I know entirely too many people approximately my age getting married this year. It’s depressing. I go on a 2 ½ week vacation and when I get back 2 of my co-workers are just married and another is getting married next month. I want to get married. But there’s no one I can reasonably see myself getting married to any time soon. Or maybe I just want someone to live with and eat dinner with and just have someone I can always count on being able to hang out with and have fun together. I have a housemate now, but it’s still like I am living alone, just with an extra $450/month. I suppose a dog could fit those needs. But I don’t want that kind of responsibility yet. I have fish now, so if I can manage another couple of months without neglecting them, maybe I’ll be ready for a dog again, and then later on a human.
My trips to the Philippines and Berlin were very interesting and emotional to me. It was nice to see where my mom came from and to see all my family that is in San Nicolas and Laoag – way too many 2nd cousins for me to remember all the names after just a week or two! Just seeing the living conditions and general way of life in the Philippines was fascinating to me as well. I have been there 3 times before, but not as an adult able to get a good perspective on things. Back to the marriage thing – everyone kept asking me if I am married or if I have a girlfriend. At the end I said I would return to the Philippines on my honeymoon or in 3 years to find a wife, which ever is sooner. I don’t know how serious I was about that. Right now I am inclined to learn Ilocano and go back in November when Kitty and Auntiecelle go back because, while communication was a bit strained, I felt more relaxed, loved, and appreciated than I have in a long time.
I miss having a family nearby. I mean, I’ve always had my parents living fairly close to me, but never have I ever had any extended family that I could see enough to really get to know. Seriously, my aunt and uncle in Germany are the relatives I see most, and that’s for maybe 1 week in 2 years. I guess I would actually like to see my parents more frequently (but for shorter periods of time) than I do, but that would require us to be in the same city and I’m not about to move back to Valdosta. In 2008, I spent significant time with someone else’s extended family and it was great to sort of feel like I had a family here. That sort of dissipated and I reverted back to old habits, and then these 2 weeks with my extended family reminded me again how I’m missing out. Friends are fun and great but family are really the only people you can
