Trials, tribulations, distractions, sadness, excitement, joy, stressffull and relaxing times....

Picture: Cuny, Simon and Rob in front of the entrance to the original house of a famous abbot of Wat Chalong, in Chalong on Phuket Thailand, january 2010 (Kik is behind the camera!!). Ofcourse you have to take my word for it. Come visit me on Phuket and I can show you same (and more!!) if you so desire ;-)

When someone asked me why I so much enjoyed politics I answered simply because I so enjoy having never a dull moment, allways something worthwhile is happening or to take care off and its never the same. And the satisfaction to be able to help other people in a constructive way with their lives ( which doesn't mean you allways do what they like, also the opposite!). Gettting the feeling you are actually needed, wanted, that you can make a difference which benefits the people involved, even if they do not realise it themselfs yet.
That 'someone' then said to me, again, why that hunger for it....but then giving his own answer: Don't I allready have all that in my daily live....yours doesn't sound one bit boring, contrary, sounds more like you never experience a dull moment.
My reply: Simple, if its for me it rarely gives me any satisfaction and too often I look at it as boring. Am pretty lousy taking care of myself, contrary to taking care of others. Bad? I do not know BUT at times it indeed feels that way.
One thing I discovered again though: am very bad at sharing with other people if things do not seem to go too well, with me or those close around me. And that is definitly not a good thing, because sharing also helps yourself seeing light in the tunnel, or looking in the mirror gives you a most usefull perspective and or insight.
Nope, not at all too clever to close down like an oyster and as such unwillingly also hurting those who wanted to be there for you, to help you.
Roughly thats how things have been these last 9 months, since roughly my last weblog-entries in "Thai-Dutch marriage" and "Rob's Adventures" .

Though things haven't really improved since then, more like temporary gotten worse, I decided that Easter 2010 is a good moment to try to bring around a change here.... Now we can only wait and see if this wished change is indeed going to happen!!

An extreme short summary of, lets say the last 6 months:

Trying to solve my urgent problems with my cashflow, because running two households on two different continents and a housemarket which crashed down around me us and as such makes it impossible sofar to access my savings. At last moment finally my bank was willing to help me out, though only for a relative short period... made it necesary though to jump asap on a plane back to Thailand because Kik needed to sign a letter of agreement with me doing this (haha, thats what happens when one gets married). Same day I had to decide to jump the next day on a plane (because paperwork needed to be signed for a certain date!) I was further put in a turmoil by getting a phonecall from my hospital that I needed to report asap (yes, again) for emergency treatment against a liverdisease.
You think you jump on a plane to solve, for the time being, a very urgent problem and you get news that makes your worries reappear in full force again. In the few hours between hearing this news and catching my flight I was blessed to be able to talk to my sister and brother-in-law (see pic).
They told me I should consult a docter/hospital on Phuket and see if they could give a satisfactory treatment and if that would be acceptable for my medical insurrance and my Dutch docter. I agreed that that would be the best way to go about it....and to have to leave Kik on his own for potentially as long a period as 6/9 months, was not very appealing to put it mildly! Also, they argued, that if I succeeded in getting the treatment in Thailand, at least I would be not alone but with my husband Kik.
Well, that night my sister and her husband stayed at my Delft home and my sister brought me to the airport the next morning. Ofcourse I discovered soon enough I forgot lots of things because that is what happens when one suddenly moves ones flight forward in such a speed!

Once on Phuket I had to talk Kik trough the whole procedure of signing that document, which had to be wittnessed by the Dutch Embassy, my notary instructed me. Kik had to get a couple of days free from work to be able to travell with me back to Bangkok to do the signing.... and what an ordeal that turned out to be... and how lucky I have been by having been able to jump on that plane asap from Holland to Thailand otherwise we most likely would not have made the signing in time!
The few days on Phuket we used to visit hospitals here on the iland and to see where one could receive the possible treatment needed with which my dutch docter could live as well as my medical insurrance. We found such in the Phuket International Hospital and Dr. Sumit. While on the hunt for that legalised signature in Bangkok, we were also negotiating with insurance company etc. to get permision to undergo treatment here for this acute liverdissease.
When I arrived back on Phuket two friends from Delft were staying at the house for a couple of days, with Kik. One of them, Bas, is a docter himself, and he has been of great help those first couple of days when I was getting way too stressed about everything.
THose friends were also of great help in getting the paperwork in time to our Delft sollicitors, otherwise an impossibility to accomplish thanks to all the sedbacks we encountered in that area!

In the end we succeeded in both areas and the document got signed and legalised, but in the end not by the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok, who refused (more about that another time) AND we received permission from my medical insurrance to start the treatment here in Thailand.... a big pffffffffff went up ...... but this all was just the beginning of another rough ride which, though in a different way, still lasts till today.... when I slowly start to prepare for the return back home to Delft, again alone, snif!

Since then I started that treatment which consist of a special injection every week for, I now know, 48 weeks. The side effects are no fun but acceptable. They make me tired and irritated, specialy the first 2/3 days after the injection. One can also loose his hair because of it (sofar very limited), loose weight (not happened yet), get easily irritated (happens in the first few days of the week) and am often but mainly first half of the week, very tired. 17 weeks have passed since the start, all goes well sofar in the treatment area -the insurrance area is very different though! And as such still 31 weeks to go, pffffff!!!!!!!!!!!!

Same period I kept on the look-out for a new location of continuing our bar/cafe.... when I finally found that location and we started to prepare for it, I was informed of insurrance problems surrounding my medical treatment here on Phuket. Never experienced that so a new first! But it helped me decide to fly home latest after Sonkran, the Thai New Year, to continue treatment back in Delft and see how to prepare for continuing the treatment in such a way that I can go back to Thailand as soon as possible after Jeroen en Bibi succesfully receive their son or daughter !!!!!!
Because now we finally managed to find and establish a business which has the potential to actually work and provide us with a baht-income, I can not yet afford to stay away that long from Patong....
and it would have been easy to stay here where it not for this medical insurrance problem which needs solving in an acceptable (financial) way.
Next to this I will use my time in Delft to see how I can stimulate the selling of my Delft home. Again the pressure of time is again placed upon us here....................
Also I hope to do some repairs to dissapointed friends who I stood up unwillingly when I left for Thailand that suddenly last november!

Never a dull moment, but Ooo, what could I long for a long relative dull period because sofar we haven't had any time to relax and really unwind............ somehing Kik and I both long for since we got married in October 2008, but due to all kinds of different circumstances we have been unable to sofar!

As my English schoolteachetr allways told me : "Never say die!" (= never give up) or as I like to say : "Keep smiling, a laugh a day makes your worries go away". Humor is powerfull, a true laugh, like an honest cry, works mirracles for once state of mind....and body!!

PS please ignore the typing mistakes, etc.... no energy in checking everything right now, just happy I managed to get this all down in here ;-) rjv!