Philippines for 4 weeks working our way around.Thailand for 4 weeksMalaysia for 4 weeksIndia for 8 weeks - this is a big country landing in Mumbai see...ngShonali's relations and leaving from MumbaiItaly for 3 or 4 weeksSwitzerland 2 weeksFrance for 3 weeks then homeAll this meant that we would be away for about a year!So all in all we'd be away for a year or so! So we put all this into thecalculator and the total cost brought us down to earth with a bump! Thoughit was not as bad as we thought. We caught a cab for downtown to a restaurant someone had suggested to us. And, to my amazement, we were drinking more Bloody Mary's with our brunch. For feeling so lousy an hour ago I now felt great.Well, I guess wonders will never cease. After an afternoon of Bloody Marys, a shopping trip for clothes for me that Bev talked me into, here I stand in the most revealing clothes I ever wore in my life. My husband would be utterly amazed if he saw me now, I thought to myself.Surprisingly, I felt. Those pictures you saw were just a result of that fantasy. I guess most people think that i****t is wrong, but I really don't understand why." Mom was listening intently to me. She was a little shocked, a little flattered and a little turned on."Sweetheart," she answered me, "Now I'm going to be totally honest with you." She looked me straight in the eyes as she spoke. "I've always felt something special for you, my darling. It began when you were very young. I had many thoughts about touching. Oh, God, was there anything in her life now that wasn't different?Her mind wandered. She had walked on another world. Was, in fact, still on another world, at least until tomorrow. She hadn't asked what their plans were. The two squirrels had thrown everyone's plans up in the air. Squirrels ... four foot tall, talking squirrels.She thanked God they hadn't been bugs. She hated bugs.The door opened again, a shaft of light cutting through the darkness, illuminating Goldie's empty bed. Goldie.