We're back!

My husband has had his follow-up surgery, and all went well. He is recovering well, so well that I have to get after him for doing too much. He goes out and does yardwork, then wonders why he is in pain and tired. Hopefully now that we are through with the hospital for a while (knock on wood!) I will be able to post a little more frequently.

My mind has been on emergency preparedness lately. With the earthquake/tsunami in Japan, tornadoes in the south, threatened flooding in Utah (yes, we live in a desert. But there is a LOT of snow up in the mountains this year, and it keeps raining! All that water has to go somewhere. In 1983 they made a major street into a river to handle the mountain run-off. They say conditions are even worse this year, so we shall see.) Add in our recent medical emergencies, and it is no wonder I have been thinking about emergency preparedness. I would like to do a series of posts, and include various aspects of being prepared. Think about it, if you were not able to go to the store, or if the power was out for a prolonged period of time, or you lost your job and money was limited, what would you do? Hopefully I can get you thinking, and maybe provide a few ideas to help you prepare.

Let's start by talking about attitude. That may be the biggest advantage you could have, is having a positive, "We can do this!" attitude. Without that, you are likely to just curl up in a ball and do nothing, which isn't going to be very helpful. When my husband first lost his job, I was in a total panic for about a month. It wasn't until we actually sat down and worked out on paper how we were going to survive, that I began to calm down. I had never expected my husband to lose his job, I thought it was extremely secure. After all, he worked for a public entity as an auditor, they had to have someone to watch out for the public's money, didn't they? Evidently, his boss thought otherwise, and decided to eliminate his position. Since I had never entertained job loss as a possibility, I was rather discombobulated by it. When we sat down and worked out how to handle it, I immediately calmed down. I think we can do a lot for our attitude in an emergency if we have thought through solutions to problems in advance. When I see news stories about natural disasters, I think through how I might handle such a situation. I read stories about people who survive huricanes or ice storms, and what they did to keep more comfortable, and what they wish they had done. Imagining what you might do if that had happened to you helps prepare you for the next disaster that you might face. It helps you stay calm, and realize that there is a way to survive, and even be more comfortable. I have heard of studies that say the brain doesn't distinguish between a real experience and an imagined one. I am sure there is a difference, but I think imagined experiences can prepare us mentally for the real thing, and there is a lot of value in that.

Meanwhile, I hope everyone has had a happy Mother's Day! Mine was awesome.
Vicki