Holy Crap

Ok, two things. Firstly, yes I am aware it’s been over a week since my last entry. Secondly, I’m really starting to resent you all for this. It is normally about this time that I would choose to drop out of contact with you all for around a month or so. No real reason, it’s just I’ve kind of settled into things here and have neither the desire nor the information to make this blog entry interesting. Added to that, my parents have been swanning around Rome for the last week, squandering my inheritance on holy crap, so my reason for writing home is diminishing with every over extravagant excursion.

Things here are going well. Miguel, the guy who did all the construction for the pool I designed here last year, came back to work with us this week. We’ve mostly just been doing various bits of tidying up and the laying of new paths and lights around the resort, but it’s all starting to look really good. I have felt slightly hampered by still being reduced to just one hand but it is at last getting slightly better. In fact, I think the swelling would have pretty much gone completely if the first job I did yesterday hadn’t had me accidentally sticking my hand in to this while attempting to re-run some cables…

I don’t think the resulting elephantitis comes across quite as good in photo-form as it did in real life (especially if you hadn’t seen my skinny little girl hands to start with) but it was fairly impressive. Once it had gone down slightly you could start to make out about ten individual stings, painful, but at least I could feel slightly smug that I hadn’t wasted a good hand.

There has of course been lots more going on here besides, but to be honest, as most of it doesn't directly revolve around me, I don't see why I should have to write about it, or of what interest it would be to you anyway. Instead I'll leave you with a picture of Lucas playing dominoes with me in the bar. Our rules are slightly different to those used in pubs by elderly gentlemen, but then I guess you have to be more careful if you no longer have your own teeth.

Toilet Huggin’ Hippy

I’m starting to seriously doubt the benefits of all this healthy living, fresh air, nature, exercise and all that. In fact, after a nearly a month of clean living I’m now under the impression that it was the alcohol in my bloodstream that was responsible for preserving whatever healthy genes I had.

I’ve been feeling pretty ill this last week, most of us in the house have. If many more of us get it, by the time it gets round to the last person I think the virus should have sufficiently mutated that the first person can go again. It’s been pretty grim anyway, large periods of feeling lightheaded and dizzy interspaced with occasional vomiting. The other night I had to sleep with both my bedroom and the bathroom door wide open for fear they might impede my progress. Still at least it’s only throwing up, and not down as well. I’ve had bugs here where you sprint to the toilet and are caught in indecision as to which end to point at it first.

I bet all of you guys who were moaning last year about how little I wrote are questioning your judgment now. Still, it’s only right that now I have this platform that I use it to deal with these issues in such a delicate and tasteful manner. It could have been worse you know. There was a brief moment the other night while I was lying shivering under my blanket on the toilet floor, face rested on my porcelain pillow, when it occurred to me, should I be getting someone to photograph this for my blog? You’ll be glad to see as you scroll down the page that I didn’t. In fact when Karen called through to see if there was anything she could do to help, I decided against even broaching the subject.

Anyway, I am feeling much better now and am trying to settle back in to doing some work. You can read into this that I am at least at my desk, even if I have just been checking my e-mails, writing this blog and sticking my pencil into the blades of my desk fan.

Oh, one last thing. One of Simone’s friends, Rita, is here from London. She is a T.V. producer and has been working recently in both the U.K. and the States on that Wife Swap show. What do you think dad, shall I have a word?