Done

I love the feeling of getting things done; crossing items off my to-do list. But, sometimes there are certain items that linger for a VERY long time. Usually these are the ones that really overwhelm me. It is not always that they are particularly difficult, just that they do not need to be done immediately, and, for some reason, they require me to use a lot of energy.

Right now the list of items I have put off for over a year includes things like the final coat of paint and polyurethane on my kitchen cabinets. It is a one day project, but I simply cannot force myself to do it.

Having been on the list for an even longer, actually an embarrassingly long, time is a host of emergency and personal preparedness items. I am always working in small bits on food storage or saving money or ensuring we have adequate insurance, but I have had two things that are not costly, don't take a long time, and really just require sitting down and plowing through them on my list since before our move to Virginia: 72 hour kits and wills / organization of essential documents.

I had bought and set aside items for the kits; Jeffrey and I have talked about what would need to go in our wills, but we just haven't bothered to get it done. Until Saturday.

Yep, that's right. I did it. I finally put together our 72 hour kits.

It wasn't bad. It cost me about $5 for items that I did not have on hand yet. Mainly it was just tracking down the various items I had purchased or just had on hand and putting them all into one place. It was actually kind of fun. Mia loved helping out and is anxious for a disaster or emergency which will necessitate us packing our kits and hiking somewhere on foot. I keep saying, "Let's hope we never need to use them."

So, confessions aside, I am really excited to mark this one off the list. It is DONE. And, Jeffrey has promised to do the wills and other documents next week while we are gone. I can't even imagine what we could accomplish next once we get these two items out of the way!

So, for others who may also have this item on their long-standing to-do list, I thought I would share how I organized our kits and give some encouragement. It is not nearly as bad as you may think.

I tried to give the kids absolutely essential items that they could carry on their own. I used a bunch of old backpacks and saved a good bit of money in the process. I also tried to duplicate what I thought were the most essential items between Jeffrey's pack and mine, in case only one of us was present to take a pack along, and I split the less essential, but still helpful items between our two packs to keep them at a reasonable size / weight.

Anyway, this is how it turned out:


Kids’ Kits
Water (1 litre)
Food Pack (in mylar bag):
Long life candle
Water proof matches
Gum
Baked Beans
Crackers
Fruit Bars
Hot Cocoa Mix
Apple Cider Mix
Granola Bars
Beef jerky
M & M’s
Raisins
Cup of Soup Packet
Hard Candy
Fruit Snacks
Clothes:
Sweatshirt
Pants
Socks
Underwear
T-shirt
Hat
Flashlight and extra batteries
Poncho
Emergency Blanket
Stuffed Animal
Hand / Foot Warmers

Adult Kits
Everything in the kids’ kits plus:
Extra Water (1 more litre)
MRE’s
Pocket Knife
Pocket-size Can opener
Tweezers
Scissors
Safety Pins
First Aid Kit:
Acetaminophen
Antihistamine
Advil
Bandaids
Alcohol Swabs
Gauze Bandage
First Aid Tape
Gauze pads
Bar of Soap
Comb
Toothpaste
Hand Sanitizer
Roll of Duct Tape
Large plastic Bags
Extra poncho
Flare Stick
Toilet Paper

Split between adult packs:
Solar / hand powered flashlight / radio
Baby supplies:
Bottle
Clothes
Diapers
Wipes
Bug Spray
Aloe Vera
Small Book of Mormon
Playing cards
Whistle
First Aid Manual
Jeffrey’s spare glasses / contact supplies
Paper and pen
Rope
Small Shovel
Sunscreen
Paper plates and plastic utensils
Petroleum Jelly
Feminine Sanitary supplies

If we were in a situation where we could take more than these items, this is what we would also grab:
More water (need 4 litres or one gallon per person) I have lots of extra water and an extra bag next to our kits, so that additional water could be easily brought along, but inside the backpacks, it was too heavy / took too much space to include 1 gallon per person.

Sleeping Bags
Tent
My large First Aid Kit


Things I want to still add to our kits:
Mess kits with utensils and dishes
Battery powered radio
Cash
Small kids’ medicines – benadryl / Tylenol
Essential Papers (Wills, Account info, contact numbers -- hence, part of the reason for our next project)
More MRE’s
Water Purification Tablets
A jump drive with important electronic files / photos (to be updated every 6 months)
A small ax