A Shower Please

Just a reminder to please excuse my tardiness for late posting.
Jake is out of town for the week with the Scouts which means I am holding down the fort(s).
Being the only parent, doing all the housework, and manning the business all on my own is a great reminder as to why I am glad I married a guy I never want to leave.
Because this single parent stuff really stinks.

Why the picture of the shower?

Well maybe I have showers on my mind.

As in.. I wish I had gotten one today. HA!

I do but actually it is there because I bought this one this past weekend at my local Ace Hardware for $11.00.
I know it is not an essential in emergency preparedness.
But it is was so surprisingly cheap.
Why live without one.
Had I figured out they were so cheap I would have bought one long ago.

I'm the type of gal who is literally a zombie until I shower.
It is the first thing I do every morning.
I mean I have been up for 30 seconds and am in the shower.
So this would be an essential for me.

I can't report on the effectiveness of this camp shower because I sent it with Jake to Scout Camp.
Hopefully he will find a minute for himself to use it.

You can get one for your storage or camping supply here for all of $8.00

I think buying one is the best option really.
But you could also try to make your own.
Here are a few ideas if that is the route you want to go.

Homeade Umbrella Shower
Shower in the Woods
Camp Shower 3 Ways
Zero Impact Shower

p.s.- Don't try and google emergency shower- all you get are lab and eye wash station type posts.
p.p.s- Don't forget a tarp or shower curtain for privacy.

Year Supply Checklist

Another topic I have yet to dive into to much is food storage. I am the type who mostly has pantry style food storage- the kind of food storage we eat and rotate, the kind you buy at Costco. I do however have some food storage in the traditional #10 cans. The kind that lasts longer. I would love by the end of the next year to have a year supply for all four of us in #10 cans. My problem is really that I don't have the shelving for it. I have the space though and so I am on the look out for a great deal of the perfect shelving unit, which I can purchase in multiples. A post on shelving coming soon I am sure. In the mean time I have complied a year supply list of #10 cans. The list is per person and just an example. You could change out things to accommodate your families taste of course. I think I will focus on accumulating the dairy and cooking items first for our family. Focusing on one category a month maybe will make it tackle able and affordable.

Year supply for one person

Cooking Helps
-1 chicken broth
-1 creamy soup base
-1 salt (iodized of course)
-1 baking powder
-1 baking soda

Dairy
-1 cheese blend
-6-8 instant milk
-2 egg mix

Breads and Cereal
-2 creamy wheat cereal
-1 instant oatmeal
-1 spagetti noodles
-1 egg noodles
-2 cornmeal
-1 other noodle
-2 white rice
-4 other cereals
-1 granola
-2 yellow popcorn
-6 hard red wheat
-6 hard white wheat

Fruit
-1 freeze dried berries
-1 freeze dried strawberries
-3 various fruit drink mix
-1 apple slices
-1 banana slices

Vegetables
-1 freeze dried broccoli
-1 freeze dried green beans
-1 freeze dried green peas
-1 freeze dried corn
-1 carrots
-1 chopped onions
-1 tomato powder
-1 potatoes slices
-2 potato pearls

Fats and Baking
-1 margarine powder
-2-3 white sugar
-3-4 white flour
-2 shortening powder

Protein and Legumes
-1 split green peas
-2 pinto beans
-2 kidney beans
-1 other beans
-1 Bacon Bits TVP
-1 Taco Meat TVP
-1 Beef TVP
-1 Chicken TVP


This is a minimal list which would only include about 1100 calories per day. But boy will it take up a lot of space. Better get searching for those shelves.
Got anything you think I need to add to the list? or tips on where I can get some good shelves?

Case Lot Shopping

The week after Labor Day is a great day to build upon your food storage or even start from scratch. Often it is the week grocers will hold their bi-annual case lot sale. Near me, this week both Smith's and Harmon's are having case lot sales.






Here is what I added to my storage by the case
1 case of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix- 24 for $7.90 or $.33 a box
1 case of Kroger Cream of Chicken Soup 24 for 11.99 or $.49 a can
1 case of Libby corn- 24 for $10.56 or $.59 a can
1 case of Barletts Pears -24 for 16.32 or $.68 a can
1 case 500ml Kroger Bottled Water. 24 bottles for $2.50 or $.10 a bottle.
Total $49.30



Often when there is a case lot sale you can also get items individually (if you do not want a whole case) for a marked down price. I took advantage of this and added these

Libby Peas $.76 a can
Handi Snack Pudding- $.80 for 4
canned mushrooms- $.52 a can
Tomatoe Sauce- $ .27 a can
Stewed Tomatoes- $.53 a can
Kroger instant oatmeal-$1.25 for 10 ind. packets
Kroger Ranch Salad Dressing- $1.00
Assortment of Pastas. $.79 for 8 servings
Kroger grape Jelly- $1.89 for 32 oz
Kroger Peanut Butter- $1.25 for 16.4 oz
Kroger Apple Juice- $125
Total $16.36

I bought a few other groceries for the pantry as well.
4.5 lbs of Minute Rice- $7.99
Enfamil- 2 13 oz cans- 13.99 a peice
Two 5lb bags of all purpose flour- $1.55 a bag
6 1 cup packages of Crisco- $3.69 for 3
Total $46.45

I had a $5.00 store coupon as well as $6.00 in Enafmil coupons that come in the mail.
If I spend over $90 at Smith's I get $.15/ gallon of gas. I filled up and save $2.10. So I will subtract $13.10 from the total for a new total of.....

$99.89

I was just adding to an already formed storage. They had lots of other items on sale in their case lot sale like
Tuna case of 48 for $24.00
Beef Stew 12 cans for $20.28
24 counts Top Ramen Noodles for $3.oo
Betty Crocker Cake Mix 12 for $10.80
Hormel Chili 12 for $10.68
Evaporated Milk 24 for $15.60

If you have no storage but want to start, check with your local grocer to see when they host their case lot sale. Another tip, since you may not have the funds to purchase tons of food storage at once, is to take along a friend, and split each case. This way you still get all the savings of shopping case lot, but have a greater variety of items.

School Supplies for Sick Campuses

Most families sent their college kids off to school last week. They carefully helped them stuff their car with new dishes, desk lamps, and school supplies. According to this article it looks like perhaps a thermometer should have been included in the packing since 2000 students at Washington State are infected with the swine flu as well as thousands elsewhere. Turns out This might be the perfect gift to send in a package to the collegiates in our lives.

I actually own this Braun Thermoscan and I love it. My toddler actually enjoys having her temperature taken and I can be confident that it is correct.

Safe Water Bottles

New studies show that water bottle in your emergency kits may not be safe to drink from.

You may want to check out this news story published on Yahoo News this morning to determine if the bottle you are using is safe.

Now with both plastic and aluminum made bottles raising questions, your safest bet is a stainless steel bottle. Even sippy cups come in stainless steel and are relatively inexpensive. Check out Klean Kanteen for a variety of safe products for both adults and children. I aslo found this a safe children's bottles.

Food Storage Anaylizer

I received my Emergency Essentials catalog for September in the mail last night. I went online to their website to look around and found this.

A Food Storage Analyzer where you can input the members of you family's age and gender and it will outline all the items you need for your food storage pantry. You can enter what you have in your pantry, and it will adjust the list. It is both savable and printable. What a great tool. I am creating my account today.

I also found a Food Storage Calculator at Shelf Reliance. While there I noticed they have several calculators to help you plan what you need for your emergency supplies, including customizable calculators for school kits, office kits, natural disaster kits. I love lists I can check off- almost as much as I like being prepared.

1st Aid Kits for Home and Car

I found these easy to do together because you can buy a lot of the same things and divide them between the three kits.

Time: 90 minutes- which includes a trip to the store
Cost: $30- $100 depending on what you already have at home.

Car Kits
Tupperware container- red of course
infant Tylenol- I seem to always buy when we still have 1/3 a bottle left- all the car needs
Ibuprofen
Benadryl
tweezers
latex gloves
gauze
tape
bandaids of all sizes
ace bandaid
tums
alcohol wipes
alka seltzer
iodine wipes
germ x wipes
saftey pins
Immodium
Vaseline
neosporin wipes
maxi- pads -use to stop bleeding from large cuts as well
Tic Tacs- keeping kids quiet in an emergency
Lighter
Fingernail clippers
super glue
Benadryl cream
eye drops
Emergency/ contact phone numbers
Basic first aid fact sheet
Allergy/ medication family information
Sting/ bite balm

Home 1st Aid Kit.
I had this great red cooler that we just don't use that often- perfect. It zips shut- where I could easily put a combo lock through it to make it more child proof. For now I just have it on the top shelf on the linen closet with a child proof handle. I love how easy it would be to grab and go in an emergency. Much better than standing there rummaging through my entire cabinet trying to find something while the person in need is somewhere alone waiting for me to return.
I don't know where you can find the bag I used- but I did find this one online.
Of course there is always something like this that is super official and for not much more money.





I went through our medicine cabinet and threw away everything that was expired- half of what was in there was
What was included in the kit

Infant fever reducer
children fever reducer
Ibuprofen
children's bendadryl
rubbing alcohol
hydrogen peroxide
cotton
ear thermometer
traditional thermometer- I had four. I guess I never need to buy another one
Imodium
Children's Imodium
Pepto
Children's Pepto
bandaids of all sizes
ace bandages
gauze
tape
super glue
icy hot
hot pack
surgical masks
latex gloves
eye drops
Tums
Vaseline
milk of magnesia
cold medicine
night time cold medicine
pain antiseptic
cold sore medicine
Tucks
Itch Cream
Cold Compress
Large Neosporin
Emergency/ contact phone numbers
Basic first aid fact sheet
Allergy/ medication family information
I am still also hoping to get an epi pen and/or sting kit

I also went online and ordered some more surgical masks and am going to get some more gloves since I only had a few of each. Knowing me the next time I am at the store I will make a quick sweep of the pharmacy to see what else I am lacking.
If you have an idea of things I should add- based on experience or need leave a comment.

Car First Aid Kit contents picture
Home First Aid Kit Contents


I found a few good first aid kits for sale online as well if you would rather have it delivered to your door with out much effort.

From Amazon- though you may have to add a few items. These premade kits always include a ton of bandages but not much else.




Or this one from the 7 store

Crank Radio

I realized today that the link for the crank radio I ordered for the 72 hour kits didn't work. I can't get it to work. So here is that link.

Kaito KA404 Emergency Hand Crank Dynamo 5-LED Flashlight with AM/FM radio

I was impressed with the quality of this product. Hand crank radio/ flashlight/siren. It is compact too (about 10 oz). So it doesn't take up too much space.

72 Hour Kits

Disaster Survival Kit and contents

Today's project- 72 hour kits- or really a natural disaster survival kit. I used the space for other things instead of putting all the diapers and clothes we would need for 72 hours because I have an emergency diaper bag for the kids in my car at all times with wipes, diapers, socks, clothes, drinks and kid food. I also have blankets, the first aid kit, and flares in my car as well instead of in this kit.

I had made us a 72 hour kit a few years ago when Hurricane Katrina came. At the time I was not working and had all day to watch the news coverage. It prompted me to make the 1st version of this which we kept next to our front door. We wanted to be ready- but mostly because we had no choice- our house was very small after all. I packaged everything in this great soft backpacking backpack I purchase from Out N Back before I went to China. It works perfectly and cost me $25 at one of their super sales. I like the large backpack for storing everything in because although it is heavy- it is the most portable it could be.

I decided to re-evaluate the kit and our needs in my current preparedness obsession. Then we were two healthy hardly twenty year olds who could have likely survived without shelter or food for three days regardless of the kit. Now we have to small children. I had a ton of stuff already- including all the first aid stuff and most the disaster supplies, but I added a few new things- mostly kid stuff, and all new food since the other stuff had all expired. This ended up costing me more than the other projects so far. About $100 and about two hours of time. I think if you had to start from scratch the project would take double the money and time.
All the items barely fit inside the backpack. I just used freezer bags to pack everything and keep it water proof.

Resources
http://www.ready.gov/america/index.html
http://www.providentliving.org/channel/0,11677,8033-1,00.html

Food and Cooking
One Mess Kit
Plastic spoons
dish soap
1 gal water
dehydrated apples
Large Beef jerky
3 servings instant pasta
Large Trail Mix
3 pediasure ready made drinks
6 servings dehydrated chili
6 serving dehydrated soup
6 servings instant oatmeal
4 servings hot chocolate
2 cans soup
crystal light packet- for water flavoring
water purification tablets aprox 4 quarts (should get some more)
I would also like to get some high calorie energy bars

Personal Hygiene
sunscreen
bug repellent
contact case and solution
razor
shampoo
hand soap
lotion
chapstick
toothbrushes and paste
hair bands
comb
maxi pads
nursing pads
diapers and wipes for both kids
Lysol spray
toilet paper
Clorox wipes
Germ- x

First Aid
packet distilled water
80 band aids various sizes
8 gauze dressings
large wound dressing
6 butterfly band aids
20 alcohol prep pads
20 antiseptic towelettes
3 iodine prep pads
3 insect relief pads
tape
4 finger splints
splinter removers
neosporin
blistex
4 doses antacid
3 electrolyte tablets
4 non aspirin tablets
instant cold pack
q-tips
10 latex gloves
tweezers
scissors
blessing oil
first aid guide
thermometer
super glue
respirator masks
sting/bite relief stick
Most of this came in a ready made kit I purchased, I am debating whether or not I should take it out and give the space to something else, since I have an even better kit in my car already.
I should probably add some infant fever reducer too

Disaster Supplies
firestart
lighter
6 boxes of matches
leather work gloves
collapsible shovel
compass
magnifying glass
whistle
leatherman
8 glow light sticks
reflective tape
duct tape
citronella candles
two flashlights battery operated
4 D batteries 8 AA batteries
crank flashlight
4 rain ponchos
4 emergency blankets
50 ft poly cord
pocket knife
pen
paper
trash bags
tarp

I haven't been able to buy a crank radio for sale so I ordered this one.

Comfort Items
money- bills and quarters
Book of Mormon
Playing Cards
Bubbles
Small stuffed animals
crayons
candies
hot wheels cars
army men
toy whistle

Again if you have any ideas for something you think I left out leave a comment.



Closer Look 72 hour kit contents


In the end it looks like it would not have cost much more to buy this pre-made kit for four people, although of course I enjoyed doing the project and it is more personalized to our family.

Deluxe 72 Hour Emergency Survival Kit- 4 Person - $ 116.00 The Deluxe 72 Hour Emergency Survival Kit includes: Adult Size Backpack (Nylon) Light Stick, 12 Hour (Green) Plastic whistle with Lanyard 33 Piece First Aid Kit Duct Tape, 50 yards 14 in 1 pocket tool 3-way Can Opener, 1 pair Radio, Flashlight, Siren C Size batteries x2 4x Solar Blanket 4× 2400 Calorie Food Ration (5 year shelf life) Water Pouch x 40 (5 year shelf life) 4x Emergency Poncho 4x N95 Respirator mask Bio Hazard Bag x2 Work Gloves, Leather Palm Waterproof Matches, box of 50 Slow Burning Emergency Candles 2 Gallon Water Bag

Flu Ready

Back in the Spring with the H1N1 virus made its first appearance- I hurried out like the smart woman that I am and stocked up on everything I thought we would need if we came down with the flu. In my mind I pictured sick angry shoppers fighting over the last bottle of children's Tylenol. I didn't want to be stuck in that kind of situation. So I made a list and stocked up. Thought we would be ready for sure.
Several months have passed now and SURPRISE! A practice run just for us. My daughter caught the regular stomach flu and has been recovering from it all week. There is no epidemic here, so the Saltines and Gatorade at my grocer are plentiful, but it still would have been easier to not have to go to the store twice.
Here is what the CDC recommends you store. Click here

Real life experiment
Here is what we used this week (with one child with the flu)

3 containers of Gatorade- I would store 12 or more for the family
1 container of pediatlight- I would store 4 or more
2 extra cases of wipes
1 extra box of diapers- they go fast
1 can of Lysol- I would store 6
1 extra bottle of laundry soap-
3 cans of soup- I would store 14 for the family
4 litters of 7-up
1 package of Popsicle
1 box of Saltines- I would store at least 3 for the family
thermometer- I really like my ear scan
Children's Tylenol- I would store at least one extra unopened per child
Children's Ib Profen
Vaseline and cotton - for sore bums
Straws, toys, special cups and other bribes to get my child to drink
Pro biotic- recommended by our GP
1 bottle of hand sanitizer- I would store five

This is what we used and needed with one two year old with the flu (most diahrea with a high fever). Obviously this should be adjusted to fit your family.

I have also stored
Lysol wipes and N95 masks neither which we used this week, would be needed if an epidemic were to occur.

Get your supplies now so you aren't standing at the store ill or out of luck because everyone in town got there first.

When I went to get n95 masks there were none for purchase in my entire city- of course we only have two grocery stores and a Walgreens. it is a small town, but I would venture to say you will have a hard time finding them in a store.

You can buy them online.
I ordered mine and they were delivered quickly, but I suspect that as the colder months creep closer it will take longer so I would order quickly to be sure to have them by flu season.