Tuesday, April 17, 2007 ;
5:23 AM
13 Apr 2007
Friday the 13th
Well, it was an unfortunate day cos I discovered my missing folder, and in the morning, we were scheduled for an interview with the Utah State Dept of Health for Medicaid but did not get it.
WHat happened was: Angeling and my mom had mentioned Medicaid to me several times already, cos LiLing who stayed in Indiana for several years was on that scheme. It helps pay for medical bills for low-income families.
I was more worried about the kids, with their "hyperactivity", they are very prone to injuries or medical emergencies and everyone knows that in the USA, without medical insurance, the bills are sky-high.
Well, so I googled it and found their site and filled in their forms. They stated clearly on the site that non-US citizens could apply too. They called me back to schedule an interview on Fri. So dh took leave in the morning and we got up super early and had to ready the kids by 7.45am.
Interview was at 8.30am.
The lady we met was very nice but the first Q was "Are you US citizens?". Then "How long have you been here?". Siao liao lor... she informed us just 2 min into the interview that we don't qualify cos we are not citizen and have not stayed here for at least 5 years.
5 yrs? I think we will never qualify for Medicaid then, cos we don't intend to stay that long (I hope)...
Will have to look for other resources. FOund another thing called PCN (primary care) or something. will try applying.
Anyway dh had already taken half day leave from school, so we decided to bring kids to the library. I had wanted to bring them for a long time, but checked out the library in our city, and errm, didn't think it suitable.
So I surfed for other libraries around the vicinty and found one in a nearby city that looked good on the website. It also had interesting programmes for kids around ds' age.
We headed for this library and were not disappointed.
Although the community libraries in Singapore were better stocked in terms of books and literary material (and perhaps multimedia too), the facilities in this library were great for kids. It allows us to use and borrow toys and musical instruments as well.
I do miss the JP library for the huge variety of kids books arranged according to age group and languages, the comfy kids sofas and cheery decor. Best of all it was within walking distance.
But i was truly delighted with this library because it allowed unlimited number of books or other materials to be borrowed and the loan term was 3 weeks. They also open on Sundays, so it helps cos I would have the use of the car to return or borrow stuff. Once again, I checked out bus routes and we' d have to do transfers and pay a lot to get there by bus. So going by car is definitely easier.
So this first trip, we borrowed musical instruments and dh's music CDs. Lots of them. We had enough books at home for the moment cos of our earlier Borders Outlet shopping trip and also some Amazon purchases. Anyway the books that were limited in number and variety. (Ironical right? Go library to borrow toys but not books?)
But I was just so happy with their other services, so I didn't mind a bit. :-)
Take you on a tour of their library, a lot of fun for the kids.
Above: educational toys corner. Puzzles, building blocks and such. I am ecstatic that I will never need to buy any such toys for my kids anymore now. Just borrow.
Above: books and reading corner, with water cooler too.
Below: Central area of kids section of the library, with ABC carpet, lego and other toys.
The percussion we borrowed home: a pair of claves (rhythm sticks), clappers (in red), small handheld cymbals, bells (blue).
I didn't want to seem too suaku or kiasu, so I didn't cart home educational games too, but if I wanted too, I could, cos the number of items I can borrow is unlimited! :-) yay
rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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