a pop top, a mini first aid kit, and a few other emergency items.

Christmas Gifts: A Generator

Talk about saving the day!  You'll be the hero for sure when a power outage comes calling, and it always will.

In the US this year we have already experienced six major power outages (February - Texas, April - Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, July - Chicagoland, August - Carribbean, US East Coast and Atlantic Canada, September - Southern California and Arizona, and October - US East Coast).  And while 2011 isn't over yet, this year's list does not include major outages (defined as 1,000,000 person*customer hours) caused by US earthquakes, floods or wildfires.  No place is immune!  When we look at the diverse causes of the 2011 outages, we see that disasters often leave us literally "powerless".  But we are not powerless with a generator!

Now, I realize that a generator is a gift with a hefty price tag.  I also know many families that give super-deluxe gifts every year.  Wouldn't keeping your parents safe or your grand-kids warm when disaster strikes be a great pay-off for an admittedly unusual gift?