House, Hoarders, Ren Fest, and Other Thoughts

We've got 4 days until we move. I've got to call the electric company tomorrow morning to ensure we've got power our first day there. It's awesome to have off of work Friday, which means I only have three days of work left this week. We haven't heard officially that EVERYTHING is signed off, but we're pretty close.

I'm watching the show "Hoarders" right now. It's amazing to me. In one section, the hoarder is getting really upset about the process of getting rid ofher stuff. She has had a number of break downs about random stuff. Someone cleaned the trash off her bathroom floor, and she freaked out. The other section, the hoarder is very good about wanting to get rid of stuff, but her mom is complaining about how slow she's going. She's at least trying, and what she's doing is behavior modification that will prevent her from hoarding again. I feel so bad for them, it must be so hard.

I've got Ren Fest pics! We took *B*'s sister and nephew and my brother with us on Saturday and had a good time. Just to clarify - we know his nephew looks like a girl. The boy's shirt and kilt were a tad too big on him. Below: nephew, *B* and me!, *B*'s sister. Not pictured: my brother who was a party pooper and didn't dress up.

I'm So Excited!

Nine days until we move! We're preparing for *B*'s sister, brother-in-law, and nephew to come in from Germany tomorrow. The only bad thing - I have to stay at school until around 8 pm for the second round of back-to-school night. And I don't even know if parents will show up! All I can hope for is someone being there so that I don't waste my time by staying.

I'm having a tough time deciding what to do. I dated someone for seven years before I dated *B*. I ran into his cousin, and I heard that his dad wasn't well. So I emailed his mom to send my condolences. I'd really like to talk to him again, but he hasn't made any move to talk to me. It would absolutely be platonic - I have no residual feelings. But it's been almost two years since I've seen him, and I'd like to catch up with him. The question is: do I sever all ties and try to put my old life out of my mind, or do I reconnect to see how he's doing? In the end, I'd like to be friends, but I don't know if that could ever happen. Our mutual friends say he's not well, what with his dad and a bunch of other issues going on. Both options have pros and cons, and I really don't know what to do. This decision has a deadline - his birthday is in less than a week, and I decided that if I try to talk to him again, I would email him happy birthday (which I did last year as well).

I'd really like to learn to pray better. Recently (and before my agnostic stint), my prayer has been either pre-scripted (e.g. faculty prayer meetings, Our Father) or stilted. Usually, I stumble through thanking Him for family, friends, shelter, jobs, and reliable cars. Occasionally, I'll ask Him for something (getting this house!) or thank Him for something I've needed and received (getting a mortgage approval!). While I know there's no absolutely right way to pray, how should it be done? How does one pray effectively? When does it become natural?

Renaissance Festival Pics

While it's just a boys day out today, I figured I'd post pictures of *B* in his finery. Look at this handsome renaissance man! He's not wearing most of his gear (i.e. his drinking horn, wine skin, etc). I'll post pictures of me when we go next - maybe tomorrow or next weekend.

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month. One of the things that I've discovered for preparedness is paracord. Real paracord is what parachute cords are made of. It holds 550 lbs of weight. It is about the thickness of a shoelace, and is really useful when laced in place of shoelaces. One can also braid it (a la hemp necklaces) so that a very long cord is easily worn as a fashionable bracelet. I've seen quite a few sources that say paracord ranks just up there with duct tape in the usefulness category. I'm considering it a project to find paracord and make fun, fashionable jewelry with it. I will definitely post pictures once I've finished! To find uses for paracord, visit http://www.survivaltopics.com/survival/550-paracord/.

Another useful tip: ready.gov has an absolutely wonderful family emergency planning section. In ten minutes, I created three awesome documents - a family emergency plan, and an emergency card for *B* and I each. The only thing I don't like is that you can't save a copy, you can only print it. But it is a great tool regardless. I highly suggest reading the entire site, as it gives great tips on all potential emergency situations.

I also made up plans for what will happen if there is an emergency using the PACE principle. PACE stands for Primary, Alternative, Contingency, and Emergency. I have planned using PACE for how we get places, where we go, and how we get there. I also have planned a communication protocol. We will:

1. Text “911,” alert level (ASAP, urgent, soon), current location, meeting place, estimated time of arrival, and other instructions/information.
2. Get gas ASAP.
3. Go to meeting place
1. Home
2. *B*’s parents’ house
3. My dad’s house
4. My mom’s house
5. Family friends' house
6. Other
4. Text upon arrival

This plan allows us to make decisions quickly without panic setting in too badly. A lot of times texting will succeed when sustained phone conversations are not possible. It also allows each person to look back at the message at a glance. We will discuss these plans at length and agree on situations in which they will be used.

We also have lists of what we will get and who will get them given an amount of time to evacuate. For example, during a large, enveloping fire, we will not take anything but ourselves. If we have five minutes, we pick up our 72-hour kits, cat, fire box, and guns. If we have ten minutes, that plus our computers. At half an hour, that and our turtles and extra clothing.

THANK THE LORD!

We got approved for a mortgage! If the USDA signs off, we'll be moved in two weeks from today. I'm so happy, I think my heart will burst. I'm very, very grateful for everything *B*'s parents have done for us, but WE'RE OUTTA HERE!

Tonight, I had a hair appointment with my mom. It's becoming a tradition it seems. *B* went with us, and we had dinner at Olive Garden beforehand. I mentioned that I saw a stove on sale at Sears, and that the appliances at our new home are about 25 years old. Wouldn't you know, we went to look at them, and they had 12 months no interest, no payments. I am tutoring a student this year, and I earn $600 for it. A brand new stove was about $569 on sale, and it is a gorgeous piece of equipment. So we bought it! My mom put it on her Sears card and I will pay her off before it even starts accruing interest. We decided that it was better to buy the stove now, on sale and before the other one breaks, rather than wait until we have no method of cooking and buying something in a bind. This is the model we bought:It's a ceramic top, with a covered element in the bottom so that food doesn't drip on it. It has a sabbath timer, which means I can put food in the oven when I go to work and it will turn on and off when I want it to! I'm so very excited, can you tell?!

Randomness

We had our house inspection today - all was well! All we have to do now is get approved finally and then we can close. I just wish I knew it would all work out. If all goes as planned, we move in 15 days. I'll be praying for it!

I'm afraid that I'm burning myself out on preparedness. While I'm excited about building up my three month supply, I'm losing momentum right at the end of my 72-hour kit building project! I think I feel like I'm kind of crazy for planning this much. It's mostly because I live in an area where we don't have hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, earthquakes, or blizzards that last more than a day. In my lifetime, we've never lost power for more than a day, we've never been evacuated, we've never had any real "problems."

Tomorrow, we have a half day to talk about summer reading books, then I get out early - 12:15! And because of Labor Day, I've got off Monday, too. So in effect, I have a 3.5 day weekend. Woo hoo! It is a packed weekend, though, because I've got a haircut tomorrow, renn fest Saturday, and a trip to my mom's new house on Sunday or Monday. Somewhere within all of this I need to rest and relax.

Thoughts for Preparedness Present Ideas

This year *B* and I decided to make wish lists for present ideas this year. We have his birthday, our anniversary, my birthday, and Christmas in about a month and a half of each other, and we often run out of ideas for each other. As expected, our lists are full of preparedness ideas and household items.

The question I have: which vacuum sealer should I ask for? It would definitely be on the inexpensive side. I've been trying to research vacuum sealers, but it seems that the only sites on which I can find reviews are the actual companies' sites. I tried America's Test Kitchen site, but they require a paid subscription. I remember my mom had a FoodSaver (or a seal-a-meal, I'm not sure which), but it didn't work all that well and it was so loud! I'm afraid that whatever I ask for will be useless.

School has been going very, very well overall. Today in physics, we learned to calculate error by shooting dart guns with marker on the tips at the whiteboard. The kids really seemed to like it, because it is really unconventional compared to what they do in other classes. I'm still trying to figure out how to make math more fun and interesting for my juniors.

We had a club fair today, and the group I moderate, Students Against Violating the Environment (SAVE), did a great job by enlisting many new freshmen into the club. I'm so proud of them! We have our first meeting a week from tomorrow. It's going to be tough to let them come up with all the ideas (or at least make them think they do :p).

I don't know what to do about my juniors. We had a "quest" (large quiz or small test) on work they did this summer. My highest grade so far was 34/50, or 68%. I'm still grading a set and a half of papers. I don't know what happened. I've decided I will have them take it as many times as necessary to get their grades up simply because the material is SO important, that by doing the test over and over, at least they will learn something. But I wish I didn't have to keep going back over things so much. Why did it all go so badly so soon? Is this a glimpse of the future year?