No Pain, No Gain

We all knew the shots were coming but we had no idea how many shots we would need to travel to India.  The kids asked each parent "how many?" enough times to cause me to answer things like, "Maybe so many that you will get some in your arms AND your legs."  We started getting shots through our doctor back in July when we had physical exams.  Ones that our primary care doctor knew we would need and had available to give to us there in her office.  We each received about two or three plus the flu shot just last week at the doctor's office prior to ever making our fieldtrip outing to the Travel Clinic.  I had made an appointment over a month prior for all five of us to visit the clinic at the same time.  The buildup was much like the anticipation for the passport photos and passport applications. 

 Kid three and kid middle each bought a Worry Monster to squeeze during the shots and any other scary times that might arise and were sure to bring their new pals along for the appointment.  I had to pull the kids from school in the afternoon.  The clinic was a thirty minute drive from the house.  At the appointment they were to review our records, have a family consultation and recommend shots to be given then, if we choose to have the shots, have them done right then and there.  The saying, "Turnabout is fair play" applies here.  Because the kids attend public school they all were pretty much up to date.  It was the two adults who needed some catching up.  Kid three received one shot, kid middle and kid one received two shots each and both parents received three shots each.  The kids each felt some soreness for no more than about 24 hours.  They seemed to do well with their flu shot the week earlier as well.  Mister did well too, little to no soreness for either the flu shot or the travel clinic.

  Whiner Mom didn't do so well.  Flu shot was sore for a bit and the three shots from the travel clinic really hurt after 24 hours.  I bruised and still have a lump. I even became nauseous when one of the kids accidentally bumped me directly on the lump/sore spot two days after the shots.  "That is what you get", or so say the kids.

The Show Must Go On

Places everyone, places.  clap clap   In this whole hurry up and wait game we are playing with our move out of the country we are most mentally balanced if we continue with life as usual for most things.  Things such as going to school, participating in events for scouts, church, clubs as though we are here for the duration need to happen, mostly because we still don't know when we are going.  Within all of that we need to put on smile and continue to "show". 
It is easy enough to do when there are fun things like homecoming week.  Our oldest child had homecoming at the high school recently and fully participated in homecoming events, games, parade and dance.  She is very proud to be part of the junior class of 2012, the winners of the school spirit stick this fine homecoming week.  It is times like this that we need to say "Thank You" to all of our friends from this area who support our move and help us continue to put on our show until we leave them.  You all are great friends and we thank you for the support.