Christmas Eve.

Our Christmas Eve wasn't exactly traditional this year. I had forgotten the veg (vegetable to those of you not in the UK), so we had to go back to Sainsbury's to get that. Because we had a busy day, we were there at 8 am. We ran into one of our neighbors on the way, who mentioned that the Leicester City game we were going to was going to be televised on Saturday. I'll get back to that later. Thankfully there was no crowd at the grocery store, and we were back home by 8:45, when we started our daily holiday movies.

The movie finished with 10 minutes to spare to get to the doctor's office. Nid and the children had appointments to get vaccines for the move. I had printed out documents, compared them to the children's baby books, and had a list of questions. Not all of Cale's book was filled out, so I had to find out if he hadn't gotten them all or if they just hadn't been filled in. Also, some of the vaccines were slightly different in his book (a later edition of the same style), so I just wanted to make sure they had both everything they needed in general for their ages, as well as for the trip. The nurse we saw was a joke! He did not seem to entirely understand what I was saying, and I suppose part of that could be a language barrier issue, however part of it certainly was a he's an idiot barrier. He needed an exact date for travel. We don't have an exact date. Finally we agreed I could make one up. Then he was looking at his computer and said they had all that they needed. I said they needed Hepatitis B. His helpful comment was that that was usually done under private insurance. And that's all he'd say. I had to practically beat him over the head, asking him if we could pay for it, (it's usually done under private insurance he said again). I asked if he could give it (it's usually done under private insurance he said yet again). I asked if he had it in the building (it's usually done under private insurance he said YET AGAIN!). I asked, if I paid him money, could he physically do it!?!?!?!? I was really getting tense at this point, and I do believe that my voice was starting to get higher and higher pitched. I said to Nid, let's just get it at the Embassy when we go to London. So he says, what he'll do for us is give them Hepatitis A&B. He cannot give us B for free, but he can give us A&B for free under the NHS. What?! Okay, we agree on that. He then refuses to give them TDap. I say that the CDC says it can be reboostered at ages 11-13. He says we have to wait to get a letter telling us that it's due, and we'll get that when the children are aged 14, 15, or 16 before they leave school. He won't even give it to us if we pay for it. I say fine, as I know we can get it at the medicals or when we get to the US.

Briony was up first, and immediately after her injection she starts to feel sick. We move her to a cot and she lays down for a while. Nid gets his vaccines next. He gets two, and feels fine. When Briony is feeling better we send Cale in to get his and I go out with Briony to the waiting room. She still isn't feeling well. Cale bounces (literally) out of the exam room a few minutes later and we head home. About 50 yards down the street, he starts seeing bright lights and feels light headed. I take Briony, Nid takes Cale, and we finally get home. I fixed them both some toast and water, handed out the paracetamol (acetaminphin in the US) and they rest on the sofa until they start to feel a little better. Both have sore arms (as does Nid) so I give strict orders (per the nurse) for them to be careful on the stairs, not to lift anything heavy, or rough house for the afternoon.

It was only about a half hour until Nid's friend Kev from Sommerset arrived with his daughter Jasmine for a visit. Kev had come up to Kettering to visit his mother for the holiday, and they took the train to Leicester to visit Nid. It had been years since they'd seen each other, and it is great that they were able to have an in person visit before we move. There is talk about the four of us visiting Kev at his place, but we are quickly running out of time to do so.

We also had a visit from our friends Matt and Jacqui. They stopped by for a short time for a coffee. We've made tentative plans to see Avatar 2D next week with them. Nid saw it in 3D with his friend Petros the other week, but would like to see it in 2D as well, and I'm afraid I'd be motion sick with 3D, so it's a good plan. Matt and Jacqui are going to Spain for a few days after the holiday, so we'll hook up with them when they return.

When Kev and Jasmine left, I just didn't feel much like cooking, so we had chips from the chippy and sausages I had in the fridge and it was actually quite nice (and easy!). I called Heather after dinner and Caitlin was so talkative! She normally doesn't like to talk on the phone, but Heather had me on speaker and I just can't believe how grown up she is. We haven't webcamed in months, and I've missed her ever so much. At the end of the call she told me she loved me bunches and wished me a Merry Christmas. It was too cute! I can't wait to see her again. I just hope she warms back up to me quickly and doesn't think I'm a stranger.