This morning’s visit to the consulate was quick, simple and not at all what I expected.  There was no sitting down across the desk from an official, no questions asked or answers given.  Documents were simply signed and passed under the window separating us from the lady who served us, we were asked to wait a few minutes while everything was checked and then we were sent on our way.  The visas will be issued on Jan. 22 and returned to us via express post so we should have them in hand a full month before our departure.

On the way back to Melaina’s, we stopped to do some shopping.  For the first time in his life, Richard will be required to wear dress shirts and ties to school so we needed to add a few of those to his wardrobe.  Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of the January sales.  I also found a couple of tops to enhance my working wardrobe but the most exciting purchase was a gift for our unborn grandson.  We bought him a Fisher Price baby swing.  Unlike the wind up models that our babies swung in, this one is pretty high tech featuring 12 songs as well as rainforest sounds!