Have we gone soft in our modern world?  We are so used to being warm, able to cook, drink a glass of water all with the flick of a switch.  When a winter storm hit, I found out just how vulnerable a person can be.  I knew we were suppose to get alot of snow, around 12", but was not prepared to be without electricity for 38 hours.  I have 2 freezers full of food, but had no way to cook it.  Mother always said "fill your tub with water, so you have water for flushing the toilet", well the electricity went off at Midnight.  I woke up at 2:30 Am, cold and no light.  Now I am a country girl, born and raised, you would think I should know better. I lived on cream cheese and crackers, a couple small bags of peanuts, and snack pack pudding.  I lost 2 lbs., which I have gained back of course.  I had a few bottles of water, which got me through.  I made a tent over my bed to conserve heat at night, and made my cat sleep with me for extra heat!  I lit every scented candle in the house, and nearly got sick from all the fumes.  It got down to 38 degrees.  I grabbed a bucket of snow, set it in the tub to melt (there was plenty of it, about 14") so I could flush my toilet.  Luckily I still had my old phone without all the electical gadgets so I could stay in contact with my friends & family.  Anyway, I survived, and there is more snow on the way!

List of things to have on hand in case of an emergency: 

Batteries, bottles of water, bread, peanutbutter, camp stove, candles, GENERATOR, heavy plastic to put on doorways to conserve heat, duct tape, kerosine heater.

Deb