Run-Up to Christmas

Caelyn and Nigel wanted to host the Family Christmas at their house this year. They have done an enormous amount of work and preparation. The shops have been heaving, so Nigel thought it would be a good idea to go to the 24hr Tesco in the middle of the night because he was sure it would be fairly empty. He was wrong. He got there at 01h30, and it was heaving. Only 3 tills open with queues stretching right to the back of the huge superstore. Plus, they had run out of certain items. Nigel went back at 06h30 because Tesco was expecting new stock to be delivered at 06h00.

This is madness! I really don't agree with 24hr shops because the staff deserve to have a family life too. And if the shops weren't open 24hrs, people would jolly well start planning their shopping better as they did in the decades before such insane opening hours. This sort of thing steals family life and makes alcohol too freely available and encourages muggings. Nigel could hardly park his car in the huge parking lot in the middle of the night as there were no more spaces left.

As for family health, Wendy has a cold, Caelyn has earache, Michelle hasn't quite shaken off her virus, Josie has a sore throat and a cough and I feel more unwell than I have for years. Sitting up is a problem because of sore hips, nausea and dizziness. Feeling so unwell, I am glad that Caelyn is doing Christmas at her house.

Sean is busy with his family today, but is coming to Folkestone to pick me up to go to Dover tomorrow. He has to rush back to Tonbridge because he has to have an early start to take his daughter to the Airport on Boxing Day. There are problems with flights because of fog, so I hope she gets on her plane ok. She is off with her orchestra to do a tour of China. This will be her second musical visit to China. Sean's son is on University vacation. He is doing a postgraduate certificate of education, which will qualify him to be a teacher. As Murphy would have it, he is having doubts as to whether teaching is really for him. I hope he finishes the course even if he never works as a teacher because an extra certificate can only stand him in good stead in later life. Nobody knows what life is going to throw at them and every qualification you have is an insurance against hard times.