Sunday, January 20, 2019

We Always Prepare. Nothing Ever Goes To Waste.


It appears that we're out of the woods from the winter storm that hit us last night through most of today. The heavy wet snow started around 10 p.m. Saturday evening. It changed over to sleet and freezing rain a few hours later. The winds picked up. Through most of today, the storm alternated between rain and freezing rain.

Thankfully, there was no ice accumulation on the trees or powerlines. West of us wasn't so lucky. People were posting photos of massive amounts of ice on the trees and lines, large tree limbs that had fallen, etc.

Our backyard flooded. The side and front yard was a big ol' slushy mess. When the flash freeze hit around 5 p.m., everything froze almost instantly. It was kind of eerie.

While eating dinner, Lisa and I talked about all the prep work we had done.

"You know people are going to comment with their usual banter in the days ahead."

I knew exactly what Lisa was talking about.

A lot of people have made comments about the amount of prep work we do prior to a big storm.

They think I go overboard.

I don't think I do.

I'm sure you assumed I was going to say that. 

In all fairness, many, many years ago I did go overboard. However, each time I experienced having no power for several days, I honed up on my preparation skills.

Was it necessary to check out a half dozen books from the library and purchase 197 crossword puzzle books? No. Was it necessary to make sure we had enough prepared foods for several days that could reside in the cooler with ice? Yes.

You live. You learn.

In the here and now we focus on the important basics.

Cooking and dicing enough boneless chicken breasts to last a few days for the kid's meals. We freeze it after it's cooled.

We also cook a couple of sweet potatoes to mash for the kid's meals.

Baking extra batches of homemade dog treats. We freeze those too.

I make homemade jam, egg salad and chicken salad for sandwiches.

We rely on store bought bread when prepping for a bad storm. It lasts much longer than homemade.

I bake cookies, quick breads, and other items that Lisa can have for breakfast and I can pack in her work lunches.

We get all of the housework done and laundry completely caught up.

We freeze several large bottles of water and prepare bags of ice.

We check our stash of batteries and make sure all the flashlights and Coleman battery operated lantern are in tiptop shape.

Lisa checks the status of the propane tank for the grill.

We fill our recycle bin with water for pail flushing.

That's about it.

If we lose power, we're all set for a few days.

If we don't lose power, nothing goes to waste.

We have sandwiches for dinner and I pack sandwiches for Lisa's work lunches.

I freeze the quick breads and most of the cookies for upcoming weekday breakfasts and work lunches for Lisa.

We use the prepared boneless chicken breasts for our kid's meals.

They have enough homemade dog treats to last for a bit.

We put the batteries, flashlights, and battery operated Coleman lantern away until the next time. And, we don't have to buy any batteries for a bit.

We get a break from housework and laundry for the next day or 2.

We use the water for our many indoor plants.

We let the comments roll down our backs.

It's that easy.

At the end of the day, we'd rather be prepared. We've got kids. It's not just about Lisa and myself.

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