All packed up and ready to go. It seems like we’ve been packing forever. We started putting our stuff into storage in November, took a break for the holidays so we can spend time with family, then it’s back to finishing up putting things away.

We’ve done all this before when we packed up our stuff to move to Maine for a year. I admit I like shaking up my life this way. It helps me re-examine what’s important and what I can live without.

I must be a vagabond at heart. A nomad. A gypsy. I love to move. I love exploring new places, meeting new people, learning their ways. It’s as if I have lived a million lives. I’ve been a child in Manila, a struggling actress in New York City, a dot-com millionaire in Silicon Valley, a Las Vegas porn star for a night, a haunted mermaid in Maine and a beach mom in Half Moon Bay.

What new and exciting lives will I lead in the coming years?

See the rest of this set of photos at MAYCAM.

We crossed Rainbow Bridge to Buffalo and carried on east across upstate New York. At one of the service stops there was a van load of hot church guys who had locked their keys in the car. Tsk… tsk… tsk…

We were so close to the end of our journey, and I felt energized, felt like I could do that final sprint on this long distance run. I thought we could make it to our cabin in Maine before dawn. At around 10 pm our wee one asked to go to a hotel, so we decided to stop at Concord, a suburb in the Boston area.

At noon the next day we headed north to Maine. It was a great feeling seeing the sign, “Welcome to Maine” at the bridge going into Portland. We made it across the country!!!

We stopped at Freeport to shop at L.L. Bean. We needed a new life preserver for the wee one. I decided on a whim to buy a kayak so I can join Jay and the wee one on the lake. We finally got to Jay’s lakeside cabin by sunset. Jay built this summer’s first fire at the pit he built singlehandedly a couple of summers ago. We’re home for the summer!!!

Bunny Graffiti

Originally uploaded by maylingsu

I’ve been getting into a bunny kick lately. Everywhere I look I see bunnies, rabbits, good, bad and ugly. The thing with bunnies is that you can’t just have one. When I was a kid my brother came home with two bunnies from the fair. A male and a female. It wasn’t long before we had millions. Our male bunny would try to hump the mama just after she’s given birth. I mean, that’s dedication! His balls were huuuge!!!

So of course when we got bunnies for Christmas we had to have a whole case of them.

Ayieeeee!!!! We love these Smorkin’ Labbits from Kidrobot. They’re badass bunnies!

Jay’s been modding his toys lately and was so sweet to mod a smorkin labbit after me.

I don’t smoke, but I’m smokin’!

So how was Christmas?

My dog got sprayed by a skunk on Christmas Eve. What a stinker!!! I had to bathe him Christmas morning.

Other than that, I had a great time. Fun morning playing with toys, then party at my folks’ at night. I missed them so much last Christmas when we were in Maine. It was exciting having a white Christmas, but there’s nothing like my family parties. Everyone in my family parties like it’s 1999. My 82-year-old grandma was getting down line dancing with my aunts. The 4-year-old nieces are puking chocolate cake. The chihuahuas are chasing each other in the living room. My uncles are taking turns playing drums, guitars, karaoke, singing and beatboxing. One of my uncles just grabbed a broomstick and started hitting the cymbal with it. There’s a lot of spirit and a lot of spirits *wink wink nugde nudge*.

And one more thing about my family is that they are all gorgeous!!! I mean, drop dead gorgeous. The girls and the boys. I get all insecure about my looks everytime I’m around them, they’re so gorgeous. I start thinking about getting a new hairstyle, or a manicure, or a whole new wardrobe. I feel like such a dweeb next to them.

I tried growing my nails this past week, and was thinking about getting a manicure. Because here’s a fact about me: I’ve never ever gotten a manicure. Ever. I’ve always kept my nails short. Well, because when I was a kid I bit my nails. And then when I outgrew that stage, I just was always doing things with my hands. I don’t have time to sit around getting my nails painted. So I do admit I’m a little curious. Though I’d probably be impatient with the process and itch to surf the internet on my iPhone the whole time I’m getting this done.

So yeah, hanging out with my folks makes me feel like I should go shopping, get my nails done, get my hair streaked blond, cut, blowdried and styled at a salon while reading celebrity and fashion magazines. Or at least just pay more attention to my looks. I mean, it’s really depressing when the men in my family are prettier than I am. Goddamnit.

Time to visualize myself in the year 2009.