Prepping « Robin Writes

I covered food and water storage a few weeks ago, and today I’m going to give you a list of more basics to start prepping:

Skill sets

Clothing

Heat

Communication

Transportation

Medical supplies/medicine

Entertainment

Defense

Let’s start with clothing. See, a lot of people think of downsizing and plan to live off-grid or homestead or just prepare for an emergency, and this is where you can get tripped up: that downsizing bit.

We’ve all read articles about cleaning out your closet, how to choose things you don’t wear, how to keep from buying more “stuff.” But some of that “stuff” can really come in handy in a prepping situation.

I know you replace towels and blankets and things like that every so often; you either change your color scheme or they wear out or fade. But imagine this: it’s cold, the heat is out, and you’re shivering, wishing you had just one more blanket.

Or someone has been injured and you need a towel to apply pressure or clean up a mess. Most of us will be thinking, “Oh, no, I am NOT using that new blanket for THIS!” In spite of an emergency, we’re still wired to think like civilized people, right?

You can change that mindset, but it won’t be pretty. Assign a tub for all your cast-offs.

Same thing goes for clothing, but with a twist. You can use old clothing for messy projects, sure, but you can also use it for spare parts, so to speak. Zippers, buttons, extra material, repurposing. Bandages or wound care. Bedding. The list is pretty extensive.

For long-range emergencies or SHTF, you’re going to want those old clothes for any number of uses; not to mention the possible impossibility of replacing clothing as it becomes worn out. Think about it: what if you can’t run to the mall to get a new pair of jeans? No mall, no money, no transportation, no time.

Assign another tub for old clothes; admit it, a lot of these can be repaired in the first place.

That’s why you should buy the best you can afford, for the long haul, whether it’s equipment or clothing or properly packaged food supplies.

And that’s why you need to learn or practice your skill sets.

The weather forecast, aside from the blowing flurries today, seems to be gifting us with some cold and possible snow accumulation. Gee, thanks, weather!

While that means that all our outside prepping is being put on a short—very short—hiatus, we have plenty to do at our STL house:

Painting

Packing

Moving—at least as far as the garage

Minor repairs

Landscaping

Of course, that last will wait until this blast of cold is over, hopefully and as forecasted in a week or ten days. But the house will go on the market in a few weeks, and our target move date is May 20.

Unless, as my husband unhelpfully pointed out this morning, the darn thing sells immediately with a requested possession of March or April.

Stress much??

Meanwhile, one kid is moving from Boston, by way of Chicago, to Austin on or around March 1st. Now, since she’s nearly 30—sorry, Liz—it shouldn’t be a big deal for us, except she’s coming through STL to 1) pick up some furniture and things and 2) coming back in a few days to buy a car and pick up her kitties.

This way, I’ll only have one small dog, one 20-pound cat, and an ailing, elderly dog to pack up and cart off when we have a house showing . . .

So.

The middle kid is/was moving. Still unclear on that, and again, he’s married, no concern of ours, except . . . he, too, is picking up furniture and stuff. Or a friend is. Some time. Maybe over the weekend.

Not really sure.

The youngest, aka the kid, will be staying in STL when we move—so, besides college registration, which I discovered isn’t until April-something, thank goodness—we’re apartment-hunting and trying to coordinate dates.

So, you know, mid-May. Or, if the house sells sooner, March or April. According to that same husband, who, by the way, has managed to put up with me for 19 years as of today. Or vice versa. The jury’s still out.

I mean, seriously, who leaves their high school senior kid living alone for the last few months??

These date-coordination things are driving me nuts!

While I know that downsizing and simplifying are definitely the way to live, the transition, especially with everything else going on, is crazy!

102 days to go . . .