Just the other day, Monday actually, I couldn't find the lighter that we use to light the fire. I searched every where that it normally lives, checked under the couch in case the kitten swatted it under there and came to the conclusion...it was lost! Now, I hate the cold. Not having the fire going was not an option. So I put my thinking cap on and tried to problem solve {as women do} Option A - use the stove elements to light a piece of paper and run with it to the fire. Option B - use the toaster to light a bit of paper and run to the fire. Option C - go to the dairy about 6 houses away and get a new lighter. Option D - ring Honey, complain and get him to bring one home or Option E - bust into the emergency kit and steal some matches! I went with Option E. It was an emergency, after all.
Which brings me to the reason I decided to write today......the emergency kit. Remember after the first Christchurch earthquake? Everyone decided it was a great idea to have an emergency kit ready for when disaster struck, me included. Did I finish that emergency kit......noooo. Remember after the second deadly earthquake in Christchurch? Everyone thought, oh poop, I never got round to doing or finishing that emergency kit! Once again, me included. I had been taught for years by my parents and church leaders to be prepared and have an emergency kit. Growing up as a Latter Day Saint, we were taught the importance of having food and water storage for cases of emergency or hardship. As a teenager, all my friends used to joke that if there was an emergency, my house was the place to be!! Mum had loads of supplies in her huge walk in pantry and in the garage. We never needed those for an emergency but there were times when money was short - but Mum could always rustle us up a yummy dinner from her store cupboard but....did I learn from this? Well, sort of. I don't have a store cupboard but my pantry is full. Lots of cans, packets and dried this and that. We could live for a while out of our pantry if we had to.
Back to my emergency kit. So, we were taught to be ready for an emergency but that didn't mean we were all ready when it struck. My half ready emergency kit wouldn't really have done much for our little family. After most of the publicity died down and things in Christchurch and New Zealand tried to return to normal, my emergency kit slipped from my mind. I put it back in the cupboard, put a post-it of things I still needed on my computer and got on with life. And that is where it has stayed until on Monday when I need the matches. {ashamed}
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| There it is! The container with the yellow lid!! Not very accessible in an emergency, is it???? |
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| The contents of my unfinished emergency kit. |
Fossicking {Macy doesn't believe me that fossicking is a real word!} around in my kit looking for matches, I decided that this time, this month even, I was going to complete my kit, for the good of our family and the world!! {bit dramatic?} I zoomed into the office to get the post-it off my computer...it had long lost its stickablity so wasn't there anymore, oops. Time to make a list {and I love lists} of all the things I still needed to add.....
A torch - think I gave the kit torch to Macy for some reason
Hand sanitizer
A pocket knife
Muesli bars/crackers - they had expire but in emergency I guess you wouldn't care!!
Pen and paper
Copy of important documents - birth, marriage certificates, insurance papers etc etc.
Cash! Like that will ever stay in the kit!
Some of those silver heat blankets or something like that.
And more matches, lol.
And more matches, lol.
Phew! Time to get shopping. But I feel a lot better knowing that I'm going to get it done this time! And I really mean that I'm going to get it finished this time and I'll let you know when I get it finished, once and for all.
On another note, some dearly loved friends left the Wairarapa to return home to Utah. Elder and Sister Sheperd had been here for 18months serving a church mission and we got to know them very well during their time here. We had lots of dinners together including spending Christmas Day together, funny games and swapped many stories. The Sheperd's really helped me through a rough time last year and I'm so grateful that they were around. Our family will surely miss them but we were so blessed to be able to share their last night in New Zealand with them. They came around for dinner, along with Ezra and Brooke, the Elders and Seth. For dinner we had sheperds pie! {get it? Sheperds pie for the Sheperds!} For pudding we had jelly and lots of TipTop ice-cream - one of the things they will miss when they go home. As sad as it was to see them go, we know that their family will be so excited to see and hug them for the first time since they left. So, Elder and Sister Sheperd...we love you, you will always be in our hearts and memories and one day, we will see each other again ;)
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| Elder and Sister Sheperd enjoying their last dessert in New Zealand. TipTop ice-cream!!! |
It's a Friday and what would a Friday be without a.......
This week I am thankful for many things - family, friends, my job, the gospel, my warm house {I could make a huge list!} but right at this moment, I'm thankful it's the weekend!!!!
Friday Fuzzy....
This week I am thankful for many things - family, friends, my job, the gospel, my warm house {I could make a huge list!} but right at this moment, I'm thankful it's the weekend!!!!
Have a great weekend.
trudy_n xoxx
