Packed day

Yesterday was extremely busy.
I am trying to get all my information together for my comprehensive exam in my minor subject areas. I am progressing but my questions require a lot of thought and the exam is on Monday.

I did take the kids (and myself) to get the H1N1 vaccine yesterday. They had it at our health department and while I am a little unhappy that the children will have to go back for a second dose I am glad we went. I was a little unhappy that the children will need a second dose because they did not tell me that upfront and as far as I could find online it is the multi-dose formula that people are concerned about. However, one of the reasons I went was because I knew that right now I have the choice to get it or not get it. I did not want them to run out of vaccine and then have me wishing that I had done it. So I did my research and made my decision and went. I put off getting the seasonal flu shots because I wasn't sure what was happening with our insurance while Jim was finding a job and now I cannot find the seasonal vaccine for all of us. I can get the flu mist at the student health center, but they did not think that insurance covers it (even though my understanding is that the mist is more effective than a shot) so now I have to find out what it costs and decide if I can afford it, Josie can get it at the pediatrician but Doug and Andy are over the age that is the cut-off because the pediatrician has limited doses and is rationing it.
Health care and insurance is something that if you have reasonable health insurance you probably don't realize what a big deal it is not to have it or how hard it is to find care and afford it and how much it impacts you if you don't have it. But that would be a whole other post for me to go in to our health care/insurance saga.

We also went to the sorority trick-or-treating event on campus. It was a zoo. I was glad to get out of there. I saw people going there with single children who were not big enough to walk yet and I just thought "why." Anyway, all of the sororities had candy and were not just handing out one or two pieces but whole handfuls. Some had other things set-up so that there were games and such. It was crazy. I was by myself with the three kids and we would get up to a house and Doug and Andy would rush forward and I would have to expend all my energy just keeping an eye on where they were and making sure they could get back to me. Josie even ended up getting her face painted without me saying yes or no...she just got swept over in the direction of the face painting table and ended up with a butterfly on her check. Did I say it was crazy. We didn't even go to all of the houses because I was ready to go.
This was the first year we went to it. I am still mixed feelings about whether we would go again. I do know that I did not need to bother buying candy to hand out at our house because when we dumped out all three buckets the candy was mounded up in a large bowl. The buckets were so full that the kids got tired of carrying them because they were so heavy. Did I mention it was crazy!