Duty-free madness.

Well, it's official. I've gone mental.

Nothing to do with the guy on the left. He was our waiter last year in Bali. I included him because I'm finally getting excited about our trip to Phuket. No, my slip from sanity is all to do with the duty free shopping I did this morning.

My friend Pitsa is going to Phuket with her family at the same time we are, so we were on the phone yesterday trying to work out where we could catch up. (We're staying a mere 120km away from each other. It's like from here to Ballarat, so who knows if we'll manage it?) Anyway, she told me that you don't have to go to an official Duty Free shop anymore... you can buy stuff anywhere and just take what you bought and the receipts to the airport and they post a cheque for the GST or whatever it is. So naturally I popped in to Harvey Norman to look for a Christmas present for Connor.

$1500 later I leave, staggering slightly at the thought of how much money I'd spent. $350 was for a camera for me... but the rest is all for the boys. At least Christmas is now taken care of. The only challenge ahead of me is how to take their presents to Thailand and back again without them noticing. I'd tell you what I bought for them, but then I'd have to kill you. Nothing spoils Christmas in this house. Seriously though, Connor sometimes has a read of the things I write, and I'd hate for him to scroll down and find out. Lets just say that 'Santa' (attractive woman that she is) will only be leaving one very small box for each of the boys. But I think they'll be rapt when they see what's inside.

I was going to get so much done around here today, but I was at least 2 hours in Harvey Norman, agonising over choices. They had a big sale that finishes today, so I had to get in quick. When I finish this I'll be making pet food, which will be another hour or so, and then I'll be racing around making up the boys' beds and folding all their washing before they get home from their Dad's. Jack rang last night... Port Adelaide are in the Grand Final. Just my luck! I hope for his sake that Thai tv shows it. At least we can tape it, so he can see it when we get home, but it won't be the same.

My sister and the girls are coming tomorrow, so I'd better make sure the house looks respectable. Her place always looks immaculate, so the bar is raised very high. At least I've made a start with lunch. I made 3 huge pots of chicken stock yesterday. Two are divided up in the freezer, but we're having home made chicken noodle soup tomorrow for lunch. Yum!