How's life without any other adults?

Today was the first day without Army daughter and son-in-law.  We didn't spend much of it at home because the grand kids had Sunday school and it was also baby's birthday party.  We got home around 5:30, just exhausted, but still glad to be home.  We ate dinner and the kids got to bed around 7:30.  In less than three hours we cleaned out the truck, ate dinner, hung a load of laundry on the line, washed another and got that hung up too, cleaned the kitchen, put together a box of things Army daughter left, and now I am on the computer. 

I realize that without any other adults here that once the kids go to bed I can get everything done in less than an hour and head off to bed at a reasonable time.  I think that's one of the worst things about having others here in the house: the tendency to stay up and talk - although talking to adults will help keep some sanity.  My lights-out time changed over the last ten months from 8:00 or 9:00 to about 10:00 or 11:00.  This kept me in a constant state of being tired and by being tired I wasn't accomplishing as much as I'd like to each day.  

I will not miss the constant drama that Army daughter seems to have in her life.  Actually most of my kids have some stupid issue going on with one another.  Right now oldest daughter is upset because her younger sister has a bigger house.  Who cares?  With this kind of petty jealousy it makes me want to keep away from them all...but the grand kids are worth having to deal with the stupidity of their parents. 

I try to tell them all that what someone else gets has nothing to do with them.  How about being happy for the other person just because the other person is excited about something?  Why do you always have to internalize it and figure out how their new whatever affects you?  So someone else has a larger tv, newer clothes, gets their hair professionally done (all three of these are not definitions of me!), or goes out to the movies more than you do.  Be happy for them because they like it.  Don't get mad because you go to a movie once a year and they go every month.  Get some enjoyment out of their life rather than comparing to what you don't have.   

I almost finished One Second After.  When comparing this book with Patriots there are a couple of glaring differences and I think we can learn from both books.  I think the main difference between the two is one book focuses on a small group of prepared friends as compared to a small town of unprepared who band together.  Patriots is based on the socioeconomic collapse of America which brings about the end of our currency and our economy, which then begets the  riots, looting, and failure of society.  One Second After is the result of a war that was lost (although most people didn't know we were in a war) when many parts of the world were hit with an electromagnetic pulse weapon by an unknown attacker...could be North Korea, China, Iran, or ???  While this story centers on one man's family and their struggle to survive it brings in a great deal of discussion about the entire town banding together rather quickly.  My conclusion from both is that we need to prepare NOW.  While the Patriots scenario is something that will happen over time, our present enemies could be launching an EMP as I write this.

In One Second After, the country starts to rebound after about a year.  If an EMP happened this week would you be able to survive the year, even if you didn't have to worry about travellers passing by or the local officials confiscating your supplies that needed to be shared for the good of all (such as your pain medications, livestock, fruit crops, etc.)

I met with Bug-out renters today and Mr. Bug-out renter is going to come over this week and help with the new storage room.  He is a better framer than I am but I'm a better taper with the sheet rock.  Between the two of us we'll get it done within the next couple of weeks, as long as my money holds out and it doesn't cost too much.  The secret door is something that I need to figure out.  I have an idea that it will be housed behind one of the bookshelves and the bookshelf will pivot to reveal the door.  I can't make it too difficult to access because while it is a "secret" room I don't want it to be a pain for me to get to.  My intent is to make the room secret to outsiders and family members may know about it but not have a key if I choose to keep it locked.  

I started doing some of the inventory on the hall closet where I keep cleaning supplies.  I did notice that of the four gallons of dish soap I had on hand I now have one gallon.  I know that you can make home made supplies with vinegar, baking soda, borax, and a few other things but I'd like to have those in storage and some of the items that I enjoy using...like liquid dish soap.