This morning Nikki came up to me and told me that Maci was almost out of clean diapers. We can not afford to use any of the water we have right now to wash them. Just as I was about to go pull another 3 dozen out of storage my neighbor said that there was 4 big boxes of Pampers at her house. Her daughter had left them there for when they came for visits. They live in Ohio and used to come for a weekend visit every 2 months. Now she told her husband that when they went to the house to get the food to make sure to grab all the Pampers out of the spare bedroom closet plus what every baby clothes were there since they would no longer fit their granddaughter.
After the guys ate breakfast they headed over across the street. It took them about an hour to load the truck and then they came back. They were going to have to make a second trip because they didn't have room for the matteress on the first trip.
I was shocked at the amount of food they started carring in. There were cases of soup, vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, store bought canned meat, paper towel, toilet paper, 25 lb bags of sugar, 2 cases of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and more. There was enough that we should be able to get by till the garden started producing. The four boxes of pampers were given to Nikki along with all the baby clothes. The food was all taken straight to the storage room where Tammy, the neighbor's wife, Julie and I started putting it away.
Once the guys had th first load unloaded they went back to get clothes for the neighbors, their matteress and all their bed clothes. They grabbed all their candles, oil lamps and lamp oil. The neighbors also had a little mutt of a dog and had asked if it was okay to bring her. I didn't want a dog in the house since I had just lost my two little dogs last year but I could not turn them down after what all they had donated in supplies to the group so they guys got her food and water dish and her bed, grabbed her and came back. I will admit she is a cute and friendly little things and the kids love her. Even though I did not want another dog in my house I think she is what the kids need to give them a little more normalacy in their lives.
They also had one more prep item that they had bought just a few days before the power went out. A brand new kerosene heater. It was still in the box when the guys brought it over. The neighbor's had not gotten to buy kerosene for it yet when the power went out.
We had to figure out new sleeping arrangements so it was decided that Tammy, JR and Kyle would move up to Steve's old room and the new heater would be place in the big landing upstairs to use only at night to keep everyone sleeping upstairs warm. I tried to give the neighbors the room that Tammy and JR had been sleeping in but they would not hear of it. They insisted that John and I take it and they would sleep in the livingroom.
Our neighbor's supplies added to ours has brought the total almost back up to where we started when the lights went out. We should have plenty to last until the garden starts producing.
Now I have the added guilt of taking in people I barely knew over my own brother and his family. But if I had taken in my brother and his family things would have gone real bad real quick. We would have ran through my preps in 3 months at the most. His granddaughters would have been hitting up on Steve, Mike and JR causing all types of problems in the group. Neither of those girls would have gotten off their butts to do anything to help and neither would my brother or his girlfriend. None of the his 5 grandkids have any manners and they all would still you blind. On top of that the granddaughter would have roamed the streets and telling everyone what we had here. Those were chances I just could not take. I had to keep my own kids and grandkids as safe as I could. As for all the others I had let come in they all had contributed one way or another to our needs. My brother and his family would have come empty handed and done nothing to help at all. Some times you have to turn family away no matter how much you love them.
One other big factor that kept me from taking in my brother's group was that they are all very foul mouthed and are always fighting. I can not handle that kind of daily life. I am not use to it. With in a month of having to listen to that I more than likely would have taken a gun and put it in my mouth and pulled the trigger. My desire to live is to strong to let them pull me down so I had no choice but to turn them away. May God forgive me for being such a coward.
After the guys ate breakfast they headed over across the street. It took them about an hour to load the truck and then they came back. They were going to have to make a second trip because they didn't have room for the matteress on the first trip.
I was shocked at the amount of food they started carring in. There were cases of soup, vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, store bought canned meat, paper towel, toilet paper, 25 lb bags of sugar, 2 cases of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and more. There was enough that we should be able to get by till the garden started producing. The four boxes of pampers were given to Nikki along with all the baby clothes. The food was all taken straight to the storage room where Tammy, the neighbor's wife, Julie and I started putting it away.
Once the guys had th first load unloaded they went back to get clothes for the neighbors, their matteress and all their bed clothes. They grabbed all their candles, oil lamps and lamp oil. The neighbors also had a little mutt of a dog and had asked if it was okay to bring her. I didn't want a dog in the house since I had just lost my two little dogs last year but I could not turn them down after what all they had donated in supplies to the group so they guys got her food and water dish and her bed, grabbed her and came back. I will admit she is a cute and friendly little things and the kids love her. Even though I did not want another dog in my house I think she is what the kids need to give them a little more normalacy in their lives.
They also had one more prep item that they had bought just a few days before the power went out. A brand new kerosene heater. It was still in the box when the guys brought it over. The neighbor's had not gotten to buy kerosene for it yet when the power went out.
We had to figure out new sleeping arrangements so it was decided that Tammy, JR and Kyle would move up to Steve's old room and the new heater would be place in the big landing upstairs to use only at night to keep everyone sleeping upstairs warm. I tried to give the neighbors the room that Tammy and JR had been sleeping in but they would not hear of it. They insisted that John and I take it and they would sleep in the livingroom.
Our neighbor's supplies added to ours has brought the total almost back up to where we started when the lights went out. We should have plenty to last until the garden starts producing.
Now I have the added guilt of taking in people I barely knew over my own brother and his family. But if I had taken in my brother and his family things would have gone real bad real quick. We would have ran through my preps in 3 months at the most. His granddaughters would have been hitting up on Steve, Mike and JR causing all types of problems in the group. Neither of those girls would have gotten off their butts to do anything to help and neither would my brother or his girlfriend. None of the his 5 grandkids have any manners and they all would still you blind. On top of that the granddaughter would have roamed the streets and telling everyone what we had here. Those were chances I just could not take. I had to keep my own kids and grandkids as safe as I could. As for all the others I had let come in they all had contributed one way or another to our needs. My brother and his family would have come empty handed and done nothing to help at all. Some times you have to turn family away no matter how much you love them.
One other big factor that kept me from taking in my brother's group was that they are all very foul mouthed and are always fighting. I can not handle that kind of daily life. I am not use to it. With in a month of having to listen to that I more than likely would have taken a gun and put it in my mouth and pulled the trigger. My desire to live is to strong to let them pull me down so I had no choice but to turn them away. May God forgive me for being such a coward.