Back in 2009, when my wife and I first saw this house, one thing I never thought to ask was, " Can I get Internet out here"?  Well the answer would have been "No"!
We tried all the major carriers in the PI, Globe, Sun, Smart, well that's about it.  They all tried, and failed.  I had been getting so disappointed that whenever I was approached by someone offering Internet, I would just respond with, "yea, right, I'll hold my breath".
Elly spoke with someone at the palengke (market) in Dinalupihan, and they guarenteed Internet service, and gave her a brochure.  One of the players on my basketball team, also found someone who would guarentee Internet.  We drove out to her shop and I paid 999 pesos to authorize the "SmartBro installation".  They showed up with a WIMAX internal device and got no signal, so they appologized and I was back to square one minus 999 pesos, which I was told could only be refunded after 13 days in Balanga only. Two weeks latter, we still haven't heard anything from the people Elly spoke to, so she called them, they siad it takes 2-3 weeks to process the application, so we waited some more.  Then I got the call that they would be out to install my new outdoor WIMAX receiver.  They came out, tested and said everything was A-OK!  But other technicians would be out tomorrow to activate the system, please pay 499 pesos.  The next afternoon, the "Activation Team arived and BINGO!  I had Internet, high speed, fast upload & download.  I even started playing World of Warcraft again!!! - Alas, this only lasted 2 weeks, then PDLT told me that once again, my house moved behind the mountain and I could only get signal between 1-6AM.  WTF!!

I'm now pretty pleased with my new office-gym-storage-guest room.

With the help of my friend Ed and his wife Samantha, I got my deck and fence painted last weekend.  This was a bear of a job, but Ed's paint sprayer made quick work of it.

Unfortunately, Saturday would up being the hottest day of the year thus far, a whopping 96°s!
Drank lots of water and was really beat by the time we ran out of paint!
The hardest part was pulling back all of Elly's roses so Ed could spray the fence behind them.  Did I ever tell you how much I hate roses, especially their thorns!  I do have to admit, this being the first week of April, her roses are coming out in full bloom, and they are very colorful.
We went out to dinner with our neighbors on Thursday.  We had pizza & beer.  Doesn't get much better.  Then on Friday, me & Elly, Terra & Jason and PJ, his mom Gloria & Lorin all went to Saltgrass Steak house.  Yep, there goes my diet.  I ordered a couple of "Corona-ritas".  They are Margheritas in a fishbowl, with a bottle of Corona upside down inside the glass as well.  So as you drink your Margherita, it slowly turns into a cold beer.  Me-likey!!  I can't wait to develop my own San Mig-eritas in the Philippines.

I don't know if I'm packing everything I can think of just because my wife is doing the same, or because I believe deep down inside that I may really need this stuff when I get to the Philippines.

I'm down to 60 days and counting until We take our one way flight to the Philippines, along with Lea, the wonder dog, who BTW turned four last week!

I'm mostly concerned with Lea and the 27 hr trip.  I spoke to Delta Airlines again today and they promised me that as long as Lea is healthy, she will be alright.  Just pack food & water for her.

Tomorrow, we'll be holding a gargae sale, hopefully that will clear our 36 years of crud, I mean collectables.

I have been getting recommendations and asurances from expats living in the Philippines through emails and other blogs.

I'm going to be so happy that I won't be working full-time anymore, I need to relax, enjoy life and take care of my health. P90X, "BRRING IT"!
I hear San Miguel is great for medicinal purposes, among other things. Just sayin...

Thirtysix years of "stuff", really adds up.  Especially when you need to get rid of almost everything you own.  At first I thought about shipping most of our household goods, especailly since there would be no tarriff or tax upon arival in the Philippines.  But a 20-foot container would only hold our living room set, grandfather clock and a few boxes.  The cheapest shipper wanted $6,800.  I can buy some pretty nice furniture in Manila for that kind of money.

After sorting  out what we going to ship in Balikbayan Boxes and what we are going to sell on "Craigslist", the boxing began.  But first, "Craigslist". 
Craigslist is actually pretty awesome, I started getting emails within 30 minutes of placing our spare bedroom set online.  We also sold a crytstal chandelier, all of our Christmas stuff, all in all about $850 in one day.  Elly also sold her grandfather clock, a 55" TV, an Entertainment Center, a dining room set, etc, etc, etc.  We figured out that with her car and my truck sold, we will be making out pretty good.
We also signed a two-year lease for our home in Texas.  A great couple, Jason and Terra Wood and their little girl Cammeron. I feel very confident they will take great cdare of our home.
Now the Balikbayan boxes. A balikbayan box (literally, "Repatriate box") is an ubiquitous, corrugated box containing any number of small items sent by an overseas Filipino known as a "balikbayan".  Though often shipped by freight forwarders specializing in balikbayan boxes  by sea.
A 5.5 cubic foot box costs us $105, and takes about 45 days to arive door-to-door at our home in Dinalupihan, Bataan.  Elly had three boxes packed and ready to go before I knew what was in them!.  I want to packup my handtools and some building supplies like electrical wire, which may come in handy as I re-wire our house.  I hesitate to bring my power tools, since the voltage in the Philippines is 220 VAC.  Yes I could use a step-down transformer, but I can re-purchase those items in Manila with the money I earn from selling them here. I gave up trying to crate my 76" longhorns, put them on craigslist. (sigh).