Home

We have moved in. Friday last week I woke up and decided I had had enough of early rising roosters and loud neighbours and packed up as much as I could fit into our little Honda hire car and moved us into our new house at SP5.  Talk about a mood change.  Our first night here was so quiet and calm, I actually didn't sleep very well, but our moods had lightened dramatically.  Having the extra space for the kids, not having to pick up the tiny toys every 5 minutes or having to lug the pram and kids and baby bag down the elevator, then down the stairs, its great.  I feel at home, even Marcus said after our first night that this house already feels like home.  The village is great.  I took the kids to the play ground just one house down from ours and I was amazed that even though we are only 10min from Pattaya, it was so quiet.  No loud music, no loud trucks or bikes.  There were lots of other children riding their bikes around the streets and playing in the park.  We took Judd and Lillie for a swim yesterday, the pool is huge and so relaxing.  There is a lake as well and it is full of fish and there is a man at the club house who sells fish food for 10 baht, that's 28cents!  So now Judd wants to go and feed the fish everyday, he is very happy here I can tell by his behaviour. 
It is a 3 bedroom house, 3 bathroom, big kitchen, not much yard but that's OK since the park and pool is so close, but there is a big double carport with a locked gate so the kids can play out the front and I don't have to stress about them going onto the road.  It is a nice house, the master bedroom is massive, I don't know what to do with all of this space.  There is security guards on the front gates of the village 24 hours and at night there is a security guard who sits 2 houses down and 6 others who patrol as well.  We feel very safe here. 

Our house

On Saturday to top off my weekend Marcus went to Bangkok to pick up our new company car.  He had to catch the bus but unfortunately he didn't catch the one that goes direct, he got the bus that stops every 500meters to pick people up and then detoured through the country side collecting even more people.  The trip should have taken and hour and a half but it took him over 4 hours!  He eventually got home about 10pm with our car.  Its a white Toyota Corolla, but it is optioned with all the extras.  I am not to keen about leather seats in this tropical weather, but its still nice.  Its is a good size too, the traffic here is so crazy that you need a smaller car to zip in and out and dodge the motorbikes and dogs.  It also has that super dark tinting that is illegal in Aust.  I love it, people cant see that I am a farang so they don't stare so much and it keeps the car much cooler.

Sunday night we had our first guest, the New Zealand man we met a C House came down and what was supposed to be a quick visit turned into 7 beers for him, a bottle of wine for me and 6 beers for Marcus.  Normally back in Australia we would never drink on a Sunday, especially that much, but over here it is different, you lose concept of what day of the week it is and even what time.  We will have to be careful or we will end up booze hounds.

Our driver/nanny started yesterday. Her name is Rainy, she is lovely.  She takes Marcus to work every morning then comes back to the house and plays with the kids, cleans a bit and will babysit while I go out for an hour or two then in the afternoon she takes the car to go and pick Marcus up from work and bring him home.  She is only learning English but we manage OK.  The kids love her, especially Lillie. She knows that Rainy will pick her up for cuddles all the time, she has worked her out already.  It is such a relief to know that the kids like her and Marcus and I can start taking some time alone.  And I really hope to be able to work some more exercise into my day because since we left Australia I have been to the gym only once in 8 weeks, and soon all this rain will pass and the real nice weather will arrive and I need to be able to get myself into some bikinis again.

The pool at our village

I am feeling much more settled and positive again, now it is time to really start living here and enjoying all the weird and wonderful things this country has to offer.