Ready

Ready. Makes me think of a post I wrote last year, after mom died, about making sure you are ready if something were to happen to you. Being that I am only 31, people are always a little surprised that I have already filled out a POST (physician's order for scope of treatment) telling my doctors and loved ones what I want done if something were to happen to me. I am still slowly working on getting a will written, but the sooner I get that done the better I will feel. When my time comes, I want to make sure my family doesn't need to worry that they aren't doing things the way I would want. No lingering feelings of guilt for not following my wishes. Readiness is something everyone needs to think about. I actually dreamed last night that two of my kids died. It was awful but it really made me think about what I would do if that were to happen. Do I have plans in place if something awful were to happen. Could I afford to take care of things without it becoming even more of a hardship then the loss would already be? Anyway, morbid thoughts today from this girl, but it's something important. Something we need to talk more about. 

This post is a part of my 31-days of free writes.

Sleepover Nightmare & 7 Ways to Survive a Power Outage

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post. I chose two prompts again this week, the first prompt I chose this week is: Write about a sleepover that did not go as planned.

I am going to write about one of my first ever sleepovers. For the life of me, I can't even remember whose house I was staying over at! It was for someone's birthday party and was a house I hadn't ever been to. I should have known better then to watch It the movie, I was too scared to even sleep! I don't even remember how long I lasted, but I ended up calling my mom to come bring me home. Still gives me the shivers just thinking about that movie and that sleepover! Thankfully it didn't cause me to not ever do a sleepover again!

The second prompt I will be writing on today is: List 7 ways to survive a power outage with kids (I added the with kids part, because it's a list for me to look back on. :P)

1. have candles and flashlights ready and available. It's no fun to try and find them and batteries while in a dark house with scared kiddos! 
2. Host a monster hunt with your children to help them not be scared 
3. read a book by flashlight 
4. build a tent out of blankets to sleep in, in the living room so no one will be scared alone. 
5. have a few easy munchies to snack on (chips, popcorn, or fresh veggies - but don't open the fridge too much. You want to keep that cold inside!) 
6. Play board games via candlelight 
7. go outside together and look at the stars in all their glory, no city lights to get in the way. 

This post inspired by:

1000 gifts: three gifts government.

• It is a gift that I live in a country where I can vote for my government leaders and some of the laws. I also think it's also amazing that every single vote counts here. Look at ballot measure 92 in my home state of Oregon, it failed 49.63% to 50.37%! 
• It is a gift that I live in a country who's government protects my freedom of religion. There are so many places where you have to hide to worship, I'm just glad that isn't happening here. 
• It's a gift that anyone can be involved in politics. There were so many volunteers of all ages out at the voting polls, I just thought it was amazing. And it's also a gift to be able to observe your government at work. I can't say for other countries, because I haven't been there, but this one's pretty awesome.

WW: Keeping Kids Busy on Rainy Days

Before I start with writers workshop, I am going to put out a request. I am trying to help dad out with Mom's final expenses. I have set up a fund where you can easily donate. Let me know if you need more details.

Linking up with Mama Kat again this week for writers workshop. If you want to learn more about it, click the link at the bottom of this post.

The prompt I chose this week is: List activities that keep your kids busy on rainy days.

• I thought this would be one that could keep my mind busy. Plus, I can pull it out later and use some of the things on it!
• color in new coloring books (you can get them cheap at the dollar store!)
• go grocery shopping scavenger hunt style (have the kids look for specific items you need.)
• Go play in the play area in the mall
• Go to the library and hang out for awhile (a lot of libraries even have story hour or sing alongs)
• Have a family board game day
• mud puddle stomping
• paper crafts (I have a whole pinboard dedicated to them!)
• do some baking
• go bowling
• write a family story and have the kids each illustrate a page of it

What about you? What are a few things that you like to do with your kiddos when the weather is poor?

This post inspired by:

Be Prepared

This week has been difficult for me, to say the least. I'm not going to blog in detail about things right now, but I will tell you that early yesterday, my mom passed away. She had a sudden cardiac event while at church, lost consciousness and never recovered.

On top of everything else going on, we had to really take a look at how prepared we are for emergencies like this. Thankfully, my mom had made known to the family her wishes if she were unable to make decisions for herself. But, my mom had no living will or advanced directive to make that decision black and white for us.

I also got to thinking (as morbid as this is) that I don't have one either. Right now, I am not married. If push came to shove, I haven't really legally designated anyone to make those decisions for me. This horrible event in my life has turned into a real eye opener. Since I got here on Tuesday I have started the advanced directives and plan on getting some legal help with my will.

I am going to put this out there in the universe, in hopes that it helps someone else.  If you haven't had the discussion with your family already, do it. It's important! I won't lie and say that it's a fun conversation to have, but it is necessary. You never know when it might end up being that time. My mom was only 54. Never in a million years would I have guessed we would be in this situation right now. I am just grateful that we had that tough conversation.

If you are having trouble with it, my local hospital had forms to help us out (you can click the link to get to the PDF of the one I used). We simply made the choices and filled in the details. I imagine there is something available locally if you ask your doctor or check with your local hospital.

That is really the only thing I wanted to discuss here. I will be writing a bit more about my mom at a later date. If you can please keep my family and friends in your prayers. My mom was an incredible woman and I am not sure how we are going to fill the void she leaves behind.