**Update**

Well, apparently a lot of other places got hit pretty hard with the ice storm. We were very fortunate that nothing major happened where we lived. It was actually pretty mild. I don't think the roads ever got very slick.

But anyway, a few of you have asked me about the canned fuel stuff, so here it is:

This is a basic two-pack of Sterno canned fuel. You can buy it at wal-mart for about $3 a pkg. Each can burns for about 2 hours. What's great about canned fuel is that it's a clean burning fuel and it's less likely to spill since it comes in the form of a gel. The reason why I chose this form of fuel is because we are in an apartment that obviously will not let us store propane or anything like that. PLUS, I figured if we ever lost power again, we would be crammed in some small room trying to stay warm. It obviously wouldn't be very well ventilated, and so I could feel safe using this for warming food. Now, it doesn't really "cook" food. You can make ramen noodles, or heat up water for hot chocolate. I also keep a bunch of canned soups that would be easy to heat up. Anything that can be "cooked" on a med-low heat can be cooked using the sterno fuel.

Now, how do I cook with it?????

I bought this folding stove that can be used with the sterno canned fuel. It only costs anywhere from $5 - $14 (depending on where you buy it). I tried it once and my water started a light boil after 10 minutes. Not too bad. These things are VERY compact and fold flat for storage. I'm thinking about buying another one so I can have two going at once if I ever needed it. I have to assume that my neighbors have no emergency preparedness stuff, so if there ever was an emergency they would have to come to us. That's why I want another stove or two so I can have a couple of things going at once. Anyway, so that's how I would take care of basic cooking if we were to lose power. Nothing fancy, but it'll do since we are in an apartment.

I'm actually pretty proud of everything I have for emergency preparedness considering we are on such a tight budget and a cramped living space. We have enough water for us and our neighbors for three days. If we don't include our neighbors, we could last for a couple of weeks. I also have bleach to clean the water and the proportions on how to clean it. I also have a water purifier. Don't forget koolaid and such -- bleach water tastes NASTY!!!! You gotta add something so you can atleast drink it. Yuck! Am I the only one who has had bleach water???

But anyway, we also have tons of matches and lighters, 60 hour candles, flashlights (the kind that you shake to recharge), field knives, first aid and appropriate first aid books, anti-viral masks for us and the kids (remember the bird flu scare??? Yeah.... I got masks that block out viruses JUST in case... I'm so paranoid), more body warmers than we could ever use, can openers with the emergency stuff, those thermal blanket things, hand-cranked wheat grinder (for the almost 15 giant cans of wheat we have), two emergency radios -- one has preset emergency broadcasting stations, a strobe light, a cell phone charging station, and a hand crank (the other is solar powered), and enough food to last a good while.

I'm a total nerd when it comes to emergency preparedness. I can't wait until we have a house so I can do even more. I feel very lucky that I took a lot of survival classes in college so at least I know/remember some basics of what we could do in an emergency situation. Doesn't mean I'd come out alive, but at least I'm not ill prepared.

So what do all of you guys have in the way of emergency preparedness???