Tuesday, March 11, 2014

If I Had To Leave In a Rush . . . {#TuesdayTen Linkup}

When I came up with today's Tuesday Ten topic several weeks ago, I had no idea how apropos it would be.  You see, Friday is usually my only "free" day, so I try to spend it doing blog stuff - writing, scheduling, etc.  Last Friday, however, as I sat in front of my computer, my kids were home from school and the power was flickering due to a massive ice storm that was moving through.  It wasn't long until the power was out - for good.

With nothing else to do, we watched outside and, inevitably, saw a tree fall across the road at the end of our driveway.  Later, it became very clear that power would not be restored quickly, so my hubby went out to see if he could move the tree enough that we could get out of our driveway.  He was shocked by what he saw as he looked up our neighborhood street.  There were no less than eight trees down and across the road.  We could hear trees cracking and breaking.  It was awful.

Maybe you heard about it on the national news??  North Carolina - Guilford County - Greesnboro - that's us.  In fact, my kids are home from school today (Monday) because there are still so many schools with no power and/or phone service.  There are bus routes that are impassable and still over 40,000 people in the county without power.
The "ice forest" behind our house.  It really was beautiful.

Up close: A Japanese Maple outside our Dining Room.  Look how much ice is on the limbs.


The view looking down our neighborhood road the day after.

At the end of our neighborhood, we took a right turn and this is what we saw. It honestly looked like a war zone.

The aftermath of the tree that was blocking our driveway.

Our power finally came back on late Saturday night.  As inconvenient as 36+ hours without power was, we were some of the lucky ones.  As I mentioned, on Monday - four days after the storm - there are still thousands without power.  Plus, none of our property, house, or vehicles were damaged by falling limbs.
Probably the luckiest thing for us is that David's parents are our neighbors and they have a whole house generator.  Once we cleared the tree from our driveway, we were able to pack up and go to their house for warmth, food, and toilets we could flush!

Although I knew we could come back to our house for anything we forgot and I knew we were not leaving our house forever, it really got me thinking about this post; about the things I can and can't live without.  The first half of this list was pretty easy for me, but the last 3 or 4 were tough!


If I had to leave my house in a rush never to return I would grab. . . . . . . 

  1. My cell phone - My life line to the "outside world."  During the ice storm, our phones were out, too.  Our cell phones were our only means of communication.
  2. My Computer - Of course, without electricity, my computer wasn't much help.  But, if I was leaving for good, I would want to have it.  I would want to have the files that are saved on it and access to the rest of the world via internet.  And, of course my blog!
  3. My Purse - I'll save the details for next week's Tuesday Ten (Hint, Hint),  and just say that my purse has everything a girl could need for a short time. :-)
  4. Photos - I have a cabinet full of photo albums.  There are photos from our wedding, photos of my girls as babies, and photos of relatives who have passed away.  I am a nostalgia junky and, although I will always have the memories, I would want the photos.
  5. Baby Books - Does anyone still do baby books??  Well, I did one for each of my girls.  I recorded what they ate, how they slept, when they got the first tooth, and when they took their first steps.  I would want to have those, not for me, but for them someday.
  6. Jewelry - Now don't get me wrong here.  I don't have a lot of jewelry and what I have is not priceless in money terms, but almost all of my jewelry was a gift from my hubby.  It is his "go-to" for gift giving and he has given me some special pieces.  A couple were gifts he gave me after the births of our girls.  Others were anniversary or birthday presents.  For sentimental reasons, I would want to take that with me.
  7. Clothes - This seems a bit frivolous, I know, but if I had to leave in a rush, I imagine that it would be under some sort of stressful conditions and a trip to the store to replenish my wardrobe would not be a top priority.  I wouldn't grab my whole wardrobe or anything, but I would grab a few outfits and some clean underwear to last me a few days.
  8. Kids' stuff - When we were getting ready to go to my in-law's during the ice storm, I told my girls to go to their rooms and pack a bag with pajamas, toothbrush, a change of clothes, and anything else they couldn't live without for the night as long as it would all fit in one bag.  It was interesting to see what they grabbed.  My oldest chose her favorite outfit (that was clean) and the other two just grabbed random things they hadn't worn in a very long time.  They did make sure to grab stuffed animals and blankies, though!
  9. Toiletries - This may seem a bit trivial, too, but assuming that leaving in such circumstances would be stressful and not knowing how long it might be until we could get to a store or settled somewhere else, a little deodorant and some toothpaste could do wonders to make you feel a little better.
  10. Food - O.K.  This is where I go into Mommy mode.  I would assume that whatever the circumstances, I would have my three kids with me.  So, not knowing how long we might be in a car or if we would be able to grab a burger somewhere, I would probably open the pantry and dump whatever I could into a bag.  Granola bars, crackers, juice boxes - anything to keep the whining and hunger to a minimum! 

For fun I asked my kids what THREE things they would grab.  Here are their answers:

  • Emily (6) would grab clothes, Lovey (a teddy bear), and Cuddles (a toy monkey).  I asked, "What about your blankie?" (She is VERY attached to her blankies.)  She replied, "I could go to MawMaw and PawPaw's to get a blankie!" (They keep one at their house for "emergencies.")
  • Megan (9) said a suitcase full of clothes, Patches (a stuffed dog), and Brownie (a stuffed horse).
  • Rachel (11) said "Honestly, if the fire alarm went off or something, I would probably be in too much of a panic to grab anything!"  She speaks the honest truth because unexpected alarms and emergency situations do cause her great anxiety.  She has had bonafide panic attacks because of it in the past.
How about you?  If you had to leave your house quickly and knew you could never return, what would you want to take with you??

Photobucket


Your Tuesday Ten hostesses are:



TheLiebersThe Teacher Wife



We hope you have enjoyed our Tuesday Ten Lists!  If so, please link up one of your own and share using #TuesdayTen!
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Come link up again next Tuesday, March 18 when the topic will be "If You Turn Your Purse Upside Down, What Are Ten Things That Would Fall Out?"




37 comments:

Jessica Fiorillo said...

A couple of cookbooks for sure... :)

MamaRabia said...

I hate ice storms! They cause such havoc!! Our neighbor has had trees fall on her house the last two times we had one here. THe good news is that they're aren't any more trees within range for her! This topic was hard for me to. I didn't particularly want to think about some sort of disaster happening. Thne it made me feel guilty for not having everything where it's supposed to be!

Janine Huldie said...

I am just so glad you all are Ok and as I was reading this, I was reminded of Hurricane Sandy and when we lost power from it. Truly is scary and also so frustrating too when you are left without power for more then a few hours and can't do much about it. Seriously though, thinking of you and hope you are all ok and getting back to the swing of things.

Michelle Nahom said...

I would take similar things! Photos would be the first thing on my list...albums and boxes. I'm not able to link up this week because I am transferring hosting services (yet again) so I can't add anything to my blog right now, although the blog itself is still accessible to people. Hopefully next week!

Marcia Shaw Wyatt said...

Ice storms cause a lot of damage for sure. So glad you and your family are safe and that all you lost was power. Our lists - yours and mine - are very similar. And like you, the first several items listed were easy. As I got closer to number 10, I really had to think about it more. I think that's a good thing though - because in an emergency we might not be able to rescue all ten things that we listed. As long as we can save the items that were easy to list (the really important things) - we should be good to go. :)

Pattie Thomas said...

The east coast / Mid-Atlantic has had it's share of crappy winter weather this year. I thought that we would lose power on a couple of different occasions this year so what to grab did run through my mind. I have thought about this in the past and of course when my daughter was younger I would have taken all the things for her care and comfort, and pictures. If I had to leave my house today and never return and assuming that the people in my home were able to get themselves out I would take my cell phone and charger, the jewelry my husband brought from Europe, my purse, and my iMac.
What an eye opening post. Thanks of engaging my brain!

KatiaDBE said...

I love rational your 11 year old is! :-)

Yes, we had one of those too this winter (an ice storm, that is). While it was truly magnificent to look at the trees, so many had fallen down and in some parts of our city the power was out for a week. A WEEK. When the degrees were in the minus 20's. It sucked. Our power was only out for about 24 hours or so. Great topic and one that I'm sure we've all thought of and can relate to one way or another!

Michelle DeLorge@ Scattered Wr said...

Wow, those pictures are amazing. I would grab stuff for mostly the kids for myself i would grab my kindle, laptop and cell phone.

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Yes - I would love to grab a couple of my cookbooks if I could.

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

It was harder than I thought it would be. The weekend kind of put it in perspective, though!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Thanks Janine! Kids were back in school today and, hopefully, that was the last of winter!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Sorry you can't link up, but glad you stopped by anyway! Rabia and I just finished deciding on enough topics to take us into June and there are some fun ones! :-)

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Agreed! I am glad we are safe as well. Talked to some people today who still don't have power (5 days later) and others who had damage to houses or cars. WE were lucky, for sure!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Thanks! It is a scary topic to think about, but an important one. And we have definitely had one heck of a winter, haven't we?

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Thanks Katia! It is beautiful, but causes so many problems. There are people here who are still without power 5 days later.

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Right?!? I listed all these things I would grab, but I definitely couldn't carry them all at once. It would take several trips and it wouldn't be quick!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Funny how things change isn't it? I wonder what we would have answered if we were moms 20 years ago and didn't have all these electronics we "needed?" :-)

Tamara Bowman said...

I was telling Rabia that I'd have to bring my whole honking computer because of all of the files, and the photos I have on the hard drive that aren't uploaded to storage yet. Yikes. If my computer crashed today, I'd lose them all!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Definitely something that make you think, isn't it?!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

That is a scary thought!

Jennifer Barbour said...

Ice storms just suck. We've had some pretty bad ones up here in Maine where people have been out of power for over a week in very cold weather. The damage is staggering. I hope your neighborhood is recovering. I'd probably grab my phone, purse, camera, laptop, the kids, their lovies and dog.

Chris Carter said...

Oh what a HORRIBLE storm it must have been!! UGH. what a mess- I am so glad you could go to your in laws for warmth and to flush toilets! lol

I wish I could have done this link up! I had a scheduled sponsored post to publish... :(

I would bring similar things- definitely all the photos and scrapbooks filled with letter to my kids. Definitely phone and laptop!!! :) Oh and kids. THE KIDS!! LOL

Ginnymarie said...

I love how you asked your kids what they would grab! What a horrible storm! We've had some doozies in the summer and have been without power for over 24 hours. We also have to figure out the toilet situation because we sometimes have sewer issues when there is flooding! (We live kind of in a flood plain.) So glad everything turned out okay for you!

I didn't have time to write Tuesday Ten this week, but I'll be back next week. :)

Teresa Danner Kander said...

Our lists were very similar...great minds think alike. :) Glad you had no damage, and were able to escape to the in-laws to stay warm!

Dana said...

I'd bring my favorite boots, my photo albums (I used to scrapbook, so those are my kids' baby books), my jewelry, and my grandmother's chicken soup pot. And my camera. But in reality, I probably would do what Rachel said - grab my family and go!

Roshni Aamom said...

Lovely photos of the snow! We have a bag which contain all our important documents! I may think of grabbing a water bottle and food, but seriously speaking, I may do what Rachel said!!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Ice storms do suck! The damage is incredible and there are some who are still without power. Fortunately, (and strangely), the past few days have had 70 degree temps!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

I would definitely bring my kids - maybe. :-) I hope you can link up in the future. Rabia sends a weekly email reminder on Friday or Saturday withe upcoming topics. If you want to sign up, go here: http://eepurl.com/PXVtr

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Thanks so much! We missed you this week, but totally understand. I barely found time to write a post myself!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Yes they do! :-)

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Aw! I love that you would grab your grandmother's pot! Rachel knows herself all too well. I would probably have to grab her, so I wouldn't be able to get anything else!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Rachel's a smart cookie! We have a fire box with all of our important papers in it, but I didn't even think of that until I read it in someone else's post.

Allison C said...

Oh my gosh I feel like I am your 11 year old daughter! That was awesome. Assuming the living beings (including my cat) are out safely I would want some of my old journals and the baby boxes from my boys - teeny tiny shoes and the blankets they came home from the hospital in. sniff sniff

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Yes - losing the photos would make me very sad!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Yeah - the baby stuff would be really sad to lose. I worry about my daughter because I never know how she will react in an emergency and think about when she is older - driving, college, living alone. Hopefully, a level head would prevail! :-)

Kenya G. Johnson said...

Isn't it amazing how deep you can see into the woods when there's snow on the ground. That was pretty. We are in the process of getting quotes for whole house generators. After this crazy winter, it's making me nervous for hurricane season. Anyhoo before I read your list I had gathered a bunch of replaceable things in my mind - cellphone, laptop - gosh I'd still have to get them but definitely pictures before "hard drives" - geeez now I'm all I need to make an evacuation list of pack up and go stuff. Pictures for sure.

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Right?? It really go us thinking about worst case scenario. If we were smart and disaster ready, we would put all that stuff in rubbermaid tubs that we could just grab on the way out the door! :-)

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