Things keeping me busy lately...

With the publishing in the Ensign of a pamphlet on food storage, I was reminded that we were not very organized in our storage. I'm pretty sure we have enough of the basics--wheat, beans, rice.

But then it was mentioned that we should have a 3-month supply of the things we normally use, and I knew we didn't have that. Thus, a project was born. Kevin "loves" it when I say something on the order of , "Honey, I think we need more shelves downstairs."

We already had shelves (built by Kevin several years ago) but they were spaced widely, for holding big boxes. So, if I began to put in cans and small boxes, I could only stack it part-way up and a lot of space was wasted.

So Kevin immediately got out his tape measure and began the plans. Within a few days, the new shelves were in (you can see the lighter, newer wood inbetween the old shelves). Wow, now I can fill them up, and I did!

The only problem is keeping my system intact. I've already noticed that stuff put away by others is in different spots than what I had planned. Do I just do all the putting away myself, or do I periodically straighten it up?

At General Conference, I take out all the foods in the 72-hour kits (backpacks!), and we get to eat it! (This is an idea I picked up in Relief Society a couple of years ago). It's fun snacking on the special things (trail mix, granola bars, juice cans, even candy) as we listen to Conference.

Then I replace those items, so that if we ever do have to use those kits, the food will actually be edible. I also try to put in items that have the furthest-away expiration dates--hopefully, a year or longer. That way I don't have to replace everything, every six months.

It has been educational doing this, as we've found things that I wouldn't want to have to eat. For example, don't make your own trail mix--the nuts go rancid! Keep the nuts, dried fruits, etc. in their original packaging.

So, this fall, we're a little closer to being ready for the future!