avoiding housework

(the water buffalo shared by our neighborhood. Nothing like having a "block party" while filling buckets of water!)

( just so you know, the boys LOVED the porta potty.They thought it was great to not have to come all the way inside! Ivan used it and said, "Mommy, we have a potty OUTSIDE!)

There are piles of neatly folded laundry sitting on the dining room table...being completely ignored! I will get to them...eventually!

Remember when Guam was on all of those typhoon/tropical storm warnings? Well I made a vow then that I would get my food storage/emergency preparedness up and going so that I wouldn't be one of those crazy people in huge long lines getting last minute supplies?

Well the storms passed with nothing but some rain and wind. So I...well...put off getting anything. I figured I had prepared for the storm (candles, batteries, flashlights etc)and so would be fine. We are near the end of the typhoon season and so I felt that I could relax.

I had set out a plan to get items, and Ben reminded me of our upcoming move. I didn't really want to go all out buying stuff, but then again, what if there was another storm?

The weekend before Thanksgiving we were given a notice that we would be having a 9 hr. water outtage the following Tuesday. I groaned but honestly, this wasn't our first one. However, I forgot about it. So Tuesday when Ivan was trying to wash his hands and no water came out...well I remembered. We have a water cooler, but the jugs are rrrrreally heavy so Ben has to change it. I had forgot to have him change it and ours was empty. I realized that I had no way to make Mason a bottle!

I had a few errands to do, so I hopped in the car and went and bought a gallon jug of water. Crisis diverted right?

Well that 9 hour outtage...turned into 36 hours of no water. I had only bought one gallon jug. And using it to make mac & cheese, used up over half. The water did come on for about 5 minutes, so I filled some pots and boiled them. I sent Ben to get more water.

Wednesday, they let us know that they weren't sure when the water would be back on, and they brought us...A PORTA POTTY. Yuck. And our whole cul de sac got to share. They also brought in a water buffalo so we could fill jugs & buckets.

Can I just say, that it was the dirtiest, nastiest 36 hours? Yuck. We all stunk (except Ben who went to the gym to take a shower!!)Harmony & my hair was greasy. The kids had to use wipes and sanitizer everytime they went to the bathroom. And the toilets were not flushed.

I can tell you that this was the first Thanksgiving that I had been so grateful for water!!

So what did I learn from this? Be prepared. No matter what. I found some awesome food storage/emergency preparedness sites and have begun to get some food storage. I have decided every time I go grocery shopping, to use $20 to buy essentials. I have a notebook where I keep all of my menus/shopping lists. That way I can keep track of what I bought the previous trip.

Yesterday I bought flour, sugar, water, tuna fish and top ramen. Not much, but it is a start.

So are you prepared? Do you have any ideas or suggestions? I would love to hear 'em!