Tired, but we survived.

Yes, we were up at 5am and arrived at the clinic shortly before 6am. How exciting to discover that our early morning was full of gifts for us. First of all, we were treated to the most marvelous sky on the drive up. It was pitch black, but the full moon was low in the sky and brilliant. It dodged in and out of the clouds and put on quite the show for us all the way to the clinic. Shortly after we arrived, the moon set and the sun lit up the eastern sky in grand and glorious style. Marvellous huh?
Even though we were there shortly before 6am, we were not the first in line! We did get a spot very near the door though. The man who was first in line had been waiting there since 4am, and the people just behind him arrived at 5:30. We were the next in line at 6am, and set in for the long wait.
We came prepared with thermoses of hot coffee, lawn chairs and blankets. It was really cold, but we managed to stay toasty warm.
Not long after we arrive the line continued to form and fill in fast...
and by 8am, the parking lot was almost full and the line was quite lengthy as you can see in the pic below. At least the sun was shining, and the rain clouds stayed away. By the time the doors opened at 11am I would guess that the line was three times longer than it is in the pic below. The door where we were sitting is by the white post you see in the right side of this pic, and the line forms down the length of the building and then curves down the line of parked cars. I don't know if you can tell from the this pic, but the line down towards the camera is longer than the length of the building. Hundreds of people were in line at this time, and the doors wouldn't open for another three hours. Sheesh!
Once inside the building the public health unit nurses had us move fairly swiftly through the registration process and on to the vaccine area and recovery room. There were a few glitches with the computers, and things were a bit frazzled even this early in the day, but everyone was pleasant and helpful. Both kids had a few tears when they got their shots, but those soon dried, and we were on our way before noon.

After lunch we took Smudge to the park, while Jboy went home for a nap.
We were all glad to have step one in the fight against the H1N1 virus behind us. Sunshine and fresh air made us all feel better.
Excuse me now while I go turn off my alarm and head to bed early. I just might sleep until the cows come home tomorrow. Pleasant dreams. When this blog posts early tomorrow morning, I will still be sleeping ZZZZZZZZ