Tea, fish tacos, and CERT

Good morning, friends!

I'm so glad to be sitting down with you for a moment. I'm having iced tea (obvs) and some really yummy cookies from Trader Joe's. Does the whole country have TJ's? I have no idea. If you don't, I'm sad for you. Almond Windmills are so delish. Little crunchy windmill-shaped sugar cookies flecked with almond bits and sprinkled with sugar. 

What is wrong with cookies for breakfast? Nothing.

So today I have a bunch of thoughts.

I went to my fav store in the world Anthropologie yesterday and wanted to buy some knobs. They are meant to be cabinet knobs, but I want to somehow use them as hand towel hooks on a bathroom wall. My hubs says you can't just stick knobs into the wall. He's got rules like that. I thought maybe I could screw them into a piece of wood of some kind, and then hang it. Complicated huh? I'd ask you for ideas about that too. Because, wow, the knobs are so great, and match my new bathroom colors like amazingly.

Did you know that one of my favorite foods in the universe is fish tacos? Today I got to try a new place for lunch with some awesome ladies. It was the BEST Mexican food restaurant. Loved it so much. I had fish tacos, of course. And then I had the thought that besides our great weather in California and all the greatness our coast has to offer, one of the best things is the Mexican food. If you don't live here, I'm sad for you just for that reason. Well, I guess lots of other states MAY have comparable Mexican food (but I'm seriously skeptical). Other countries? I highly doubt it. Unless you live in the actual Mexico.

If you ever visit me, we'll go get some Mexican food. And then you'll want to have it every day. And then your toddler will ask for "rockamoley" all the time, and then he will be potty trained on tortilla chips. That's what goes down on the left coast.

Ok last thought. My brother, who is a rock star in many ways, is taking this community course in L.A. on emergency preparedness. He keeps telling us amazing things that he's learning. The idea is that the class not only teaches you how to protect and provide for your family in an emergency, but it allows you to be a member of a trained volunteer task force for your city where you can serve your community with your skills, were a natural disaster to occur. He told us that during the Mexico City earthquake aftermath, 400 good samaritans showed up to assist, and 100 of them lost their lives in the process because they were unskilled and untrained for such a disaster.

This program is really interesting. Apparently, it began in L.A., and then FEMA picked it up (FEMA is a part of the national government in place to assist with emergencies across the country). You can go here, on the CERT website (stands for Community Emergency Response Teams), and look up the nearest education program in your area.

Seriously, his training sounds so cool. He said the first and easiest step to being prepared is leaving an extra pair of shoes at your bedside containing a whistle, an extra pair of glasses (if you wear them), and a flashlight. I asked, "Why the whistle?" He said the average person who is trapped can yell for help for 30 minutes, but you can blow a whistle for days. Makes you think, huh?

Last class, he and three other people had the challenge of moving a 30,000 pound boulder off the ground by 18 inches, the distance one would need to lift a large piece of rubble to free a trapped person. They were only given 2 crowbars and some pieces of wood. It took them three hours, but they learned how to do it. Would you have any idea? Neither would I.  

Here's my brother, all geared up. Isn't he awesome? He didn't know I was bragging about him and CERT, and happened to send me this pic today!

In L.A., the program can be completed in 30 hours. In my town, for whatever reason, it is only a 20 hour program. Sounds worth it, huh? Spread the word because people need to know this stuff.

 Well, now, I'm going to go check out YOUR virtual coffee posts.

Because I neeeever dominate the conversation (um, that's a lie).