I never knew this kind of "group" existed. I mean I guess I would have had I ever thought about it, but never really got the "vibe" to NEED to think about "survival". I mean really, I sleep in a nice warm bed, eat food when I want it.. I turn on the faucet and out comes "fresh" water....(sigh)

I grew up down south - my daddy made sure I knew how to change a tire, shoot a gun (and made me go to hunter safety courses) and the whole gambit. I could hold my own and can honestly say that back in the day I was much more prepared for a number of things vs. now when I've gone all soft (and a little more pugdgier)

I was in the air 911, and it was an experience that I never wanted to find myself in again - the, "oh crap, what to do" feeling is debilitating at 32000 feet, much less on the ground - and I like being prepared - having a plan... I'm a IT program manager by trade, work in lots of different industries - and this aspect makes me good at my job. I plan, prepare and execute on a daily basis.

Still I never took the "need" personally to be prepared for myself... that is.. until I had my daughter. Talk about instinctual, primal even.... I now know how a momma bear feels when the cubs are threatened. At warp speed over the last year (I'm a new momma), I have escalated the "need" to "feel" to be "prepared".

I randomly talk to people about this, specially due to the area I live (way close to DC) - friends, family, the random stranger on a plane.. about "preparedness". I was appalled at how many (men and women alike) said.. "oh don't worry", "nothing will happen again", or "your husband will take care of you". Uh... ok.

Well gawd love my hubby, he's chock full of common sense which isn't all that common and he's a good man. But when push comes to shove, I am the planner, thinker, initiator, pit bulldog of the house. It's my nature to remain calm and think and I have absolutely no problems with this and he has no problems with this (Believe me when I say we both have our strengths and weaknesses). When I broached this subject with him, his response was "Why worry"? This only confirmed my "need".

Enter google - and a whole new world has opened up to me - and how I found EST. My gawd I had no idea how truly unprepared my family was if in fact something happened (a checklist just isn't enough)(whatever it is - power outage to an alien attack) (not to mention the overall naivity) of people in general. Maybe I always knew this and just chose to ignore it.. but I figure it's better late than never....

I've been lurking and just soaking up ideas and basically having more 'ah-ha' moments than I care to admit to. So - I wanted to say hello, apologize for any silly questions now (although this won't keep me from asking them), and to thank you all already for the willingness to share. I hope that I will eventually be able to give something back.

Sas