Day 14 : 20 December

There's a tattoo artist in there somewhere..

Me and the girls lay out and Jb henna tattoos my wrist while Col headed off for a two hour snorkel off the jetty. Just what he needs, it's so good for him to step off the world like this.

Christmas has arrived here, a whole bunch of imitation holly wreaths and so much 1980's tinsel, the guys have had so much fun. There is a little competitive streak too as up at the Palm Court bar there was a really unusual tree, made of felt and we would have chosen their decoarations as the winners if there had been prizes to give!

We're not sure what to make of it all, apparently everyone at home is 'well Christmassy' and it was great to hera the girls looking forward to being home, but mainly to be with the family and snuggle up in front the TV.

Funnily I was reading my Psycholgies mag today and loved David Baddiel's thoughts on being an atheist Jew at this time of year.. he is quite funny and at best thought provoking, as for sure many of us in the UK think pretty much the same, on the surface at least.

On a side point the girls and I got chatting about the proposed party at home on N Y Eve... Kate would obviously rather be somewhere else, that being in St Ives, regardless of weather (and non-drinking) warnings etc.  I wondered (and noted on my phone note blog) .. when is a family party not a family party... ahah , when one of the family wants to opt out.

Ahhh, the return home beckons and the familiar ache of a mother's stomach, wanting to please all of the people all of the time returns.... how come 25 years later the old worries are the best ones and as a mother (or a guilt ridden one at least) the old stomach stillisn't used to that churning and is unable to welcome it like the unreliable friend it must by now be!!!

And true to form, the rollercoaster that is teen parenting pulls you up again, Kate in jester mode is wondering what it would be like to only have one arm (and is hiding one arm inside a very tight tee-shirt, at the dining table I might add)... then she suggests she may need to open a jar, or cut her food and a special little hand appears from under said tee-shirt (apologies to those who may be arm-less and reading this, but hey, she was being funny, this mum is grateful for every small mercy!)   JB on the other hand was less easily amused, seems the negotiations on living with the clothing pile which now Kate occupies in the forementioned 'Gaza Strip' in Villa No 14 is less easy to forget for her!  Almost done, the return home approaches..