Are you prepared?

It's amazing how easily we can let our guard down without even realizing it. It isn't hurricane season yet here in Florida. It doesn't usually even rain in the morning here. Just the afternoons. So I was definitely caught unprepared. It was raining when I woke up. Well, not just raining but Storming BADLY. I woke to no power.

Had no idea where the flashlights were other than the ones we keep in the car and I was not about to go outside.No power meant no tv or radio reports. Which means that I did not hear about the tornado watches and warnings until an hour later. NOT GOOD.

Not good at all!

The NOAA radio that we used to have is no more. A NOAA radio, for those of you that don't know, is a weather alert radio that will activate if the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issues an alert. They have a battery backup so that they will still work if the power is out. I will be purchasing one as soon as I finish this post. 

These are a must have for anyone that may get severe weather. 

Also this morning, 4 out of 6 of the cell phones in our house were dead. Made me realize how much we take having electricity for granted. That is not a good thing to do. You never know when an emergency may arise. Like the Boy Scouts say, BE PREPARED!

This reminded me to start getting this season's hurricane kit together.Since we are in Florida and the threat of a hurricane is very real, we need to be prepared to survive on our own for at least a week with no electricity.  I thought I'd share with you what goes in our kit.

For the most part, our supplies are generally scattered throughout the house because we will mainly "shelter in place". That means stay here and wait it out. This is only advisable if you are out of the flood zone and you are NOT in a mobile. We live in a cement block home,so we are a little safer. Also a big caveat, DO NOT EXPECT EMERGENCY SERVICES OF ANY KIND! If you are in doubt, evacuate to a shelter.

The first thing that you need is food and a source of clean water. 

When you know a storm is coming, bleach your bathtub and fill it with water. Your water supply may be compromised. If nothing else, you can use that water to flush your toilets. Purchase a few gallons of water as well. You can never have too much water. We have an inground pool and I keep bleach on hand to convert that water to drinkable water just in case.

Purchase food throughout the year that is shelf stable. Cans of soup, pancake mix, boxed potatoes, a few boxes of shelf stable milk. , peanut butter, jelly. etc. anything you would put in the pantry is good.

Don't forget to have a manual can opener! Very important because, uh, duh, the electric won't work!

Now you gotta cook...

a propane stove or grill is best to have but charcoal will work as well. Make sure you use it outdoors! You do not wan't to die from carbon monoxide poisoning! It Happens! Way too often! Wait until the majority of the storm passes before you go outside to cook. Eat things like granola bars or sandwiches until then.

Since this has already gotten so long, tomorrow I will explain what you need next. 

I Like It Just Fine

It started out of necessity. His car broke down AGAIN. He needed to get to work and walking 30 miles, or whatever it is, was out of the question. So he took the SUV. "Only temporarily," he assured me. The kids still had to get to school. The bus stop is only3/4 of a mile from the house. So we walked.

 And I liked it.

 No arguing over who was sitting where. No fighting over who got in the car first. No excess energy to deal with when we got home either. I was on to something.

You see, we own 3 vehicles. It used to be 4. I had a van to use as back up when the SUV was not available to me. The van had a flat tire and we just didn't find the time to fix it. So we walked. Then a dead battery. We walked again. Eventually,I saw the van as a money hog. Insurance, gas, upkeep yada yada... I gave it away. Someone else could benefit from it. We really didn't need 4 vehicles with only 2 drivers in the house. We could walk...

I like the fact that we walk to and from the bus stop. It helps with the kids' energy level. They are more focused in school. They fight less. They are healthier.They fight less. It saves us money. And...they fight less.

I like that..ALOT.

Going to school can be a stressful thing for kids. Any kid actually. Not just ones that are picked on or bullied. Not just the kids that struggle in school. All kids get wound tighter than a top sometimes. That energy needs a release somewhere. I have found that walking home and talking about things on the way seems to help. They all walk at a different pace. The ones that need to talk about something with me tend to hang back a little.The others walk a bit ahead. By the time we get home, the problem is usually dealt with. They are more relaxed and can focus on other things once we get in the door.

I won't lie. Some mornings are crazy. Even crazier than if we drive to school. Some mornings the girls are brushing their hair as we walk. Forgotten things need to be just that...forgotten. No going home to get it. On occasion, someone has fallen, or stepped in puddle, or something to that effect, and gotten dirty. I still will send them to school like that. I hate to, but school is too important to miss.  The school is only 2.5 miles from the house, so we can walk all the way there if need be. Thankfully, that rarely happens. Only once last year and not at all this year (knock on wood). I can only imagine what the teachers think of me when the kids come to school on a bad day. (Sorry teachers!)

I like the cost savings of only using one vehicle so much that I now try to plan appointments to coincide with the public bus schedule. Yes, that means that dentist appointments require a longer time out of school. But the benefits far outweigh the negatives here too. All of my children can safely navigate their way across busy streets. They all are familiar with how to ride a public bus. They can read a bus schedule. They even know the importance of being somewhere on time.  After all, the bus won't wait on you, you have to wait on the bus.

We do use the small cars on rare occasions. But most of the time they just sit idly by, gathering a layer of dust.

 I like that just fine.

Lazy Girls Bread recipe

I love the smell of freshly baked bread! There is nothing else like it to make a house feel warm and cozy. I haven't made bread in quite a while but as I was wasting time surfing the blogs, I came across a few posts mentioning baking biscuits.I decided that I need to start baking bread regularly again. I dusted off my bread baking recipe just for y'all. I call it Lazy Girl Bread because, well, um, I'm lazy...LOL

The recipe that I use to make bread is so easy...It is just 4 numbers...

6-3-3-13


Thats all you need to remember to bake some delicious bread, rolls, pizza crust, cinnamon rolls whatever it is you may want.

6 cups of water     (room temp or slightly warmer)

3 tablespoons of yeast


3 tablespoons of salt ( I prefer sea salt)

13 cups of flour


Mix all of the ingredients together. NO kneading required. I prefer to use a plastic dishpan for this dough. A new one of course. Let the dough rise on the counter for a few hours and then loosely cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge. Cut off a piece of the dough whenever you want bread or rolls. Allow it to raise up some and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes depending on what you are making.

This dough will keep for two weeks in the fridge although I usually use it up in about a week. No need to clean your dishpan either. Just scrape down the sides and mix up more dough. The leftover bits act as sourdough starter! How easy! No wait... How Lazy!

First impressions of EASports Active 2

Well, I just finished my first workout with EASports Active 2 for XBOX 360 and I must say, I'm impressed! It was an excellent workout for this older out of shape mom. Unlike the videos that are the market today or the tv shows that are out there, you are actually accountable for doing the reps required. No skipping a few or waiting until that part is over. Gotta do em to get to the next part.

The only time that this was a problem is when it was time for the floor exercises, namely push-ups and sit -ups. The Kinect sensor just doesn't seem to read correctly. Maybe it's just me or the way we have the Kinect positioned in my house. I'm not sure. But I think that this is something that Microsoft will need to address eventually.

I love the heart monitor too. Great for instant feedback. I'm looking forward to the next 9 weeks. If you are looking for a challenging workout and don't wanna pay for a personal trainer, do the next best thing. Buy a personal trainer in a box from EASports!

My false body image...

Normally when you hear people complain about a false body image, you think larger than they are. My problem is the opposite. In my mind's eye, I am still 19 and in great shape. NOT! I still see myself as that 114 pound wonder that I was, not the 41 year old 190 pound blob that I have become. You wouldn't think that it is much of a problem to view yourself as thinner than you are, but boy is it a problem!

I have a hard time buying clothes that flatter my shape because I don't know how to work with my shape. It's obvious that I can no longer fit into a size 6 or 8 or even 14. But when online shopping, those are the types of clothes that I gravitate towards. I have gotten better about it lately though. It helps that I've also lost 25 pounds in recent months.

I can now wear a 16 in most things. This is a big deal because most manufacturers stop at 16 with clothing lines. Then it is into plus sizes which are hard to navigate. I am really short legged which makes it hard to find bottoms that fit right. Believe it or not, capris usually fit me perfectly as long pants. Occassionally they can be just a little too short making it look like I have floodwaters on.

Petite clothing is not made short enough in the larger sizes to fit me right. They are actually too long. Why is that? I know I'm not the only 5'1 size 16 or 18 in the world!

The best solution for me? Lose some more weight. I would like to get down to a size 12 or even 10. I don't expect to get to a lower size than this. Age and body type pretty much dictates that. I just wanna look like I feel.

In my mind's eye, I am still an athlete. I used to run. Haven't tried that in 18 years now. Scared of what would actually jiggle if I did run. LOL I would love to run a 5k.. Thought about trying the couch to 5k program, but (insert lame excuse here)

To get started in returning to a healthy lifestyle, I have been eating better, and walking a lot more. I even try to take the public bus instead of jumping in a car to go places. This requires walking to and from bus stops to get where I am going.

I also purchased EASports  Active2 for XBOX 360. I'm gonna start it for the first time as soon as I finish this post. It's 9 weeks long. I'll update along the way. 

Today I am 190 pounds. I haven't measured inches in quite a while and quite frankly, I am too lazy to find the tape measure today...I will start doing that soon though. I'll update all that info weekly to keep myself honest...
Anyone else wanna join in? Make this a challenge? Work together?

Time for me to go workout...see ya tomorrow!

The last time..

I had an interesting conversation this morning.Another mom and I were lamenting our babies growing up. How we are going to miss certain things from when our children were little. It seems like as parents we are always focused on our children's firsts. The first word, the first tooth, the first time they crawl, walk,smile, go to school etc

In the day to day of life, we never stop to really think of the lasts in our children's lives. Sometimes they seem more important than the firsts. The last time you changed a diaper, do you remember? I don't... The last bottle that you held for your baby. The baby so gradually takes over holding their own bottle that you don't really notice until you haven't held that bottle for so long. 

I can't remember the last time  I swung a toddler up onto my hip to carry her. I never thought I'd miss those days, but I do. It doesn't seem like a big deal at the time, but it really was.

I know that there are so many first to look forward to, but there are also so many lasts too. I just hope to live each day with the awareness that every moment is important not just the dramatic ones. You never know when it will be a last...

Savor every moment...yes even those times that you wish that they would just grow up already. Because they will..and you will miss it.

How old is old enough?

I got one of those phone calls yesterday that every parent dreads. The school assistant principal called. My 11 year old 5th grader was in trouble. His crime? He visited an unapproved website while at school. The website in question www.google.com. He and his friends were looking up Boa Constrictors. If he was in 6th grade, he would be have been allowed to visit google. K through 5 are too young for any website other than the 3 websites that the school approves of. He received a day of in school suspension. I understand the need for this and have no complaints about it but...

This got me to thinking, how old is old enough? 

The same day that this happened, my 13 year old, 7th grader wanted to know if he could start a facebook page. My rule has always been not to allow things like this until high school. No email, no facebook, no myspace...nothing that can be identifiable to a particular child. I want to know that my child will make good choices on his own before I allow him to be in that situation.

After much discussion and thought on the matter, I finally allowed him to start a facebook page and email address. My husband assures me that 13 is an okay age for these kinds of things.  I will be vigorously monitoring all of his online activities but I'm still very torn though. Is he really old enough? Should I have made him wait? 

The hard part is the knowledge that you can't "unsee" what you saw by mistake. The internet is a great place as long as you are careful. 

When it comes to the internet, how old is old enough?