It would be my luck to come home and get sick. It is a scary scary thing to be in the US without insurance and the need for some medication. It is, however very fun to try and get the doc’s office to accept Scottish national health insurance (that was a no go, but the woman on the phone did giggle when I asked). I’m fortunate enough that I have parental units that can help me pay for the visit and the meds, and a boyfriend who is more than understanding that I needed a couple of breaks during our romantical vacation this weekend to rest. Now with the meds in me, I am more confident in living to see tomorrow and a fun side effect to the meds is florescent colored pee (is that an overshare? I certainly think it is funny….and a little bit cool).

Being sick here worries me a little as well because I still have papers to write and people to see. I feel like since I have been home I have been really bad about splitting my time. I feel like I have barely seen my family and my friends, and I am wondering how I am possibly going to split my time during the holidays. There are so many traditions and things I enjoy doing with my family on Christmas, like watching A Christmas Story and making breakfast with my mom, or going to a movie as a family and coming home to eat leftovers.  These are just the funky things that I have grown up doing, although I am excited to spend the holidays with the love of my life and both of our families, I am still a little sad about some of the things that I will miss out on.

A few weeks ago I was making fun of my favorite feisty Texan for singing Christmas carols and wanting to decorate her dorm room with lights, tincil and ornaments. She is unable to be with her family for the holidays, and happens to love Christmas, and in an effort to distract herself from the fact that she will be missing out on all of the traditions that she loves, she attempted to recreate them in Scotland. I laughed at her, but now, in a small way, I understand what she means about missing spending the holidays the way she is used to. While what I am going through is not nearly as hard as her having to spend her first Christmas without her family, I now feel like I should have made some more effort with the carols, and helped her string lights.

That being said, there are a lot of exciting things coming up, and a lot of time to spend with David and his family, and have our two families meet (that in itself will make for a good time, and I am sure, a very good post). I will try to see this as starting new traditions rather than giving up my old ones, and hope that the antibiotics kick in soon and I stop feeling icky.