What if?

What if you had 30 minutes to leave your home because of an emergency?  What would you take with you?  And could you gather it quickly?

I think we all would grab:
The 72-hour emergency kits
Photo Albums
Computer portable drives, laptops, iPads, etc.
Irreplaceable things on your walls
But what about your important documents, paperwork, insurance papers, etc?

In a moments notice can you locate your birth certificate or passport?  What about for your children?

Why is this on my mind today?  Well, today we are having a birthday party for David and friends where we are going into Canada.  We've had 2 people not able to come because they can't FIND their birth certificate, passport or enhanced ID!!!  Please don't take this wrong, because I am NOT little Miss Organized.  My office has been nicknamed "the black hole" from time to time.  But I have always known where to find these important documents.

How?  You ask?  A lesson learned back when we lived in California.  California is known for its Santa Ana winds and wildfires.  Well, at one point in our living there a wildfire was 3 miles from our house.  We were place on voluntary evacuation.  Which gave us time to gather items in boxes ready to load in the car if we needed to leave.  We were at the bottom of the hill so we knew we would have some time if the fire came over the ridge.  Fortunately the winds changed direction and the firefighters were able to contain the fire and we were safe.  What did I learn?  I needed a place for ALL my documents to grab at a moments notice.  I used to keep them in our file cabinet but I now put mine in a notebook.  A large 3 ring binder has passports, birth, death, marriage, and baptisim certificates, a bank accounts info, insurance statements and policies, immunization cards, social security cards, and our will.  You get the idea.  Make it your own.  It feels good to know all our important papers are literally in one place and at arms reach for the "just in case" moments when you only have a few minutes to grab and go.