Since my Malen was not given a tourist visa so that she could come and visit, I will be going to her instead.  We have planned another trip for me to Manila, and then Malen and I will fly to Phuket in Thailand to spend some time together.  After that we will come back to Manila, and then fly to Boracay in the Philippines, with the kids, to spend some family time there.  Then it will be back to Manila, and a couple days later I will return to the US.

From here, we are still waiting for Malen's annulment process to end.  At that point we need to decide whether we will attempt to have her come here to the US on a Fiancee visa (K1) and get married here, or whether we will get married in the Philippines or Hong Kong, and then apply for her to come to the US on a spousal visa (K3 or CR1).  There are no simple and fast solutions, and there are pros and cons to each path, but we are committed to the goal of being married and being a family living here in the US.

In the mean time, I am continuing with yard work every day (while the weather lasts), and I have some medical procedures coming up (colonoscopy and eye surgery to remove a pterygium) prior to my trip to the Philippines.

Regarding the Internet and my web sites, the family photo album on this site ("Pictures of Dave & Malen" on the main menu above) has not been updated yet, but I have pictures from my trip back East to upload, and some additional pictures of the house and land here as well.  Keep an eye out for these updates.  I have removed the bulletin board software from my "Reverse Spin" site and will be changing to something else, like another blog site, soon.  The Reverse Spin is a political commentary site.  The Boomer Blog is still up and running fine, and I am posting there periodically, including political posts that may move to The Reverse Spin eventually.  The Photos R Free site, a semi-commercial photo site of my pictures, has not been updated in a long time, but I have lots of great pictures to add when I get time.

Finally, some exciting news (for me)!  I have finally found a way to publish my poetry, which is something I have wanted to do for MANY years!  As a result, the "My Life in a Poem" site will not contain my poetry, but will be a site describing and discussing my poetry, with some samples, and with information about where you can go to buy my published poetry.  This will be coming soon!  I am publishing an electronic version for the Amazon Kindle, AND a paperback version (6" by 9") as well!  Watch for it!!

Dave