Saturday 29 December 2007

Xmas

We had a good Xmas. We had a BBQ round our house which turned into a major booze up. Gil is back and has received the great news that his wife is pregnant. This is especially good because she had cancer of the womb three years back and although she had some state-of-the-art surgery to clear it, it was not sure that they could still conceive naturally.

Huwy and Chris were both round along with a lot of Thai friends. Huwy came round with a 5-litre flaggon of wine and was totally blotto by the end of the night. The joys of Xmas.

Other than that, it has been the usual routine. I have been playing a bit of football, we've been out a few times, gone to the beach, to the movies, usual stuff. Some people might think this is an unfulfilling existence but to me it seems pretty great. I just wish I had more time to do all the stuff I want and enjoy playing with the kids.

Ben has reached a really nice stage where he is mostly lovely and full of fun. Jenny is generally lovely but she is in the terrible-twos and she can throw a very impressive tantrum. She just can't stand bath-time and it is always a massive drama. Still she is mostly lovely and after the tantrum she usually wants a make up cuddle.

Monday 17 December 2007

Benny Learning

I continue to try to teach Ben to read and it is going surprisingly well. He knows the alphabet, can recognise quite a few words and he can even write a few.

My latest idea is to write a few flash animations for him. He likes to play on the computer and it will keep him interested. This serves the dual purpose of Ben learning to read and me learning to use flash. I have been knocking up a few little animations with words and sounds and Ben loves playing with them.

In the meantime, life in Phuket is good. The family went for a camping trip at Nai Yang Beach at the weekend. It was beautiful and we had a great time. Ben and Jenny loved sleeping in the tent and in the morning running straight out onto the beach. The national park there is now fully open again and the place is looking good. Great beach, tranquil, lovely people. We rented a big 4-man tent for 300 baht. We will do it again for sure. Meybe get a bigger group together and sort out a proper barbecue for the evening.

Even Spurs managed to make me happy with a great performance to get a 1-0 win away to Portsmouth.

Marco and the gang have all gone home but Gil comes back next weekend so there will be more socialising to do.

Tuesday 11 December 2007

Very busy

Well all of the sudden life is quite hectic. Not only do I have quite a bit of work coming in but also there are friends in town and quite a lot of day outs and stuff going on.

Marco has been in Phuket for 10 days so we have had a few sessions with him. Got hammered with him on Sunday morning/afternoon while watching the boxing between Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather. Being away from England you lose touch a little with who are the latest stars. Ricky Hatton has become a very popular boxer back in the UK so his fight against the best boxer in the world - Floyd Mayweather, was a huge event.

In the end Ricky Hatton came up short, he was knocked out in the 10th after a good fight. I can see why he is popular. He is an all action fighter and seems to be a good down to earth guy. In the end the quality of Mayweather and having to step up a weight division was just beyond Hatton.

Spurs put me through yet more frustration last week as they lost 3-2 in the last minute again, against Birmingham - how many times? This week they made up for it with a 2-1 win against Man City and this time we scored quite late in the 83rd minute.

The weather is fantastic at the moment. If i didn't have so much work I would be getting out even more but it is good to be busy. We have been to the beach, park, fairs, etc. There is something to do pretty much every day at the moment.