I was going to put these Thailand pictures at the end of this post and end on a positive note, recalling my lovely trip and thinking about being able to plan more lovely holidays as the kids become less and less dependant on me. But my lap top is refusing to let me move them or even delete them! So they are stuck here!


This is the pool where the 4pm happy hour started our daily Pina Colada tradition. ( I promised myself I'd buy the ingredients to make them here but haven't yet, although I did buy some Bombay Sapphire Gin yesterday. Purely medicinal to guard against malaria, nothing to do with lifting my morose mood yesterday. Gin was our night time night cap drink. I can't believe I actually lost weight while on holiday! All that drinking and eating and lying by the pool! I'll have to do more of that here. I actually think it was the relaxation that helped me lose 3kg in 12 days! And the walking I suppose.



This pretty flower was at the poolside of our hotel -Boomerang Village in Kata. It was so nice there and it cost us $50 a night for both of us (we did have to share a king size bed, fortunately we got on so well!!) and that included a full buffet breakfast with real coffee not that stuff stewing in pots on a warmer! The fellow who owns the place is Italian so I guess that good coffee was an important thing to him too.

Kata Beach

This is where my post actually started. (It's all topsy turvy sorry!)

Bantam Boy has started his driving around australia holiday with his mate, who happens to be the son of the friend I went to Thailand with. I'll call him Robin -as he's Bantam Boy's side kick. I don't know how long they will be away for. As long as their money lasts for. If the can pick up casual work here and there they will stay away longer but they could be back in 8 weeks. Or less if Bantam Boy continues to sleep in all day and insist on two daily 10 minute showers! Robin has been doing a bit of busking here and there- singing for his supper, those drama lessons are paying off!! We were wondering what Bantam Boy could do. Unfortunately he hasn't mastered any instruments. Robin suggested he could take a grubby coat and take advantage of his morning mood to be a 'bum' (Robin's words not mine) and beg. Fortunately I came up with a more positive idea. He is quite good at drawing so I bought him some small sheets of water colour paper and he's going to make sketches of where they are and sell them. So if you see a young man selling "post cards" he could be my boy and he could be hungry!

I couldn't believe how upset I was when he left the other morning. I sobbed and cried and continued to be teary all day- much to the disbelief of some of my colleagues. I think that if he had just moved out of home and could pop in for tea or to get his clothes washed as Lou suggested in her comment on my last post I'd be OK. I've actually been surprised at how well I've been coping with this transition to adult hood. Including girlfriend sleepovers. But he's left and I don't know when I'll see him again and it's a bit like going cold turkey with an addiction. Up to the morning he left I was 'mothering' him helping him get organised to go...then he was gone! For how ever long! But I tell you the force of my sorrow surprised me. I know he will be back to annoy me with his late nights and sleeping in, but right now I miss him. The house is very quiet tonight because Chicky Babe is staying with a girlfriend for most of this week while her friend's family is in Bali. So I am practicing being an Empty Nester!

I know it's cliche.

It happens far too quickly!