The consensus here among my Western friends who follow the economic news religiously because of their substantial foreign income, is that the dollar will dip way down to 24 pesos in the next 12 months. So they are busy thinking of ways to protect themselves; some are buying condominiums to rent out while others are buying land or beach front properties. My monthly teachers' pension that my husband left me is below the poverty line, so I have more reasons to worry about when the dollar go further south.

But Chat has paved the way for me to leverage my income when that happens by buying land here in the Philippines. I don't really spend sleepless nights worrying about tomorrow. I do the best I can in the present and leave tomorrow to God who is in charge of the past, today and the future.  Chat is about tapped out trying to cushion my present and future, so I told her "we need to stop buying land, the land has enough coconuts to sustain my lifestyle already."  "Mom, what do you mean "we"? Between trying to balance a demanding job, a demanding love life and trying to raise you, do you really think I'd have time looking into coconuts for income?"  Hmmmm. Ok. I promise I will grow up, soon. I told her.