Things you can't prepare for...

It's been a long while since I have written anything, at all.  It has been even longer since I have posted anything for this blog.

No matter how prepared you are, when family falls ill, you find you are not prepared for everything.  

Early last year one of my sons fell ill to a very rare strain of meningitis and I was in the 'silently screaming at God" mode.  He was in a coma and even though he is 100% back in his own life, we all know he is not 100% himself.  There are moments when the genius just doesn't click or there is a light missing that was there before.  It's difficult to prepare oneself to see a change like that from a high fever that could have just as easily killed him.  We are grateful he is back to living and the beautiful little girl he and his wife gave us just before Christmas was almost enough to wipe away a mother's fear for her child.

Since then, I knew my mother is old.  I knew she was sick and I knew she would not live forever.  However, no one can prepare for a lengthy painful demise of a parent.  My mother is dying and I have barely been able to grip my soul and keep it inside my body.  

There is no way to prepare for family members acting on their petty desires while you are trying to focus on making the decisions and signing the papers to assist your parents passing.  No matter how close you are to your parent, there will always be some detail that wasn't addressed or a question you forgot to ask, leaving you to make a decision and now instead of screaming at God, you find yourself second guessing and screaming, why didn't I know that?  

Preparing for hard times has helped me to cope with this difficult time.  Thinking ahead about possible survival scenarios has helped me to train my mind to accept Nature.  I believe I am coping better now with this passing than I would have even a few short years ago because I have spent time in the garden watching things sprout and grow and fruit and die.  Think it strange if you like, but I have always believed farm families, pioneer families, people who live close to the Earth cope better with death since they deal with it frequently.

So, with these thoughts finally stated, I believe I will be back at the keyboard soon.  I have a few stories to share.  Between those horrendous phone calls from hospitals and doctors, the tag phone calls to family to keep them up to date, There have been peacocks, armadillos, observations on human dysfunction and some good deals I have come across, worthy of sharing.  

Thankful, First!

     I am doing all I can to keep my opinions inside my car while I am driving down the road!  The world around me has gone from Happy Halloween to Merry Christmas without stopping for a bit of thanks giving. 

I disapprove.

allencompany.net

     Driving home from the local Wal-mart today, I saw the gun shop has decked it's halls with wreaths and garlands.  I got a little disgusted.  This is a large company with several locations.  They make a living selling all sorts of weapons designed for the sole purpose of making turkeys dead!   What up, gunshop guys?  What about taking a minute to put out a turkey with a target on it, at the very least!


     I guess I am getting to that age when I remember....

I remember cleaning our house as if the President was coming to dinner just because my grandmother was driving to us for the long weekend.

I remember unpacking her car and it smelled as good as our house with baked breads and the bags of groceries she brought to make her ambrosia. (which I swallowed whole because I don't like it, but we didn't dare hurt her feelings by not eating some and telling her how wonderful it was!)

I remember being thrown out of the house to "go play!", because we were not needed in the kitchen until it was time to do the dishes.

I remember not being allowed to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade until my baby sister was old enough to get her way.  Then, we were tossed outside of the house, as soon as Santa showed up!

I remember pinecone and contact paper turkeys decorating the table and turkeys made from the handprints of the kids in the house. 

I remember making my own traditions and keeping that extra plate one, just in case.


I remember setting the table and counting the people carefully and adding one extra, just in case a stranger knocked on the door.

I remember driving to the Navy base and asking for a volunteer or two to come as our guests.  We were never turned down and our record was four from the same unit!  They took the fact that we were an Army family really well!  And, trust me, if you don't want leftovers, invite a member of the military home for dinner.

I remember having to go around the table, now heavily laden with food that had tortured us ALL day from the cooking smells as we starved waiting for it and having to say one thing we were grateful for. 

I know this was all before cell phones, tablets, personal handheld electronic games and PCs and Black Friday.  

But, I remember setting aside ONE day to gather family, friends, strangers and food and sharing a meal, for which we were all thankful.  

Living in a Bubble, a short rant on this weekend before Veteran's Day

We all live inside the bubble we create. I work in the homes of a variety of people, I am related to some real characters and I know it is very easy to become, 'bubble bound'.  It is easy to get routine in our day to day and forget there is a whole world operating outside of our line of sight that do not have what we have, know what we know or the ability to obtain either.

I see a lot of different people and hear some interesting statements being made by people with little or no experience outside of their bubble, daily, even before I turn on the television!  So, when TMZ was playing in the background and I heard someone quote Tom Cruise saying his location shoots were just like being in Afghanistan, I chuckled a bit.  His bubble is small and thick, if that is his belief!  Was someone shooting at Tom Cruise with live ammo and I never heard about it?

(no photograph of Mr. Cruise will be posted here, it's a personal choice!)

I mean to say, if he thinks something in his head is clever and he says it out loud and it still sounds clever, he should get out more!  

Maybe, he should ask a veteran with no legs if shooting a film where he is trained, insured and guarded from real danger is just like having your legs blown off.  

Being in combat is not like making a movie, like being in jail or watching a movie in jail!  It is something like being in a foreign country where people want to kill you and trying to move forward for the good of a nation while NOT getting killed, if possible.

I tell you, I would rather have a combat injured, legless veteran with REAL skills in my camp after a grid down event than a Hollywood movie star who thinks he's special because he pays people to tell him he is!

Even if the world is all peaches and fairies for the next forty years and you don't need a skilled warrior to train the young or protect the core group while the patrols are out, a veteran has a world of good to offer a community, a company, a country.  An injured combat experienced veteran IS the real deal.

A combat injured veteran already has the training to survive, to adapt to overcome and has proven their ability to exercise those skills.  You would hardly see that veteran cry because his or her latte has gone cold.  You could count on that veteran to show up, grateful to continue to do whatever job placed before them, so long as they felt respected and needed.  

A combat veteran can cope with the hurry up and wait, the heat, the cold, the lack of proper food, water and equipment and STILL carry on while they are being fired upon!  Given an opportunity, that same veteran could move a mountain, you just have to tell them where you want it and thank them for moving it in such a neat and military fashion, while they say yes, ma'am and yes, sir!  

Veteran's don't ask for the thank you or the 'good job!".  But it wouldn't kill us to break out of our bubbles and say thank you, job well done.  

Honoring Veteran's Day

I have an issue.  
Maybe it's just me. 
I never understood the Veteran's Day sales.  I don't see how buying a car, or extra toilet paper honors the veterans who have done so much to make my life what it is, or even better, what it could be.  

Without the thousands upon thousands of men and women who stepped up to do their part in the protection of liberty and the American dream, I would not be able to blog freely, speak openly, think individually, as I do.  I am grateful.

I just don't see how reducing the price of last year's model car says thank you.  I don't see how buying furniture or knick knacks makes a thank you.  Why not just have an It's-not Christmas, so-we-thought-we-would-mark-down-these-big-ticket-items-just-for-fun sale?

I'm not asking for anything, not even a comment, I am just venting because I am old enough to remember a Veteran's Day Parade where all the branches of the service marched their color guards with the veteran's organizations like The VFW and the American Legion chapters.  We almost never got to sit down.  We stood for the flag as it passed, with  hands over hearts.  We felt so proud of them as they marched in uniform and in rememberance.  

Memorial Day Tribute

www.sodahead.com 

We kept our mouths shut when some old guy said it used to be called Armistice Day.  We pretended it was the first time we ever heard the fighting stopped in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  We honored the older gentlemen by listening to them and thanking them for telling us what it meant.  

We gave every penny we could find for a poppy.  We still do, only now, we have dollars.  

I'm just saying, the car sales commercials are driving me nuts.  My eldest son tells me veterans get a discount this weekend at Lowe's Home Improvement stores.  That seems a more fitting thank you.  So, why not all stores giving a thank you or a tax free day for veterans?   Or, maybe just say thank you.  

Hit a glitch

I have totally hit a bump in the prep trail.  I have four blog posts drafted waiting for the right time to post.  I can't get my head out of Christmas gift giving, Veteran's Day and I think I smell turkey roasting.  I hope I'm not having a stroke!

I am ready to start the holiday preps.  Maybe I'm just over the summer.  I have set my yard for the cool weather and I am just tapping my fingers waiting for a weather front cool enough to pull out the winter comforter.  

This weekend, the fall birthday season begins with two grandkids, two nieces, and I just want the birthday cake season to begin!

Until I can get my cake level up and my head out of making gifts and gift lists, here are some good survival websites NOT concerned about cake and crafts.

http://www.topsurvivalsites.com/

http://survivalcache.com/5-survival-blogs-you-should-be-reading/

http://graywolfsurvival.com/best-prepper-and-survival-websites/

Preparing to Give Thanks

     Now that Halloween has come and gone, the costumes are washed and put away, the candy has been picked through and most of the chocolate is gone, visions of turkey and sweet potato pie dance in my head.  

     I have already changed my Facebook profile photo to Pilgrim dressed rubber duckies ('cause I am cute like that, prepping should not kill the sense of humor!).  If you are prepping without a sense of humor, or if the thought of the end of a comfort driven life has killed your joy, 'tis the season to get some!  You may use this photo for your profile!  

     Later this month, my family will gather for a large buffet of turkey, pork and potluck.  Most of the people coming bring something to add to an already full table.  Because we are so very lucky to have this great meal together, I go hunting for food donation bins.  Some charities are already suffering empty larders so, as the holiday season rolls around, it feels good to be able to give.  

http://www.dollartree.com/

     I have extra.  It comes from a year of saving and turning my back on ridiculously un-needed things and stretching my dollars until they bleed!  

     I have my prep supplies and I have some to share.  For the holidays, I tend to give coffee.  I could give a ten pound bag of rice, though that doesn't really say, Happy Holiday!  So, I consider the stressed out parent who has stripped themselves of all things frivolous, and I give bags of coffee.   The coffee shone to the above, is a 7 oz. bag of coffee available from Dollar Tree.  It can be ordered online and picked up at the store in your town at a cost of $24 per 24 bags.  That's a LOT of calm and comfort to share.  For $12 you could give 12 bags (at 24 oz.) of long grain white rice, or 24 bags of yellow rice for $24.  If you have a store where everything is a dollar, you can look online for there website and buy a box of 'feels good to give a little' delivered to your local store at no cost for shipping. 

     You could also give what you store.  You know what you like.  I like lemonade.  I pack and store lemonade drink mix.  I pack all year long, but this month and next I will pack three and give two.  I like to use ready to bake cookie mixes when my grandson asks if I have any cookies.  If he wants a cookie, we bake it, to get him used to the idea that you have to make things.  I buy a baggie of cookie mix for the cupboard and one to give away.  THe children of hungry people like to make things with their parents, too.  

     Give some thought to what you have, what you like and like to give.  Then get some joy back into your life by giving some to others.  

     
      

     

The Norovirus

       I have been offline for a few days due to the bug going around here.  A week ago, over 200 elementary school children were absent from school and another 300 the Friday before.  The first tests returned a positive fro the norovirus.  Lovely.  Hundreds of kids sick forced to grin and bear it or tough it out until symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting kept them home, then they were sent back to school the next day while they were still contagious. 

Norovirus

Norovirus is a very contagious virus that can infect anyone. You can get it from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces.
http://www.cdc.gov/norovirus/

     One of my homeowners came down with the same symptoms, took one day off and went back to work the next day.  Too bad for those who came into contact with her.  I practically swim in bleach, wash my hands regularly, do not touch other people's children and still five days after exposure to my homeowner, I feel I picked up some strain of the virus from a shopping excursion.  I stayed home and stayed as much to myself as possible, disinfecting everything I touched for two days.  My remote control got a little sticky Saturday....but, that's on me. 

Which hand sanitizers 

kill stomach flu viruses (especially norovirus)?

Answer: Clorox Hand Sanitizing Spray, Germstar Noro,  Zylast Antiseptic,  and Sterizar Hand Foamer   http://www.stopthestomachflu.com/Home/which-hand-sanitizers-kill-stomach-flu-viruses

        Meanwhile, my daughter-in-law is in the hospital.  Because of the current flu, viruses and colds going around, her symptoms were diagnosed as 'possible meningitis'.  Okay, she had an infection, saw her doctor, took her meds then felt better and overdid it.  She threw a yard sale, sitting out in the sun for sometime while she still had antibiotics in her bloodstream.  I can't blame her, when you have a few good days while you are pregnant, you do all you can to catch up or get ahead getting ready for the newcomer.  She overdid!  

    Worried, my son took her to the ER where her doctor practices and there she was frightened out of her skin by some casual talk about pregnant women with the flu often progress and develop meningitis.  Well, after the scare we had earlier this year with her husband, they wondered why her blood pressure spiked!  Seriously? Scare a loving lovely pregnant woman at the end of her second trimester then wonder why she looks and appears to be frightened.  Well, she is calming down now and will be completely hydrated, rested and home tomorrow.  

      My point today is, I suffered a lot less than others around me.  No matter how cautious I am or how much bleach I use in my work, I still felt icky all weekend.  I was careful to stay hydrated and to stay home.  It passed.  

     So, even though no one is home at the CDC website, (due to government shutdown) the front page still works!  SO, do what the feds suggest and your mother always told you.  Wash your hands all the way up, do not stop at the knuckles!  Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, pigs poop on the farm, you want to eat pig poop?  Cook shellfish thoroughly, that stuff is icky and dangerous raw.  Clean your house.  Clean surfaces, do your laundry, change your sheets, and your underwear while you're at it.  When you are sick, be sick.  Hydrate, rest, and disinfect your phone, tablet, keyboard and stop touching people! Share the love, but keep your germs to yourself! 

     

Get out and do something!

     Every month I receive coupons in the junk email inbox for shops I have purchased at online or places that wanted me to sign up for email alerts.  I check them out and sometimes use the coupons to make purchases.  But, every once in awhile you just have to get up and get out of your house.  You have to put down the keyboard, give the plastic money card a rest and get out of your house.

     Today, I took my yard sale cash stash and went for a drive.  I ended up spending a total of $10.75 plus a gallon of gas and two hours of my time.  No matter how you do the math for your purchases, I got a lot for the money.  I bought a like-new single sleeping bag, the tag on it was $24.99.  Yup! tag still on it!  I got nine DVDs, a ricer, three leather belts, two books (both marked $14.95 and never opened), three knit caps, two hot dog skewers, two hobo pie pans, and a set of ink stampers to make a rubber stamp to mark clothes with permanent fabric ink.  It was a good haul.  Also, it was a pretty day.  

www.walmart.com 

     Just because I prep for disaster doesn't mean I am all gloom and doom.  A lot of women pull away from their men when they start prepping because of the talk about weapons and ammo and death and disaster.  They don't get the talk about death and destruction.  To a woman, it sounds like you are starting the trouble, not solving a future problem.  Lighten up!  

     Prepping is fun.  Prepping isn't about killing and destroying.  Prepping for disaster is about surviving and getting on with life in the face of danger and disaster.  Prepping for financial decline is ALL about living within your means and putting away more for the future.  So, I yard sale.  If all you talk about is weapons and dismal outcomes that's all you are ready for.  What about the down time?  What about the family, the business of life and living?  

     It was a pretty day.  I met some interesting people.  Some were moving to Corpus Christi and since I lived there years ago, we had a nice conversation.  The lady selling the camp equipment tried to talk me into a bulk lot of Halloween decor!  She was sweet, but no sale!  I have enough of my own for this year.  She gave me a great deal on the sleeping bag for $1.   

     I buy DVDs for my collection at the discount rate you get at a yard sale (nine for $4.50).  I like the savings, sure, but I mostly buy movies I haven't seen or the ones I am sure I will watch several times.  I save money for entertainment by not going to movies and having good fun at home.  Why not have a family fun night with movies and a meal cooked over the campfire?

     If you bring home a set of hobo pie pans, make dinner for the family.  The better half will appreciate the night off, the kids will be impressed to see fire building and food you can make that is fun, fast, delicious and delightful.  Hobo pie pans and a few skewers are all you need for grilled cheese sandwiches, hot dogs, fruit pie pockets, and all sorts of great fun meals.  Once the kids are on board for a little do it yourself, the Mrs. is next.


     Prep for hurricanes, earthquakes, financial ruin, or government collapse, sure.  But every once in awhile, get out of the house and have a little fun.  Go yard saling, read a book under a tree, weed the garden, build a campfire in the backyard and grill some hot dogs, take a walk, just get out into the light and enjoy it.