Love My Boy!

It's more than a month since that my little man turned nine!  Time seems to be speeding up and he's growing up fast.  His trainers smell, I have to force him to shower and I hardly ever see him, he's always out playing.  He was grounded for the first time today too, I've been threatening it for days and today I had to prove my point.

Saying that, he's such a joy, such an easy going little boy and he's a very young nine, but great company!  We giggle a lot, we cry sometimes, we argue now and again, but mostly we just enjoy each others company.

Dubai was a great weekend, with One Direction (yes minus Zayn, no, it was no less fun), Burj Khalifa, Wild Wadi Water Park, dinner out, pool with friends and some shopping thrown in.

This was followed by a trip to Europe.  NJ went to his father, who now lives with (another) his girlfriend and her daughter in Wassenaar.  She is actually really nice and it makes his dad a better dad.  I had a couple of courses and a day at the office, and although I enjoyed one of the courses a lot, I couldn't wait to get back home.  The Netherlands doesn't feel like home any more.  I have distanced myself.  My house here in Doha feels like home.  Not in the 'this is my house until I grow old' home - I'll be damned if I know where I'm going to end up, but in the sense that this is where I feel comfortable and happy and we are surrounded by our things.

Last Thursday was our work's cocktail party to celebrate 1,000,000 transfers earlier this year.  It was a great night which has taken me until today to recover from, but I think most of our guests (clients) will have felt much the same this weekend, if not worse
! Managed to drag myself out of bed and I had a girl from the office staying with us, so an afternoon riding roller coasters (NJ and the girl, I watched) at the (indoor) funfair at Villagio, followed by a chilled couple of hours at the souq with a couple of other guys from work before they all flew back to NL.

I'm now busy trying to plan the summer for NJ going back to Europe.  I think I am going to fly back with him to Manchester, drop him off with my parents (thank goodness for them) and then go to Dublin for the weekend where I have tickets to see the Script with a friend from Ireland. Then I'll fly back and spend a few days with my family before going back to Doha to work.  NJ will then fly with my folks and my brother and family to Spain, back to the UK for a couple of weeks before flying to the Netherlands to drive down to France with his dad, girlfriend and her daughter.  Back to Holland, then fly back to Leeds for a few days, before flying back to Doha at the end of August.  It means NJ will be gone for two months, of which I will only see him one week, but I can't take much time off work, and it would be so boring for him stuck here with all the women and children away for the summer.  I will miss him terribly, but I know when he's with my family that he will have the time of his life and not miss me at all (which is a good thing)!

presenting to 80 Qataris, for those who know me, a nerve wracking day!