live well. laugh often. LOVE much.

i'm still having troubles, but what else can i say about that. i woke up at 6am, which is actually good considering i usually wake up at 2am. i did, however, go to sleep at 1am. i'm averaging 5 hours at night, and usually 3-4 hours of sleep during the day. it's dumb.

i've got a brunch date this morning with 2 of my friends. i had lunch with crissy, neneng, and andy joined us later yesterday. i wonder if sometimes i could dig the whole "stay at home mom" gig (without the kids, but with dogs) since i'm just perpetually "hanging out." actually, the more i think about it, staying at home forever and ever all day long with just children might make me a little batty. and probably just staying home forever and ever all day long by myself (when everyone else i know goes to work and has a job) would get boring, too.

okay, i've got some ADD, so i'm gonna work on something else now.

i tried to sleep about 20 minutes ago, but to no avail... i'm not tired at all. this totally blows. anyway, to supplement j's lovely highlights of our trip, i'm gonna give my go at it, too:

looking for my blue bag to go through security at LAX that was actually still in the car; the first day of our arrival that felt like it had last 62 hours long; almost having to stay at the apartelle; eating at the worst, most horrible restaurant god ever invented the first night in boracay; Grade A imitation Gucci sunglasses; when clyde screamed and made me jump in the air because we thought a leaf was a rat; mango shakes; the worst road trip ever from caticlan to iloilo; traffic cops making the traffic worse; express lanes; "you'll be ell in" on CD; watching andy do spaghetti, spaghetti and j doing otcho otcho at julena's jollibee birthday party; subwoopers; riding in vans that had roofs like coffins; people peaking into your van; riding on horses that just went in circles; going to taal - the "lord of the flies" island where we thought we would be robbed and killed; trying to pay for lunch at Josephine Restaurant and Betchie's dad giving me my credit card back and saying "SORRY!"; julena saying "YESSS!" when neneng started pouring coke into her cup; being scared shitless when the guys were firing off the fireworks for new year's eve; the wonderful question from people that are totally unrecognizable "do you remember me??!!?"; julena trying to put money in people's toes; getting the facial that made me cry; my uncle trying to be julena's friend by giving her candy, but it was actually cough drops; my auntie thinking andy was 50 years old because she thought he looked old in pictures; getting sick in iloilo and being mortified that i'd have to go to the hospital; chicken feet in adobo; "my humps" playing EVERYWHERE we went and uncle toming singing it; bless her heart - ronald's cousin tasting the raw ground beef for the lumpia she made; j constantly eating chili on our flight there; the sticker of the woman making the "shhhhhh" motion on every corner; seeing all the shims your heart desires; red hotdogs; chicken pandesal and ensymada served at starbucks; the song - "ma'aaaaaam pesssoooooooo"; not turning of the engine to get gas; not understanding ANYTHING during the taping of wowowee; "can i order this?" - no sir, we don't have that tonight - "what about this?" - no, we don't have that either - "okay, tell me what you do have."; old school apple pies at mcdonald's; andy not being able to show his face until the price of things had been negotiated; ordering a fish with a side of one hundred flies; the aftermath that lasts till this day from the guys going to sabong...

i can't really think of anymore. and besides, i really need to go to sleep. i doubt i will, but at least i need to seriously think about what to do with myself because being up this late and not being tired at all is RIDICULOUS.

i'm so wide awake and i feel like there isn't anything i can do about it. poor andy is working tomorrow at 7am, so he doesn't have the luxury to just stay awake. i started to fall asleep at 11:45pm, but then woke up half an hour later, awake as all hell.

it's probably because i'm hungry since it's dinner time in the philippines. i hope this goes away soon.

have i mentioned that i'm so glad to be home? my brain is too tired to go all into it, but at the end of the day... i'm glad i went.

it's our last night here. clyde and j had to separate from us so they could spend some time with their relatives, and now that i think about it, i really wish they were with us on our last night here. anyway, we went to dinner for my auntie felisa's (ate julie's mom) birthday, and that begun our final goodbyes to everyone that we've been spending time with while we've been here. i didn't think it would make me this sad, but it really is. neneng had a good point and it's because you don't really know when you will be seeing all of them again, and that is sad. being here in the philippines has been rough because it is hard adjusting to the living conditions, but when you are there enjoying life in the states, it's hard to remember that there are people here that share your blood that love you and miss you. everyone keeps asking me when toto is coming here and that they really want to see him, and it's hard to give an answer as to why he's not here and when he plans on coming. i can only imagine what it has been like for neneng during her multiple trips when they were asking about both me AND toto.

anyway, today was a pretty laid back day and we didn't get up until 11am. most of our days here have begun at 7 or 8am, so we all relish when we got to sleep in. anyway, we went and had lunch at my uncle toming's house (my mom's oldest brother), which in pure uncle toming style was an entirely huge feast, then andy, neneng, and i went shopping at the mall... again. neneng and i got pedicures and i also got eyelash extensions put on... they are so fantastic! i'm not allowed to get them wet tonight, but i can't wait until i can put mascara on. she glued on 20 individual lashes onto each of my eyelids. with my eyelash extension and pedicure, my total was P1850, which comes out to less than $40. YIPPEE.

anyway, we all can't wait until we can go home and eat some american food. i'm ready for some in-n-out and every time neneng asks clyde what he wants to eat, no matter where we are, he tries to say he wants a carne asada burrito. yeah, we haven't come across none of that since we've been here.

oh, and we played thumbmaster the other night. good fun in tagaytay.

wowowee..........i love nang chit........redhorse!

oh, and "ging is queen!"

man, that was a really long time to be without internet. finally, we got to spend some time at the mall (all other mall trips were like supermarket sweep in that we were rushing around just trying to buy what we really needed), but today we actually got to hang out. and while neneng and ronald's family are eating, i came to the internet cafe.

i don't think i'm really ready to reflect on the poverty that exists here. being in the middle of it is tough and saying that i'm lucky is an understatement. let me give it a little more thought and i'll get back to you.

me, j, and clyde are homesick. this is admittedly so, but i really assumed it would happen. we still have a week left up in these parts, but maybe it will go by fast.... nah, i doubt it.

we've spent the last couple of days here in angeles with ronald's family. they really are good peeps and they are very kind to us. this has actually been the most relaxing because we've been running from place to place like maniacs. also, this area doesn't seem to be as hot. manila is hustling and bustling with traffic and smog and this is a little more slow paced.

don't even get me started on iloilo and the province. i even asked grandma why she keeps coming back here because it seems to me that america is by far the better option. crazy old lady.

i miss my dogs. we haven't gotten a hold of the guy that is watching our house and i'm scared he took our big screen tv and left the country. by now, my dogs would have eaten all of my furniture and maybe everything in our cabinets.

we went to the market yesterday and the beggers were out of control. these people would literally come up to you, touch your arm then hold out their hand like you were going to plop some cashola in it for them. this one old lady even stood there while neneng was waiting to get change like neneng was going to give her the change she got for her purchase. wow.

all the guys went to sabong today. which is the cockfights. they went yesterday, but today is supposed to be the big day for it with lots of fights. they make it sound so enjoyable, but i can't handle it. even if they are just chickens... the animal lover in me really can't condone it. not that i'm going to change the lifestyle of an entire nation who thinks that fighting animals is a sport.

that's all for me from the islands. it's irritating me to be on this keyboard in the internet cafe because they keys keep sticking. i guess that's what you get for 30 pesos for 40 minutes. that's only $.60.

i love america.

we're in boracay. internet cafe. 1st shower was today in 2 days because the bathroom is entirely frightening. no hot water for a shower. to get off the boat and onto the island we rode on someone's shoulders. neneng has pictures to prove it. saw a dog eating a rat. miscellaneous cats and dogs just roaming around. trying to haggle prices for crap that is less than $5 US dollars. doing everything i can to stay out of the bathroom in our hut. doing everything and a half to stay out of our hut. me and andy sharing a twin bed. clyde tricking me and making me thing he was the owner of a vendor stand. drinking beers to end a smoking habit. mosquito bites on heads. all of us accidentally slipping on the fobness. that's most of the adventures in boracay na lang.