RTT- Vote Today!

Well it must be Tuesday again. I see Random Tuesday Thoughts posts starting to fill my Google reader. Stop by the UnMom to catch up on all of the randomness.

As for me... we made it through Halloween but now we have 2 giant bags of candy sitting on the kitchen counter. I'm hoping to do something about that very soon. Freckle posted on Facebook that the Candy Fairy stopped by their house the night of Halloween, took her kids' candy and left them each a small toy. And her kids loved the idea! So, I'm thinking that after 3 days of my kids stuffing their faces with various forms of high fructose corn syrup, the Candy Fairy may stop by today while the kids are at school and drop off a small, inedible treat and sneak off with what's left of their candy.And let's face it, after wax lips, the rest is just plain old candy.

Mae had an appointment with her pediatrician yesterday. It was just her annual physical that was due in September but I wanted to wait until all of the tests came back and we had a chance to talk with the Immunologist again. Mae's pediatrician checked her out from head to toe and said that she looked very healthy. The minor ear infection she was treated for 2 weeks ago had cleared up, blood pressure was normal, and she passed the informal doctor office eye test. Doc sounded very pleased with the findings of Mae's immune work-up and went over all of the specifics with me again. Her big concern right now is the nasty H1N1 virus. There were no H1N1 vaccines at the clinic but she did say that the schools would be vaccinating kids as soon as more vaccine becomes available and of course encouraged me to have both girls vaccinated if they don't catch it first. She said that she'd be very surprised if one or both of the girls didn't come down with it in the next week or two.

The waiting room was full of masked children coughing and wheezing waiting to see a doctor. We had to use a separate "well visit" entrance to the office itself and around every turn was a hand sanitizing station. Pretty much, I'm almost certain that we were exposed to many cases of the nasty flu yesterday but so far no signs of illness yet. *crossing my fingers* Mae's doc did say though that if Mae does come down with H1N1, she should come back to the office in request of tamilflu because of her immune defect. She also asked if I wanted Mae to have the seasonal flu shot while we were there. Of course I agreed and Mae was vaccinated for the seasonal flu (just like every other year). I called last week about the shots and was told that they didn't have any and while waiting to check in at the reception desk I heard one of the receptionists tell another parent that there were no H1N1 or seasonal flu vaccines available. I guess they must be trying to keep some around for the more at-risk kids. After all Binny isn't eligible for either tamiflu or the short supply seasonal flu shot.

In more illness related news, the school is handing out small bottles of hand sanitizer to each student and encouraging them to use it. As much as I think hand washing is important to staying healthy, I think that the hype over hand sanitizer is a little extreme. Even at the doctor's office (we've been in several lately), I see health care workers use a squirt of that stuff instead of actually washing their hands. Yeah it may kill some of the germs but it doesn't actually clean your hands the way good old soap and water does. So around here with each mention from the girls that they need a squirt, I have been gently steering them to the sink instead.


I plan to vote today. There aren't any big races around here on the ballot today but there is a school referendum that has caused some commotion in our school district. The district wants to build a new middle school and a new swimming pool to replace the old pool that is in need of some major TLC. There are always people who refuse to vote for anything that could raise their property taxes (by $164 annually for a house worth $100,000) but I did see many yard signs supporting the referendum while we were out trick or treating. I also read some wimpy opposing arguments in the Squeak saying that during a recession is not a good time to be spending money on our schools. I couldn't disagree more. With all of the federal incentives and the ability to negotiate low prices with contractors that are just hoping for new projects to come up in order to keep themselves in business, this sounds like a great time. I also happen to have 2 children that will be going to middle school in the next few years and use the swimming pool for swimming lessons... and a husband who is trying to stay employed as a construction electrician. Call me selfish but I think that this project is worth the 164 bucks.

That's it for me today. Have a good one!