Bits and Pieces

We have been pretty focused on getting work done and keeping children happy around here.  But this week our world suddenly got quite a bit more complex.  On Tuesday we’re planning to visit the American Embassy in London in order to get Nathaniel registered as an American citizen and get the process started for a passport.  We hope to keep things simple and not plan a big London visit, but we’ll probably stroll through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park to unwind after the embassy appointment.  And then I’m going to return to the UK Border Agency and try to figure out whether we need a visa or other paperwork to travel with Nathaniel.  I’m planning to visit my parents in a couple of months, and Sydney’s parents may be going with us on European adventure, so we need to make sure we can bring Nathaniel back into the country!

This morning I picked up a foam mattress cover that was advertised by another temporary Oxford resident.  When I picked it up I recognized her from a recent chat in our doctors’ waiting room.  She and I laughed at her shirt, which said “New York City” (she’s actually from the West Coast), and which she bought in town here recently.  Ah, the ex-pat life.  Oh, and our bed is far, far more comfortable now.  Thank goodness!  It was worth walking the mile home with the rolled up foam, through a field of pink-wearing, cancer-fundraising female runners (pink socks, pink shirts, pink tutus, pink hair ribbons, pink dog sweaters) on a day that’s in the 80’s.

Erin