The Big Quake is Yet to Come

A little while ago there was a news conference on the state of things in Los Angeles since the earthquake.  There doesn’t seem to have been much damage, but councilman Greig Smith, known by other council members as “Mr. Earthquake,” had some strong words for us in Southern California.  I asked Rob to type them up for me since he is a faster typist than I am and thanks to TiVo and its pause feature I can share this with you now:

News Conference of Los Angeles City Council

July 29, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

Council Member Greig Smith (“Mr. Earthquake”):

Thank you Councilman Greuel, and I want to thank you on the very succinct statement on the status of the city of Los Angeles right now.  I think it is important to remind people that what we experienced today is a reminder of what’s yet to come.

According to the experts at USGS, at Cal Tech, at the USC Earthquake Center the big one is yet to come.  What we experienced in 1994 was not the big earthquake.  It was a bad earthquake, but not the big one.  Today’s reminder is that the big quake is yet to come.

It’s going to be a 7.9 to 8.1 on the San Andreas Fault in the next decade.  That will bring significant damage throughout the region.

In 1994 our police and fire departments were able to call upon mutual aid from other cities.  We will not have mutual aid if that quake hits as predicted.  We will be on our own as a city and as individuals and everybody must be prepared in their home.

You must have water; you must have canned foods; you must have a flashlight with batteries and a transistor radio to keep informed of what’s going on because you may be on your own for up to three or four days this time.  So please be prepared.

Southern California is going to practice the first large earthquake drill in American history in November.  It’s called The Great Shakeout.  Five counties: Los Angeles County, Ventura, I believe San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange, are all going to participate in earthquake drills in November.  We are also hosting an international conference of experts in November here in Los Angeles to really focus on earthquakes.  If people are interested in information about that they can go to www.shakeout.org for information about how to be prepared in your homes and what is coming in November.

But this has been just a reminder of things to come.  We are going to have one of the largest earthquakes in modern American history in this region in the next decade.  People need to prepare.

I’m very proud of what we have in Los Angeles.  I want to reiterate what Ms. Greuel said.  Our police and fire departments are the best prepared in America.  They drill constantly for these emergencies and I am very confident they will do what they can.  But what we are expecting coming some time this decade far exceeds our ability as a city, or any city in America, to respond so people need to prepare.

Thank you very much.

This also seems like a great time to remind you about the awesome e-books available at Totally Ready:

“Mother Hubbard:What She’s Doing Now: A Simple Approach to Food Storage in the 21st Century”

The all-inclusive guide to food storage in the 21st century.  Includes an interactive inventory and a food storage calculator (Microsoft Excel). Offers practical advice and insights from expert author, and founder of TotallyReady.com Carolyn Nicolaysen.  Her invaluable wisdom will help guide your family as you strive to prepare for the expected—and unexpected—bumps in the road of life.

 “That Won’t Happen To Me” Volume 1

This eighty-one page PDF includes two dozen articles to help you and your family be Totally Ready for whatever comes.

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We’re Fine

There was just a 5.4 earthquake centered 3 miles from Chino Hills, 4 miles from Diamond Bar California. I was getting out things for lunch when we felt the house shake up and down for several seconds and then sway side to side for what seemed like another minute. The kids and I stood in the doorway and watched the light swing in the dining room. Since Rob was on the 17th floor of his building, he decided to come home until things are checked out.  The elevators were not working so he walked down the 17 floors.  The kids have gathered our 72 hour kits and added the necessary toys in case we need them again.  Hopefully this was it and there won’t be any other big ones following.

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Mommy Breakdowns

Is anyone else hitting their mid-summer crisis?  I am.  We have been so busy doing fun activities and things for the kids that they have started to get spoiled.  Over the weekend we switched the kids bedrooms around so we now have a boy room and a girls room.  Yesterday was spent decorating the rooms and making them look cute and fun.  This morning I thought our dentist appointments were at 8:00 and ran around like a crazy person to get me and Emma out the door and to the early appointment on time. As we sat down in the waiting room the receptionist said, “You’re appointment isn’t until 1:00.”  I think I’m going crazy.

Then I hit my breaking point at home when I asked the kids to get dressed for the day and got no response, twice.  Just blank stares at the TV. Then there was one little girl running around with no clothes on yelling, “I can’t find my undies!” And the other little girl running around yelling, “I need to go potty!” and “no, no, no!” as I try to get her dressed. (She had been on and off the potty for the last ten minutes so I knew she didn’t need to go.)  I asked another child to help find the clean undies and even explained where they could be found.  And a few minutes later there was a cute outfit, but no undies. Arrr…. And then to top it off I got a few of these questions, “Mom can we do something fun today?” I lost it and slammed the door to my room and paced as I fumed.  I then sat and listened for Rob to finish his shower and come and listen to my sob story and fix the kids.  He did both beautifully.  The kids are on a no computer, no TV day, and the older two are walking on egg shells to not set me off again.  I love my kids so much, but some days are tough.

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Always Remember – Hero Camp 08

Last week was “Hero Camp”, an amazing church camp that is planned and run by the mothers in my ward (congregation) and a neighboring ward. Last year Hunter and Emma had a great time, and they have been waiting all summer for this big week.  This year’s theme was “Always Remember” and focused on the wonderful examples of heroes we have had throughout time. Every morning the group of 99 children would meet together and get a visit from a hero that came through a Time Machine. Then they would split into groups by age and rotate through activities, music rehearsal, and a lesson.  I didn’t see everything that went on, but here are some of the highlights of the week:

Monday’s Hero: Old Testament – Joseph and the coat of many colors. The focus was on choosing the right no matter what happens to you, and having a good attitude. They talked about “CTR Power” quoting the scripture in 2 Samuel 22:33- “God is my strength and my power: and he maketh my way perfect.”  They also learned about other heroes in the Old Testament: David’s power of courage (they used sling shots to throw marshmallows at an amazing painting of the giant Goliath), Moses’ power of faith, Daniel’s power of prayer, Esther’s power to stand for what is right, Noah’s power of hard work, and Joseph’s power to forgive.

Tuesday’s Hero: The Book of Mormon – Ammon’s wisdom. God helped Ammon to be wise by giving him ideas in his mind and in his heart.  They did activities related to living in Nephite times, making an arrowhead necklace, a little clay pot, a headband and painted each others faces.

Wednesday’s Hero: New Testament – The Good Samaritan. This is the day I was most involved with and I helped teach a lesson about Christ and how he taught us to serve by the way he lived. We talked about how he used his hands for service, made painted hand prints and special pencils, did an obstacle course and assembled hygiene kits.

Thursday’s Hero: Doctrine and Covenants – Mary Elizabeth and Caroline Rollins (They saved many of the pages from the Book of Commandments when a mob destroyed the print shop). The theme for the day was “We can do hard things.” Much of the focus was on the early Mormon pioneers and the hard work and sacrifice they gave to live and defend themselves from persecution.They made covered wagon snacks, played games that pioneer children would have played, and made butter.

Friday: The kids all performed the songs they had rehearsed through the week.  Each group had a song they learned together, and there were two beautiful group numbers as well.  (I can’t remember the name of the CD that so many of these songs were on, so if you know please tell me!) Each child was given a memory book with pictures of them and the things they did all week.  Then we all went to the Lagoon for swimming, sand and water slides.

It was such a special week.  The kids felt the love of their Heavenly Father and learned so much while still having fun with their friends.  There were tears shed by one of my girls because it was over so fast and she just loved learning and singing.  A huge Thank You to any of you that were involved in making this week happen.  It will be something that my kids will always remember.

Hannah’s group singing Nothing’s Too Hard For The Lord

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT4tPi2GnCg

Emma’s group singing Good News

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t53cieMeMGA

Hunter’s group circle dancing

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTaE8sXHWBw

The whole camp sings together

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Hcnq-hU82Q

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Hubby Dating Tag

I have been tagged to tell about my husband and about our dating years.
Husbands Name: Robert, Rob, Robby
How long did we date: friends for 2 months, dated for 2 months, engaged for 2 months
How long have we been married: Almost 12 years – August 24th
How old is he: He just turned 35
Who eats more: Eats more of what?  Chocolate? me. Pasta? Rob.
Who said I LOVE YOU first: Me! We were in my apartment having some sort of deep discussion when it hit me, and I just said it.  He answered “I love you too” back so fast that I was afraid he didn’t mean it and was just trying to say what I wanted to hear.  (I don’t read into everything as much now as I used to.)
Who is taller: Rob, by about 8 inches.
Who is a better singer: Me, Rob can hear the tune but can’t get it to come out right. I’m not far ahead of him though.
Who is smarter: Rob.  He can remember everything trivial and most things important.
Who does the laundry: Me, unless Rob is out of something then he will do it without any fuss.
Who does the dishes: Me, unless Rob is being particularly gallant or I ask him to.
Who mows the lawn: One of the advantages to renting- the gardeners hired by the landlord.
Who cooks: I do most of the time, but Rob does whenever he gets a chance or wants to give me a break.  He knows I don’t like cooking.
Who drives: I do when I know how to get there better than he does, but usually Rob. On road trips we rotate turns.
Who proposed: Rob did at a little restaurant called La Dolce Vita. He brought the ring with him and talked to the waiter who was a native Italian (While I was sitting right there. I kind of thought something might be up.) and worked out a way to present it to me. I was served a dessert with a ring right in the center.
Who is more stubborn: Me.
Who is more sensitive: I’m not sure.  I would say that I am more insensitive, so does that make him more sensitive?
Who wears the pants: We’re equally matched most of the time. In fact we argue over who’s turn it is to pick the movie or which restaurant to go to.
First Kiss: Once again we were in my apartment sitting on the couch.  (That summer I only had one roommate and she was gone a lot.) He was helping me study for a religion class, and at some point he felt the moment was right and leaned in for a kiss. I remember it was very simple and nice, and Rob remembers saying something profound like, “You’re really cool.”
TAG, YOU ARE IT……

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