Alone

It's been a quiet week down under.  Nicole left Monday for a 3-day school leadership camp, and the house is incredibly quiet without her.  You wouldn't think one teenager would be all that noisy, but I find the hours after 4pm very long when I know she's not on her way home. Larry left Tuesday for a quick hop to Melbourne, returning Wednesday evening.  So, I've effectively been solo all week.

It's amazing how neat/clean the house remains when there is just one person.  I also get to watch whatever I want on TV - I've watched Wuthering Heights (the one with Ralph Fiennes) and Nine.  Plus a lot of British sit-coms like As Time Goes By.  I caught Piers Morgan's new show - not bad.  And on Tuesday evening, I went out with Melissa for Thai Food.  My first real Thai dinner.

Because of Nicole's peanut allergy, I've not ever gone for a lot of Thai food.  Firstly, she can't even step foot in a Thai restaurant. Secondly, if I eat a lot of peanut, I have to decontaminate before I can even breathe on her.  So, with her away, it's the perfect opportunity to go "food exploring."

We started with Garlic Prawns in Betel Leaves.  The prawns arrive on a nest of toasted coconut drizzled with sugar and nuts.  You wrap up the leaves like a taco and eat.  MMMMM.  Then we ate Pad Thai noodles.  Again, MMMMM.  And finally, we ordered Volcanic Chicken.  Chicken thighs with lemon grass, dark soy sauce, and baby bok choy.  It arrived looking like this (the plate was flaming):

Everything was really yummy, and I can't wait to go back!

I stocked up the kitchen again and managed to even get some work done.  Looking forward to having Larry and Nicole back at home again, though.  Time to make weekend plans.