about a peach

Has anyone else noticed the insane number of earthquakes lately? It's crazy. It seems like every day, we turn on the news and there is another high magnitude earthquake happening somewhere around the world. Not very comforting when you live somewhere where they tell us OFTEN that we are due for a HUGE earthquake anytime....

This is what my little boy's prayers conisist of EVERY night (I'm not exaggerating): "Dear Heavenly Father, please bless the people in Haiti, Chile, Turkey and ....pause......and......pause..........China (he means Indonesia, good try)...that they will get the things that they need. "

How sad that he is losing track of who to pray for because there are so many!

And of course, the kids came home from school today and informed me that it is National Earthquake Drill Day...and that they had an awesome earthquake drill at school. They all got under their desks. (Um...ok... a little different from the tornado drills that I grew up with!)

That got us talking about where we should go in our house if we were home during an earthquake, and so we looked around for the safest place. Interior wall..........not close to a window. VERY difficult in my house, come to find out, since I had to put so many dam- windows in! It was almost funny! So, we determined that there were like, 2 walls in my entire house that were safe to stand by...hmmmm..... Are you prepared for an earthquake? Here are some things that are suggested:

Flashlight with extra batteries (preferably one for each individual) Portable, battery-operated radio with extra batteries Purchase and use "Self Powered Radios" and "Self Powered Flashlights". Batteries will be hard to find, if you can find them. Some models will charge cell phones, but the cell phone towers may be damaged, even destroyed. Purchase and use "Glow Sticks". These are SAFER than candles, since you will be dealing with ruptured gas lines, flammable, explosive gas. First aid kit and manual Emergency food and water (some sources say you should have up to 2 weeks worth of extra food on hand in case rescue workers cannot reach your location) Nonelectric can opener Essential medicines Cash and credit cards Sturdy shoes for each family member -and one site suggested that EVERY family member know where the gas shut off is....my dad always says, "if it shakes, it BAKES"....

So guess what we put by our beds tonight? Flashlights and shoes. Don't forget the shoes! Here's hoping we don't ever have to use them.......