While I was ironing yesterday, I was watching an episode of The Universe that I had recorded over the weekend. The episode was I believe an older one from 2010 or early 2011 (thinking 2010) and they were addressing solar flares and citing a report from an official scientific organization (forget the exact name) that put out a report in 2009 stating that 2013 is projected to be the worst for solar flares in quite some time, and then proceeded to mention the possible outcomes if a major flare were to come our way. WOW, did it leave me rattled. Sure, I have read info online and even here on Mrs. S, but the reality of what could happen never fully materialized in my thinking until that program - esp. when they mentioned the potential for lost lives, how long it would take for the grid to be re-built, and so on. I was ironing off my husband's shirts thinking "there's no way we're ready!". A bit of panic set in (okay, a bit is an understatement).

What stuck me most was how many will be completely unprepared. Not to say that I am any where near being prepared, but at least I've got a start and a direction, how many have zero clue of what the possibilities are. Esp. those in the cities, no way I want to be in a city if

I'm actually reconsidering a trip we had planned for Feb of 2013 -- my son will be turning 17 and to celebrate we were taking a trip to Florida. Now I am VERY hesitant to go that far away with the increased possibility looming.

2013 (ideally) would be my time to stay close to home -- that program really rattled me, and has me thinking a lot more about how I am going about prepping -- I need to do sooooo much more.

Rambling on seems to help get things straight a bit

My goals:

1) fashion a more definitive plan on what we need.

2) find another place to live - a safer place not on a main highway, ideally where we'd have more privacy and lots of room for storage, but short of a miracle, I am not hanging my hopes on that happening.

3) focus more on safety. People are nuts as it is, if there's a disaster, I can see that being magnified by a million. Not taking chances with my family's safety.