Saturday, September 3, 2011

Things that I learned from our Hurricane Adventure

First off...thank you all for your concern about us.  While the storm itself wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, it obviously has lasting effects.  There are still over 100,000 people without power.  Some are in my town.

Five days without power gives a girl some time to think.  In the dark.  In the quiet.

1)  We have entirely too much time in front of the tv.  Once the kids were forced to find other things to do, they were ok.  Bossy had a very hard time with it, but even he found some things to do.  I am going to try and cut back on their tv time once school starts next week.

2)  Our emergency fund is too low.  It is just under $1,000. Prior to this, my "comfortable" number was $1,500.  Now I am feeling more like $2,000.  I did not dip into it for anything, but if I had, we would have been way below $500.  And now with replacing food....it would have been gone.

3)  We need an emergency kit.  I HATED being one of those people at the store stocking up on stuff.  So, I will now make an emergency kit.

4)  Car chargers are worth their weight in gold.  We used ours for our cell phones...and for the portable DVD player for the kids!!!

5)   On-line is great...but paper is worth something too.  I had bills to pay..and had to find a computer to use to do everything.  If I had the paper bills, I could have written a check.  But I went paperless on most things.  Bossy's occupational therapist was kind enough to let me use her office, and I took care of everything.  But it was stressful.

6)  Family is the priority.  No matter what...as long as we are together and safe...the rest will work itself out.


My weekend is being spent doing laundry, cleaning, and prepping for the first day of school...which was supposed to be last week.  BUT, I am going to spend a few hours decorating for fall.....I need the time to really chill.  I thought I could chill without power....but I spent most of my time doing things that took 40 times longer due to the circumstances.

I hope to have some more stuff to share next week....but this weekend will be post-hurricane "stuff."  Happy weekend everyone!!!

5 comments:

  1. Experience is the best educator. I am sorry you had to go through all that but very glad it came out as good as it did.

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  2. I learned the hard way too when I experienced the Northridge earthquake. Drinking water was the most important commodity.

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  3. I'm glad something good came out of it! :)

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  4. Great post! :) Glad you're all ok & some time to think isn't always a bad thing! :)

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  5. so glad you are safe! love #6 !!!!

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