Goddess, I Am.

Chin once told me that she envied my portable life. That was back in 2007 when I packed up and left for Thailand.

Everything I owned could fit in a single suitcase. I was free to come and go whenever I pleased. Those were among the best days of my life, and like Chin then, I envy my portable life now.

These days, I’m feeling that all too familiar restlessness again, that itch go someplace far and exotic – not for a few days’ holiday, but to stay for a while, to stay indefinitely. And in theory, I could. After all, that’s the beauty of working online. I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to feed and shelter myself in some exciting foreign land.

But a theory is all it is for me now, now that I’m married and can never think solely for myself ever again. My life is still fairly portable (or I can make it so in a heartbeat because I don’t exactly go crazy on wholesale appliances). Why, I can give away most of my clothing and my shoes and my books and I won’t even bat an eyelash. All I need are a few t-shirts, some underwear, a few pairs of pants, my laptop, my iPad, and my camera, and I’m a happy camper. The Husband, however, is another story.

You see, he gets very attached to things, like his huge-ass TV and home theater system, his hundreds of Blu-Ray movies, his electric couch, and even the goddamned refrigerator. Most of these things traveled all the way from England to Thailand when he moved to Bangkok in 2006, and again from Thailand to the Philippines in 2008. When we do move again, he’s going to insist on taking all of these with us, plus everything else we’ve bought since.

And if you’ve ever had to go through the ordeal of moving furniture and appliances from one country to another, you’ll know it’s not a walk in the park. So it goes without saying that moving from one country to another on a whim is out of the question, and when we do move again, it’ll have to be a big one (read: for good) to make the most out of the time, money, and gargantuan effort that transporting his stuff will demand.

Heavens, why do material things have to make life so complicated?

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When I was a kid, I wanted a pony. I begged, pleaded, and cajoled, but I never did get a pony. Instead, throughout my life, I got a hell of a lot of dogs, a few cats, a few freshwater fishes (one of ‘em was a piranha named Pete), a couple of sailfin lizards, 3 runaway Philippine hanging parrots (locally known as the kulasisi), and – believe it or not – a squirrel.

I haven’t had a pet in ages, and I do miss having one every so often. It’s just that right now, the house isn’t very pet-friendly with all The Husband’s electronics lying around, and I’m simply too busy to take any real responsibility for one.

But say, hypothetically, we do get a pet someday, I would want one of these:

1. A giraffe. I cannot explain it, but I am fascinated by giraffes. The first time I ever saw a real one in Bangkok’s Dusit Zoo, I burst into hysterical tears. I kid you not.

I know it’ll be a chore to get one in one of those Duramax Storage Sheds, but perhaps I can get away with having one in the (future) backyard? I’m not sure, however, exactly how the neighbors will take to it, truth be told.

2. A capybara. I’m thinking I could probably get away with one easily. I mean, a Labrador-sized rodent should be easy enough to hide, right?

I know I could give them an excellent home; there are no anacondas in the Philippines, after all!

3. An alpaca. Seriously, how cute are alpacas? And they’re pretty handy, too. Apparently, good alpaca fleece can be a real money-maker, so in theory, you have a pet that pays for itself.

I read that there are more alpacas bred in Australia now than in South America. So there really is no reason why they can’t be raised in the Philippines. Or so I told The Husband. Who did not look entirely convinced, by the way.

So right now, it’s looking like we’ll probably end up with a cat, or a teeny bichon fraise, and probably a few fishes. Eventually, maybe.

It took a while, but I think I now fully understand Pag-IBIG’s housing loan process. And it’s about time, too. I’ve fretted about information that varied from one source to another, paid countless visits to the Pag-IBIG office, and even sat through an excruciatingly boring and useless seminar. Truly, I have suffered to finally achieve this rather elusive, umm, clarity.

So Pag-IBIG, you better not give me the runaround when I turn in those papers you’re demanding of me. There’s a beautiful house positively aching to be built on a mighty fine piece of land near the beach that has our name on it, and a mistress that yearns for the day when she could finally fill it up with both indoor and patio furniture. Do be kind.

I’ve always loved summer. I love its promise of beaches and cloudless skies and sun-kissed days. All the summers of my life have always been fun and full of promise, so it’s no wonder why I never want it to end. Usually.

Well, except for this summer, that is.

The few fabulous trips we’ve taken notwithstanding, I think the only thing I’ve managed to do the past couple of months or so is soak in my own sweat all day and all night. It’s the dripping kind, too. In fact, I’ve been sweating so much that I didn’t even know that I – or anyone, for that matter – could be capable of sweating as much as this. Frequent showers, baby powder, and even air-conditioning do not seem to be helping at all. So all I can do is soak, sweat, and soak some more in this wretched heat.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, there seems to be no end in sight for the oh-so vile power outages that seem to be occurring more and more often now. Every day, like clockwork, usually between 9 AM and 1 PM, I find myself cursing VECO to the heavens. Seriously, why do they always turn off the damned power when the sun is at its hottest? And why is the company so backwards that it can’t see the benefits of weatherization training for its employees?

Strangely enough, The Husband (he who has been used to snow and ice and the awful cold of London) is faring a lot better than I am – and I’ve lived in the tropics forever. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s actually enjoying it. But then, life’s not fair that way.

Really, it’s hellish, this summer. And for once, I would be very glad when it’s over. Here’s hoping it won’t decide to extend its stay this year. I’ve had enough. Really.

Somebody (I can’t say who because I’ve been sworn to secrecy) seriously needed a mountain of winter clothes, so we decided to go a’thrifting one unbelievably hot Wednesday. Now, we haven’t thrifted for at least a year, so we were a tad rusty (read: lazy).

First, we went to the ukay place atop the Mercury Drug in Fuente, my best friend Aileen’s favorite haunt. We probably stayed no more 15 minutes, though, because 1) we were toasting in that huge unair-conditioned room and 2) their stuff was crap. How Aileen manages to find really good stuff from that place is beyond me. But then, I’ve thrifted with the woman, and her zeal is unbelievable.

But I digress. We eventually ended up at this place right across Gaisano Country Mall (right beneath UC Banilad). It was roomy, organized, and best of all, air-conditioned! Now that’s more like it! It was such a comfortable shopping experience that I almost forgot we were thrifting.

Our winter bunny ended up with over a dozen winter coats – all for about P2,500 ($50)! Seriously, her loot is making me want to move out West, too, just so I can bundle up. The Sister got a really, really awesome corset top (among others), and I’m jealous. Worse, she refuses to lend it to me.

I didn’t end up with much because I just bought a load of dresses that week and The Husband was already freaking out at the state of my closet. Instead, I got him a pair of shorts and some really, really cool t-shirts as a bribe.

Still, I just couldn’t go home empty-handed. I got this really cute top with a rather sexy cutout at the back. I couldn’t help it; both my tattoos are on my back, so I can never have enough backless tops. I tried this on with leggings, and my, oh my did it look good! I’m now this close to rethinking my anti-leggings stand!

Now, my other find is definitely my favorite. A few months ago, I was drooling over a nautical Topshop dress that I refused to buy on account that it was too expensive for a dress. Said Topshop frock literally haunted me for months. I saw it everywhere, from magazine spreads to pop displays. I can’t count the number of times I almost caved, but I never did because I’m a model of self-control (at least, I like to think so).

Imagine my joy when I found a close-enough replica:

Oh, and it has a darling lace hem, which I think makes it even cuter.

This P150 frock is definitely going to be a part of my Singapore ensemble. Methinks this will look awesome with my new yellow Keds Rapture Boat Shoe, a gift from The Mother.

So it looks like we’ve found our new favorite thrift store. We already gave the staff our phone numbers, so they can let us know when they’ve got new (old) stuff. One of these days, I’m going to hunker down, clean up my closet, and get rid of some of my clothes. I’m going to need all the room I can get with all the thrifting I will be doing from now on!