Emergency Kit

I've had "Make an emergency kit" on my to-do list forever, but it was always getting put off by more pressing matters. But with the many major earthquakes in the past couple of months in Haiti, Chile, Baja, and now China, it felt like time to be serious about it. Living in California, we know it's not a matter of if, but when.

So Mark and I spent a couple of days gathering supplies. We put the kit in two bins so it would be easy to grab and go if we had to evacuate the house for any reason. This kit would work in any emergency...Mark and I weren't even so much picturing an earthquake as we were imagining some unspecified apocalyptic event in which we'd never be able to return home, because ya know, we're dramatic like that.

Our kit includes:

• 2 cases of bottled water
• non-perishable food to last us a week (various canned things, peanut butter, dried fruit, etc.)
• food for Bean
• paper plates and bowls, plastic utensils
• can opener
• paper towels
• small plastic trash bags
• first aid kit (we have a pre-made one just given to us by Mark's mom from Costco or Sam's)
• flashlight with extra batteries
• battery-operated radio with extra batteries
• scissors
• utility knife
• duct tape
• heavy work gloves (2 pairs)
• dust masks (Mark wants to upgrade to respirators soon, because again, it might be the end of the world, people!)
• large plastic drop clothes to cover broken windows (just in case it's only a few broken windows and we don't have to flee the home forever)
• waterproof matches
• a pair of sturdy shoes for each of us
• a change of clothes for each of us
• a pack of socks
• beanies for each of us
• 2 blankets
• toilet paper
• toiletries (soap, deodorant, toothbrushes and paste, wet wipes, feminine supplies, etc.)
• hand sanitizer
• pad of paper and pens/pencils
• list of important phone numbers
• copies of important documents (driver's licenses, insurance policies, bank accounts, etc.)
• cash in small denominations in an envelope

And don't forget supplies for the kiddos if you have them. I also taped a sheet of paper to the outside of one of the bins listing the expiration dates of the food, first aid kit, and batteries so they can be used up and replaced. We're keeping our kit in our guest room closet because there's plenty of room in there and it's easy to get to.

Are you prepared for an emergency, and have we left anything out?