Disaster Preparedness -- Again

I've done many posts on disaster preparedness and Do to the recent earthquake in Haiti I think it's a subject worth revisiting.

Have you done anything to prepare for a disaster or do you just put it off. The problem with putting it off is that if the day shoudl unfortunately come when you need that preparation you'll be caught short.

For some of the simple preparations have you stockpiled any bottled water or canned or freeze-dried food. Drinkable water and food are of primary importance when all systems go down. In today's modern American world where we have plenty (often too much) to eat and no shortage of water it may be hard to think that there will be a time when it won't be available. But think not jsut earthquake but blizzard or power outage or flooding -- anything that can be a disruption.

Are you prepared to hold out for three days or three weeks or maybe even three months? make you lsit now and get started on storing provisions.

I'll be blogging about disaster preparedness over the next few weeks. There's much too much to cover in one or two posts.

Parting With Items of Sentimental Value

It can be somewhere between easy and excruciating to part with things. For those items of true sentimental value it can be so very, very difficult. Children's artwork, things that belonged to a dead friend or relative or memorabilia from happy times in our lives.

If you can't hold on to everything but are having trouble parting with it because you'll never see it again then take a picture of it. You can store the photos on your camera or computer or print them out and put them in an album. But this way you have captured the item and can keep it and see it but you no lognerhave to have the physical thing.

Spending Time Together

According to a recent article in the NYT Americans are spending less money but are spending more time together as a family. So maybe something good will come out of the Great Recession, as some are now calling it.

Are you spending more time together? Are you playing board games? Watching movies at home together? Going to a nearby park? Reading aloud? Going on picnics? Eating more home cooked meals and maybe making them together? Doing crafts projects? Going to a museum? Going to a concert?

These are all ways to spend mroe time together and spend less.

New Year's Resolutions

How could I let this time of the year go by without a blog post on New Year's Resolutions.

We've all made them, few of us have kept them. My past is littered with resolutions to lose weight, keep in touch with friends more often and simplify my life. All common resolutions that are often broken.

Instead of making resoltuions this year I've decided to just think back over the past year and think about where I want this year to go. I've decided not to be so hard on myself (I'll never do everything right anyway -- plus there are sometimes things beyond our control), to do more things that please just me (not what other people want) and to spend less time watching TV (a real time sink of wasted time).