Last week we had a bit of a fire scare. It ended up not being a huge deal since it was put out quickly, but it could have been pretty terrible. I had a few minutes when I was not certain if our house would survive the fire, and I quickly began thinking of all the things I should grab and pack up to be ready to leave in case we did have to evacuate and our house burned up. These are the things I thought of:
-Trent and Ila's baby books
-My Great Grandma's bible
-the hard drive with several years worth of pictures on it
-as many cloth diapers that would fit in the diaper bag as possible
-my baby blanket and Ila's baby blanket that my Grams made
And that was it. Of everything in our house, those were the 5 things I thought of that I just had to grab. I find it humorous that cloth diapers were on the list because that is something very replaceable and if our house did burn down we could just get some disposable diapers at the nearest store. I guess it just goes to show how much we love cloth diapering!
I was really hoping that Trent would get home and help me save a cabinet that his dad made for his grandma, that holds the baby books and the bible, because the cabinet has a lot more special things in it as well, but I knew that if it weren't possible, I could just get the SUPER important things out!
Over the last few days I have thought of other things that would have been smart to grab (passports, birth certificates, marriage licence and similar things), but I've also thought "man we have a lot of stuff that I wouldn't even consider saving!" It sure makes me realize just how much we have and that I need to keep in check with my materialistic-ness, and what really is important (Jesus, family, relationships).
I also thought it would be fun to hear what YOU would save, so let's hear it! If there was a fire near or at your house and you had 10 minutes to grab 5 things (and your family, pets and any living member of your family was already in the car (and your keys are in the car too!) waiting to drive to safety), what would you grab? 10 minutes, 5 things. Ready, set, fire (hehehe, pun totally intended!)!!!
When our kids all lived at home, I kept all the baby books with all the negatives (from pictures we'd taken over the years) in the same drawer. That was the intention (I could just grab the drawer in case of fire!) It might seem silly that baby books would be so important but you know the story! We also kept all the kids' social security cards, vehicle titles, marriage license, and lots of other important things in that drawer. Now that the kids have moved out, we have all our important things strewed in various places. The older one gets, the easier it would be to lose everything, ironically enough. Even though we have a whole lot more "stuff," we value "stuff" less than we once did. The only things that REALLY matter in life are relationships and even death can't separate us from those! THanks for posting a very thoughtful blog! lylyly
ReplyDeleteThat didn't answer the question, Marma!!
ReplyDeleteI'd use 9 minutes setting up a mote around the house with the sprinklers and hoses, then run in and grab 3 really important things:
1. External hard drive
2. Baby books
3. Our wedding afghan
2 days before Christmas this last year, our smoke detectors went off and there was smoke in the upstairs hall way. We called 911 and at 14 weeks pregnant, I was standing outside in my pajamas, wrapped in a fleece blanket, holding my 3 year old (also in her jammies) and holding 1. my cell phone, 2. our wedding album and 3. our external hard drive (because of the pictures). When we figured it wasn't a major emergency I went back in for Naomi's baby box (like a baby book, but easier to maintain!). Scared the crap out of me. Turns out it was just the circuit board in our furnace that blew and caused some smoke. But we had a fire truck here nonetheless. I suppose if there was a next time and I definitely had 10 minutes, I would grab all those important ID things like passports and marriage license, etc. And I would make sure Naomi had her precious Baby Bear. But like you said, when it really comes down to it most stuff is just stuff. Glad you guys were alright!
ReplyDeleteAfter our house burned we realized that we didn't really need anything except each other but, if we had the chance I think we would have saved:
ReplyDelete-The file drawer with all the important papers in it. (Hard to prove you are who you are without those.)
-The pictures (Our family gave us any that they had of us, so we aren't missing too much.)
-The computer. (That one just sucked.)
-Comfy clothes and shoes for everyone (Annellie ran out in dress up clothes and no shoes, I had just come from PE and only had workout clothes.)
-We would've pulled the GTO out of the garage. (Can't replace a classic car.)
In the end it's all just stuff. You'd be surprised at what you can live without if you have to.
I would just grab one thing. A nice sized mixing bowl. So I could just put out the fire before it engulfed the house in flames.
ReplyDeletebrilliant idea Troybee. I hear they work quite well. :D
ReplyDeleteWay to bring reality back into perspective, Troy. If any of you are unclear on the usefulness of a mixing bowl for a rangland wildfire, you'll have to get the story from it's source... Nicole, you tell it so well!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I don't know what I'd grab. Probably just the kids and hope we can salvage the computer hard drive after the fire department puts out the fire?? If I had time, I'd grab:
ReplyDelete(1) The computer hard drive
(2) Make a dash for the kids' photo albums
(3) Their special quilts
(4) My prints from China
(5) This photo box Aaron's dad made about his Grandpa's engineering career
This list took me forever to come up with! If it had been a split second decision, I probably would have left with nothing (except the kids). Thanks for helping me plan ahead! :)
Amy
The big "if" is about the 10 minutes. Hopefully we would all be lucky enough to have 10 minutes if a fire was threatening our home. So, "if" I had 10 minutes, I would grab:
ReplyDelete1. My purse. And hope that my wallet and cell phone were in there. (30 seconds)
2. My hard drive. (30 seconds)
3. Our important paper file. (30 seconds)
4. Isaac's medications. (1 minute)
5. As many clean underwear and clothes that I could fit into a suitcase in 7.5 minutes.
awesome lists peeps! Amy, glad I could help you plan ahead! Bonnie, yes "if" is the big thing for sure! I was wondering if you would try and get your dining room table and chairs out, since they were your grandma's (right?). Good call on the underwear though, that would be a lame thing to NOT have!
ReplyDeleteSo I think the whole hard drive thing can be solved by looking into a program called pogoplug http://software.pogoplug.com/
ReplyDeleteI don't know all the technicalities of it but it's worth looking into and saving you from such a huge loss of memories and important things.
Things I would grab:
Safe with important documents like marriage certificate, birth certificate etc
And maybe some files from our office with business information.
Wedding Album...but that is all backed up on the Pogoplug...
Grandfather's U of I football blanket
Purse
But yeah...not too much. It's just STUFF.
i wouldn't even think of grabbing anything probably. i'd probably just get the kids and get out. if i KNEW i had EXACTLY 10 minutes my list would look really similar to bonniebee's. i hope i would remember my purse... but i forget it a lot, so that might be in the last 30 seconds after i've loaded the suitcase. and i'd replace isaac's meds with both our laptops.
ReplyDeleteYou all have inspired me to look into a fire proof safe. That way I can just keep the important papers in it and all I have to grab is my external hard drive and us. I'm sure it would take me 9.5 minutes to get the dog out anyway!
ReplyDelete