The 7 Day Challenge: DAY 1

WOW... What an experience I had! It was quite interesting, and I think I could publish a book for all that I learned throughout this challenge. This is partly the reason why I havent updated my blog! *SO SORRY* It is going to take a while, so I figured I better get going now before I just totally give up.

Here is what I learned and went through.


There has been a flood and everyone in your city has been told to evacuate their homes for part of the day.
DAILY LIMITATIONS AND TASKS:
For this day, and ALL days of the challenge: no spending money, no going to stores, and no restaurants.
You have no power for the whole day (except to fill out the questionnaire, or chat on facebook about what you are learning!)
You have to “leave” your house within an hour for at least 5 hours (but you don’t know if your house is going to be there when you get back).
You can only grab what is in your disasters kit and ALREADY on your grab list when you leave. *remember your house may be destroyed when you get back
You have to eat the food from your 72 hour kit while you are gone
Your family gets soaking wet during evacuation, and one of your family members cuts their toe open
Your spouse is at work. You have to meet at your pre-determined meeting location when he or she is done work
Once your whole family reunites you can return to your house
When you get home, your fridge food is ruined, your basement food is flooded, and you need to make dinner with no power
Keep your family entertained with no power (remember, after dark the lights, tv, appliances etc wont work!)
ADVANCED “FOLKS” (for anyone who feels up to it)
You have to stay out of your house until it’s bed time
You can only eat your 72 hour kit food the whole day
You forgot your cell phone at home when you evacuated.

REMEMBER, TOMORROW’S LIMITATIONS AND TASKS WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. How long would you have lasted under these conditions?

They then had us talk about it on Facebook, and also fill out a questionnaire.
Here is what I wrote on FB and the things that I learned...
I just got home, and here is how the day has panned out so far.
Got the email at 8:15, as my kids were getting ready to go to school. So, I had to get them ready, and myself (as I had an appt at 9:15) and had to get everything in the car... I got my pictures, my 72 hour kits, some photo albums, my puter, some lemonade mix, shoes, medicine, and a few other things and headed out. I got done with the appt at 11:30, and went and picked one child up, and went to the park. Lucky her, she already had a PB&J made for her lunch, and an apple so she didnt suffer much, but after 3 and a half hours at the park, she wasnt too thrilled. Then we went and picked the other kids up (if it was a real emergency, I would have to go get them, right?), and then picked my hubby up at our designated place. We then all came back home, and here I am.
Things I noticed while gone are
1) My 72 hr kit has NO SOAP OR SANITIZER!!! BLECH!!!
2) There are no pain meds... not a good thing with my Fibromyalgia.
3) We need different food than what we have in our kit. It is a brick of who knows what that we are supposed to eat. You are supposed to have 2 pieces a day and it gives you 3600 calories and vitamins and minerals. Hmmmm... luckily my daughter didnt have to eat it, and I didnt open it because I figured I will save it for when I really need it, and I dove into the beef jerky and cookies (horrible lunch!)
4) I need girly things in my 72-hr kit... of ALL days, today would be the day that I would have that happen!
5) I need to remember to grab the bag that has toilet paper and a radio and other odds and ends in it next time!
All in all, it hasnt been all that bad! I am excited about dinner... but I am curious... you mentioned that we have no power to make dinner, but my stove I can light with a match and it will work because it is a gas stove... Can I use it or not? I am assuming no, but I want to know... hahhaa

Also, I wanted to mention that our house is completely out of bread, tortillas, eggs, milk... today was my shopping day, so now I am not even sure what to do... and, did you see the case lot sales?!?!?!?! I rely on getting stuff during this time of the year... it is when we stock up! My hubby said to go ahead and buy, just not use ANY of it for this next week. haha and I think I might just do that! I also had meat that I was supposed to use today (it was taken out of the freezer) and for the next couple of days, so I am worried about waste... but, I am going to just play along and suck it up! hahaha

I also forgot to mention that we took care of the foot, we have a first aide kit in our 72-hr kits, and we were able to change our clothes.

So, dinner went really well! We had nachos, and we usually have ours with sour cream and salsa, but tonight we didnt. We had canned refried beans, canned nacho cheese sauce, canned rotel tomatoes, and canned chicken with a taco seasoning packet and a tbs of water. We did it on our grill, and I was thrilled that my kids loved it and gobbled it down! I will post pictures on the wall.



I will be posting pictures of our 72-hr kits a little later. Hubby had to take the car to go to meetings tonight, so they are still in the back of the car.
I also am completely exhausted and in pain, but I am glad I did this, and am worried about how long I would be able to do this for real, but I am thinking this is the best thing for me because I will know where I stand with my Food Storage and my kits and emergency needs. ;) I will be calling it quits on some things in about an hour, so I am excited to do a few things without feeling guilty... like going into a bathroom with the light on without carrying a candle (read earlier comment if you want to know why)... but, I will keep my lights off for the night (with that exception ;). I am glad I did this! What a great day, and honestly, it wasnt bad at all.
And, the park I went to actually is an emergency meeting area for my neighborhood, so I felt ok about going there. haha
We have also decided that the Monday after the LDS General Conference, that we would use that day as the start of our "Days of Replenishing" (our 72-hr kit days... 3 days of eating what is in the backpacks so that we can have fresh food in them. ;)



~ First things first! Make a list of all that you need to take in case of an emergency. This is your Grab List. You will want documentation (like birth records, social security cards, marriage certificates, drivers license, etc... placing them in a binder or a little box will help a lot. Also, keep copies of these documents in a few different places... you never know!), contact numbers, computer back-ups (or just the hard drive), laptop, pictures, albums, camping stove (and extra fuel for it), 72 hr kits, purse, wallet, cash, valuables, sleeping bags, radio, flashlights (if not in your 72 hr kit), batteries (once again, if not in the kit), matches (yes, if not in the 72 hr kit), Make sure you have all of these items printed out on a piece of paper and in a place where you can get to quickly... I had the idea to put the location of the items (ie in the bottom drawer of the night stand), so that you arent running up and downstairs, or back and forth... just grab what you can from the areas, and then move to the next. It will help in saving time.
~ Also make a family plan as to what you would do if there were an emergency (make one for each type of emergency you can think of) and what you would do, and where you would meet if you were apart. Go over this with your family! This is SO important! We have a fire drill with the kids every once in a while to make sure that they remember where our meeting place is.
~ 72 hr kits are a big deal. Make sure they are all labeled with names (we put our in permanent marker on the top of the backpack). You may want some kits in the house, and then some in the car, and also some at work, but you dont have to. Sometimes you might get stuck in a car on a trip, or be in the middle of some sort of storm, or from an accident, or at your office when a emergency happens, and you might need them. Make sure you have GOOD food to eat, and snacks/candy as well. You dont just want the bars that you eat 2 sections a day. In our house kits we had the bars, and now have decided on spaghettios for the kids because we know they will eat it. You can also get some beanie wienies, individual packs of tuna, chicken salad packs, oatmeal packs, lipton soup mixes, pasta, cereal bars, hot cocoa or tea packets, pb&j, crackers (use your imagination). Make sure you have a mess kit to eat with as well. Go get some inexpensive clothes to put in the kits. If you dont have some of other sizes, buy or get a few from a family member or friend. You will need to switch everything out, because food goes bad, and clothes get out grown. I suggest if you have a child in diapers, to make sure you put in different sizes of diapers, or even put in cloth ones. Dont forget about wipes, rash ointment, powder, formula (if you are nursing and get stressed, you may lose your milk) and bottles. This is what I suggest. Every 1/2 year (we are going to do it on Conference Weekend), pull the food out of the kits and eat it for 3 days. (I suggest NO canned foods or foods that will go bad in heat exposure, for the car 72 hr kits because of the heat in the summer.) Keep the kits for the house in a cool dry place if you have canned items. If you dont want to eat the food you have in your bags right away, and know you will use it sometime soon, just take it out and put it in your pantry, but make sure that you use it before ANYTHING else (always check expiration dates on your food)! Then, repack with new foods. Also, go through the clothes and see if you think they might work for the next 6 months. If so, keep them in there, if not, get some new ones. If you have animals, be sure to not forget about their needs! DONT FORGET WATER, A CAN OPENER, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, AND MEDICINES, SOAP (HAND SANITIZER)!!!! Some people, like me, also need contact solution and a case, plus some glasses... and I also decided that I wanted a hairbrush so that I could at least keep myself groomed! hehe We keep a 24 pack of water in the car at all times, just in case. We also thought of making a fun kit that had coloring books, crayons, games, books to read... just to keep us busy.
~You want lots of candles! I learned of a fantastic way to make a fire warmer, called a coffee can heater. It is amazing! Put it into your car emergency kit. You take a hot cocoa can, or large veggie can (any can that can fit a roll of toilet paper in it). Wash out the can, pull out the cardboard inside the roll without losing the rolls shape (this is very hard) and then put it inside the can. Take a bottle of normal rubbing alcohol, and pour it over the toilet paper, getting the toilet paper saturated with no extra alcohol at the bottom of the can, get a match and light it! VOILA! Use this as a hand warmer, or a light source, or a heater for the car. If you dont use it up all the way, or you want to conserve the heat source, you just smother the fire out, put the lid back on (this is to help to the alcohol doesnt seep out), and you can reuse it again! Keep extra toilet paper and rubbing alcohol in a tote in your car, so that you can have some extra just in case!
~ We have first aid kits in each one, plus burn gel as well. You might get separated from your family, so this is a must to have in each one.
~ You might want an ER tub in the car that has blankets,and toiletries in it.
~ As a few side notes: Keep your car gassed up! When it hits half a tank, get it filled... you just never know.
Keep your cars clean at all times. You never know when an emergency will hit, and you will need to be able to load your car fast.
You might even want to go as far as making sure that every morning you get dressed first thing (even with shoes). Emergencies can strike at any given moment!
If you have charcoal, keep it in 5 gallon buckets to keep it dry.
Always have boxes on hand to use to pack the heirlooms that are on your Grab List.
Back up your computer regularly... once a week, every couple weeks, once a month... whatever makes you comfortable.
Store water in your empty milk containers. You dont want to drink it, but it will help with the flushing of your toilet! And, I guess if worse came to worse, you could drink it. Keep it stored in a place that is easy to get to, and if it is a place that it could freeze, leave room in the top of the container for expansion.
Keep candles everywhere in your house and remember where you have them. This will aid in a power outtage.