I sit here with 3 days to go before we hop back on that plane and return to our new home in Thailand and my mind is buzzing with things to do, buy and people to see one last time. I have to have this rental house cleaned before we leave to get our very expensive bond back, I have to wash, iron and pack everything and pray we aren't over the suitcase weight limit. I feel like I have spent a fortune since we have been here, just with the day to day cost of living and not being able to cook at home as often has really eaten a hole in my purse. I have had to stock up on essentials like face creme (I have sensitive skin so to experiment on a new product over there would be painful) clothes for myself as I am too big for most of the fashion in Thailand and it is over priced, outfits for the wedding we are to be guests of in Phuket next week and funny enough I needed to stock up on tampons! Eeeww I know but the ones they use over there are completely hopeless and a waste of time, those poor women have no idea what they are missing out on. I have to get more of my contraceptive pill as well as I also do not want to trial a new one and shoes for me and the kids as my fat feet are too big for their little tiny shoes and its embarrassing to go shoe or clothe shopping in Pattaya as most of the answers I get when I ask for a size is "oh no madame, no have for you" with a snicker and a smile. But hey I love to clothes shop so to be able to hit the shops hard while in town isn't such a bad thing, my only worry is if I can fit it all back into our suitcases.
We spent the this weekend catching up with friends which was really lovely but very tiring. I feel like I have just been dragging the kids around with me for 4 weeks and they are exhausted. However I do think they enjoyed playing with all of their old friends. At first they didn't recognise each other but after some time they all realised who was who and Judd got to have some really good playtime. Lillie too which is necessary as she doesn't get too much socialisation with kids her age so her sharing skills are a bit dubious to say the least, luckily we can still use the excuse that she is a baby and doesn't know better but that wont last for long.
I felt a bit sorry for Judd during this trip as I realised how much he is missing out when it comes to play time with kids not only his own age but his own nationality. To be able to play with English speaking children must be a nice change for him I think. He does have some friends at school that speak fairly good English but they all mostly speak Thai as their first language so sometimes he must feel left out over there when all of the Thai kids get to playing together. Lillie is still not bothered with who she plays with as long as she is the boss, but I do need to make more of a conscious effort to arrange more play dates with the other expat ladies I know who have toddlers.
We also got to spend alot of time with Marcus' mum and her partner and also his brother and his wife. It is nice to be around family again almost feels like we never left though. Marcus mum has been a great help with babysitting and offering me the use of her car for our entire stay, so generous of her. We have liked living over here on the Bayside closer to her but it is so far from all of our friends, it took me over an hour to drive out to see a friend on Friday night and that was with not much peak hour traffic. We aren't sure where we want to live when we eventually return, we both like it here in Beaumaris but I think it may be a bit too much out of our price range. Marcus enjoys the running tracks and the cycling and I enjoy the little shops and atmosphere and the kids really enjoy having the beach so close but we still have plenty of time to decide what we want to do. Being nearby to family is nice and Judd loves having his Ninny nearby, he will miss having her around so much. Poor kid, it must be hard on him all of this change and moving about but it seems that as long as we have access to cartoons and toys he is pretty content.
I didn't get to fly up to Queensland to see my parents or grandparents this trip and I feel quite bad about it but once we got the go ahead to come to Melbourne all of the cheap flights were gone and being Easter and school holidays it was going to cost nearly as much for me and the 2 kids to fly to Cairns than it was for us to fly from Thailand. It's crazy to think that it is cheaper to fly internationally than it is to fly within our own country? I wonder if other countries have that same problem or if it is just Australia's inflation that is driving everything through the roof?
I do hope to fly my mum over to Thailand like we first planned back in March but this time make it for later in the year maybe November, then I may just return with her and the kids to Cairns for a week or so to see the family and catch up with the grandparents. I would feel awful if I didn't make the effort and one of them passed before getting to see the kids again.
I am also really looking forward to getting back into my exercise routine when we return home, I have done virtually nothing since landing in Melbourne 4 weeks ago and I feel awful and tired. It's hard to maintain a good exercise plan when holidaying for such a long time, the novelty of living out of a suitcase wears off after 12 days or so I think.
So the next 3 days will be super busy and slightly crazy and with me losing my patience but I look forward to getting back on that plane and getting us all back into the warmth and fun of Thailand. But I will dearly miss my friends and if only I could have both it would be perfect but unfortunately life takes people in different directions and I know that my dear friends will still be here for us when we return and they will have the honesty to tell us to shut the f*$# up when we start rattling on about Thailand too much. Until next time Australia.
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