END OF 2012 RANDOM THOUGHTS

While doing my very best dental hygiene work today (since I have had to work a whole twelve hours this week, I was in my element), I let my mind wander just a bit.  Things I gave thought to today and while I write this post in no random order:

I am glad I don't really keep milk in the house except when my daughter is home--the cost may double in the coming year to as much as $8/gallon.

The highway sign says 20 miles=74 minutes for Ray's commute tonight.  I am depressed for him.  Yesterday his office closed at two pm due to inclement weather (we had torrential rain/sleet/snow).  He arrived home 2.5 hours later.  My office was closed for the day, so my commute of ten minutes didn't occur.  It only took him 170 minutes to get home (40 mile drive) tonight.

My boss told me he was thinking about me this morning!  He saw THE BEST COMMERCIAL for Panama and saw the modern city in all its glory.

I am committing myself to only making three different kinds of cookies next Christmas (chocolate chip, peanut butter balls and No Bake).  No bark, no tres leches cake, no magic cookie bars--three kinds.  Perhaps I will make one hundred of each of those kinds or just a dozen, but I am keeping it to the three favorite and old standby's.  I suppose I will still decorate some whether they are sugar here or butter there (at my sister's house). That would mean four kinds, so I am on the fence about this one.

I really enjoyed the movie "Les Miserables" even though the whole script was sung to me.  I could hear it and understand it.  It was long, but I only wanted to know what time it was because I was wondering if it was getting close to telling me the ending (I didn't know too much about the plot).

I need to start using my new scanner to put pictures on my computer, save to my external hard drive and have them with me in Panama until I get my photo albums there.  Maybe I will do this rather than posting random thoughts on this blog.

I ate way too much Christmas Day, but I don't care.  It was all so good!

We have plans to go to Washington DC on Saturday night.  Our goal is to eat dinner at the historic Ben's Chili Bowl restaurant, walk around the zoo and view the "Zoolights", and see the National Christmas tree.  It is supposed to snow in the morning and perhaps turn to rain or stay all snow until mid-afternoon.  I don't like when my plans go awry.  If there is snow, it will be pretty though.

I was in Turks and Caicos almost one year ago.  Blue water, white sand.  We weren't even thinking about Panama and didn't even know it was a reality eleven months ago!  And another Panama vacation (in March) is right around the corner.

I will leave the Christmas decorations up for a few more days.  Or longer.  Not really motivated to take it all down yet.  And the outside lights can stay up until it gets warmer--not anytime soon according to the meteorologist (and they have been right for the past two days).

Are they working on the fiscal cliff?  Not really.  House members are still on vacation!  Everyone should be ashamed of themselves.

Ray could have driven from Panama City to the middle of the country in the time it took him to drive home tonight.

This post has nothing really to do with Panama except that I think about it daily still. Knowing Ray has such a horrible commute along with working sixty plus hour weeks has our retiring early making that much more sense. And yes after all of this randomization, I have decided I will add sugar or butter cookies to my Christmas baking, because my daughter loves decorating them as much as I really do (even after the eleventh and twelfth and thirteenth one).  Really.  So make that four kinds of cookies to make at Christmas time in 2013.  And putting together a  not pre-assembled gingerbread house, too!

KEEPING HAPPINESS WITH THE HOLIDAYS AND TRADITIONS

 The paragraph below was posted the other day in Richard Detrich's blog (RichardDetrich.com).  Gallup asked about 1,000 people in each of 148 countries (150,000 people worldwide) if they were well-rested, had been treated with respect, smiled or laughed a lot, learned or did something interesting and felt feelings of enjoyment the previous day.
In Panama and Paraguay, 85% of those polled said yes to all five, putting those countries at the top of the list.  They were followed closely by El Salvador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, Guatemala, the Philippines, Ecuador and Costa Rica.  Latin America is the world's happiest place to be!  The richest countries  such as Japan, did not make the top ten most positive countries.  The United States ranked 33.

I shared this information with Ray.  He smiled broadly and commented, "Allison, we are making the right decision."

While at a neighbor's annual Christmas party Friday night, the subject of conversation turned to our move to Panama.  The neighbors asked about our vacation there, and we shared that we were taking another trip in March to do some more investigating and researching.  Since we spend many weekends at our Lake Anna house, and most of these neighbors have small children, we do not get together often enough with them.  This group of friends was very inquisitive and enthusiastic about our decision.  They made Ray and I feel at ease talking about the country and why we chose to retire there.  With wine and champagne punch in hand, the women discussed the malls.  I described the two different one's I had been to in October.  The first Panamanian mall being just like Tysons Corner mall which is not too far from my house (unless there is traffic on I-95, so I guess you can say it is very far away--45 minutes can turn into 2 or 3 hours).  These women all know that mall and could picture Metromall in Panama a little bit better.  The other outdoor mall just across the street, I explained, was more like an outlet mall to the extreme.  Inexpensive/cheap.  I told them I saw and would actually wear pants and jeans that cost up to $6.99, shorts for $2.99, shirts up to $4.99 and shoes or flip flops $1.99 or even $8.99 depending on the embellishments.  And the consensus was "who needs The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger and Coach and those high prices, when you are going to a place where you can just kick off you flip flops and be happy and rested"!  They suggested we might have many more visitors once settled, and we encouraged them to come check it out!

 My daughter and I make dozens of cookies for the Christmas holiday.  We always do.

Just a few dozen butter cookies we decorated with my sister and family.

The beginning of some chocolate chip cookies.

  Many more treats than these to go to my sister's on Christmas Eve!

We also decorate a gingerbread house annually.  This year the house came broken, but we plastered it back with royal icing and carried on with the decorating!

This is the mess we made repairing and rebuilding!

Beauty restored!

While I think I could just not do it, these are two of many traditions I am not ready to give up.  Even though I  get frustrated having to wear reading glasses now to see the recipes, and because I want to make so many more cookies but what will I do with them all (?), I still love seeing them just pile up!  I try to smile while cleaning the measuring cups and spoons and baking sheets for the umpteenth time.  I try to laugh a lot when the gingerbread house is in pieces while still wrapped and in the box.  I try to come up with another way to decorate that butter cookies-shaped Christmas tree or my side of the gingerbread house. The "tries" don't always work out.  But I am going to lose these traditions someday, or they will just change.  I will still bake cookies and watch the movie "Elf" with my daughter, but it won't always be here in Stafford, VA.  And we might just make one kind of cookie.

I also realize I won't be working when these traditions change, and things will be easier.  I will  have more time. (Oh, the Federal Government was given tomorrow--Christmas Eve-- off!  I wasn't!).  What we do with the traditions will be enough.  I will be in a country that boasts the happiest people!  Panama will be cheerful.  I will take that cheer, my rested and relaxed self and all that I have learned and enjoyed to my daughter and family when celebrating the holidays.  Traditions can be persisting things (I am also very persistent.  You think?), but I will learn to allow them to evolve and change.  And I will embrace everyday and every holiday whether here in VA with old traditions, in Panama with new traditions or where my daughter ends up in life with HER traditions.

CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN THE U.S.

Another tragic mass shooting event occurred this past Friday.  This one occurred at  Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  I am watching President Obama on TV speak at the Memorial Service for the twenty-six victims (it is his fourth mass shooting memorial of his Presidency). I don't want to explain myself again to any concerned family and friends about our "crazy" idea of retiring to Panama. Dangerous Panama. I can't convince anyone to change their minds and thoughts.  Right now I worry about my daughter everyday staying safe when going to night classes or even just meeting friends for dinner;  she is also getting ready to embark on a teaching career next fall.  I worry about my sister that is surrounded by mentally ill parents that abuse and neglect their children and threaten to "stomp her (my sister) on the head", and even Ray who has worked with his share of troubled "no longer employed" employees.  

In just this year alone, there have been four major shooting events in the United States (not to mention, and let's not forget, Columbine, Virginia Tech or Congresswoman Gifford).  

Seven Die in California School Shooting (Apr. 2)

Twelve Killed in Colorado Theater Shooting (July 20)

Six People Are Killed in Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting (Aug. 5)

Gunman Kills 26 at Elementary School (Dec. 14)

And in Panama, I know there is crime.  I read about it in Panama-Guide.com by Don Winner (Panama Guide is the #1 English Language web site about the Republic of Panama).  I haven't read about mass shootings.  More like drug related crimes where one person is shot many times (I wish they didn't show the pictures though!). Or the following headlines from 2012: Expat millionaire murdered.  On the trail of a murderer in Chiriqui.  Body of a man found.  Body of a young woman found.  Man escapes kidnappers.  Police sergeant kills his wife and another man.  Bomb threat of Supreme Court building.

There were more drownings, fires, car accidents and deaths due to mudslides.  So I won't swim in a riptide or even go swimming when I am told not to go into the water, I hope not to live in a wooden structure that will burn down, I can't avoid the fate of a car accident but I will try hard not to drive in Panama City, and hopefully when the rains won't let up, my house won't slide down a hill.  Here's dreaming of a safe, warm and friendly environment in Panama that I will call home someday and that my friends and family will find safe, warm and inviting to visit and feel comfortable in knowing that we have made the right decision for us.


.

WEEKENDS IN THE WINTER

Besides asking why we would ever want to move and retire to Panama, and then being told (by those all knowing) that it's a third world country and what about all the crime, the other thing that most people ask is "what will the two of you do together all day everyday?"  Ray and I will be together 24/7 until we make friends (we do have two wonderful one's living there now) and until we make the move to venture out on our own on that first errand.

 Weekends in the winter are different in that the lake house is quieter.  Without the sun and warmth luring friends and family to the lake, we don't even see the roomies as much.  Yesterday our plans changed and left us "alone" together.  We had things to do, things to shop for (Christmas in ten days!), and a movie that interested us ("Hitchcock"), and since it turned out that it was just us at the lake house, we decided not to hang out (this was part of the plans that were changed) the entire weekend.  So yesterday we set out bright and early to run those errands.  I did try to incorporate my sister or a friend into the plans for later in the day, in case Ray got tired of listening to me, but that failed.  We visited four stores, had an early lunch at Chili's, watched some TV back at the house and left the house again for a late movie.  After the movie, we stopped at the bookstore to get hot chocolate for him and chai latte for me.  We walked outside to the Spotsylvania Town Center Christmas Tree to see/hear the six minute Concert in Lights (we didn't know it was six whole minutes).  After leaving the lake house in Bumpass at ten in the morning and returning to the Stafford at ten at night, being together all day today and about eight hours on Friday, we still like each other.  Today it has been a miserably rainy day, so we accomplished wrapping gifts, vacuuming, baking and catching up on recorded DVR shows. 

Spotsylvania Town Center Concert in Lights

 Of course, I realize that when we are retired in Panama we won't have the weekdays to "catch a break" from each other like we do now.  I also realize that we finish each other's sentences, we say the things the other one is thinking when the other is getting ready to say it, we help each other with the mundane chores, and we hope, pray and want pretty much the same for each other, our daughter, extended family and  family.  

In Panama, we will stay busy initially with all those horrendously long, overwhelming tasks of finding a lawyer and realtor, renting a house, buying a car, trying to open a bank account, passing our driver's license tests, establishing our Visas, signing up for health insurance and so much more.  We will do this with excitement and nervousness.  But we will do it all together.  And will be just fine..."alone",  24/7, and retired in Panama.

OUT OF THE LOOP

This past week, while performing a dental exam on a fifteen year old patient of mine, one of the dentist's I work with made the comment, "I hear you're going to Panama to retire.  I hadn't heard this news yet."  I had to have him repeat what he said because he had his mask on, and I wasn't expecting him to bring this up.  I had no idea when he was told this information or who had talked to him about me either.  He told me the other dentist told him my plans.  I agreed with him, told him it would be in a few years, and yes, I am going to retire to Panama.  He said, "we need to sit down and talk about this."  I immediately looked around for my father.  When I joked with my boss about letting the cat out of the bag to the other dentist (yeah right, since everyone else but this man knows my plans), he simply said that "Obamacare and the mess of the country" was what got them on the subject of retiring to another country.  How many times does it have to be written or spoken that just because you may not like what is going on in your own city, state or country, it doesn't mean you should pack up and leave.  Another country isn't going to be the answer if you aren't prepared for the ups and downs.  Ray and I are retiring to Panama for a few simple reasons:  climate, out of the box desire, living expenses, adventure.  We want to try experiencing something else.  Something out of the ordinary.

Today, while eating lunch at a restaurant in Old Town Fredericksburg, I watched men and women of all ages walk by the windows in Civil War attire.  They were spending the day re-enacting what happened in the United States 150 years ago. Sitting there I wasn't thinking about the current state of our country, the Republicans and Democrats not compromising on anything (or the Yankees and the Confederates for that matter), or the cost of my health insurance/mortgages/utilities.  The state of affairs of the U.S. is not what's driving our decision to move to Panama. 

Fredericksburg, VA

Civil War  VA 1862

Present day  VA  2012

Once home, I wrote out my Christmas cards.  Many of our friends know of our future plans.  Many relatives do not.  I included in our annual newsletter the events of the past year.  I wrote about our vacation to Panama this past October as well as our pending trip in March.  I referred my family and friends to my blog if they want to know the nitty gritty as to why we chose Panama and how we think we can retire there so soon (sometimes I get tired of answering the questions).  Not too many will be out of the loop now.  More will think we are crazy "wannabretireesinPanama".

SELECTIVE HEARING ENGAGED

Having not seen my very best friend from high school days, a bridesmaid in my wedding and come to think of it, my daughter's Godmother, in a long time, I have finally seen her a few times in the past few months.  And along with seeing her, I have had the great pleasure of spending some time with her dad.  This is a man I always enjoyed sharing Thanksgiving dessert with, a man that I know my dad had great conversations with while eating the same Thanksgiving dessert, and a man that I have shared my retirement dreams. When he first found out that Ray and I were traveling to Panama to visit and research it as a place for retirement, he was "completely enthralled and enamored with our decision".  He wanted to know everything I knew and all of the reasons behind Panama being our choice for retirement.  Six weeks later, after our vacation, Ray and I saw him again.  He had just read an article in "The Economist" about Panama, and he again stated that he was so excited for us. (http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21567091-why-latin-americas-fastest-growing-country-so-furious-earthbound-bite-back).  Part of the article states:

Panama’s economy has grown faster than that of any other Latin American country this year, as it did last year. Growth has averaged nearly 9% a year for six years, transforming the skyline of the steamy capital. Though it lies in Central America, the poorest and most violent region in the West, the country’s 3.6m citizens are now richer than most Latin Americans.

According to my friend's dad,  "Panama's economy is just booming".  "The expat world is thriving".  "The banks are exploding". His son-in-law (my high school best friend's husband) was discussing with him the Panama Canal, taking a cruise through the canal with the probability of visiting us while on the cruise (when it is in port).  He was trying to figure out the best way to get to us.  Like I told him, along with his father-in-law, "it is a simple four and a half hour flight.  You fly to Panama City, and we come and get you".  Simple as that.  That was a happy conversation.  I look forward to more of those.  This man knows that every country comes with its problems.  He knows there is unhappiness in Panama, discord among many, and there are many things that need to change with as much growth and boom that is being thrown at it. He told us more about the negative comments in the article.  He shared the good and the bad and the ugly just as our friends, Clyde and Terry Coles (www.alongthegringotrail.com or www.alongthegringotrail.blogspot.com), have.  He knows that Ray and I are not stupid.  We are doing our homework.  We are making educated, not emotional, decisions.  We are willing to take risks, change our lives and our families lives to a certain extent, and we realize the effect our decisions could  make on others.

Then we encounter the negative comments of others.  Those that are trying to throw their concerns or fears, I guess, our way.  In the same week that I had multiple friends and family members telling us that they were so excited to hear about our adventures, cannot wait to visit us, ask enthusiastically how we have come to realize where we would like to rent or buy a house, and who want to hear more from us after our next trip to Panama in March, Ray and I also heard (or mostly I heard) the following:

How can you get so excited about something when you are leaving your friends and family?

What will you do when you get there?  Is there anything to do?  There won't be anything to do if you aren't working.

What are the houses like?  Where will you live?  How will you live?  

Why wouldn't you just move closer to your job (since the commute is so horrible) instead of moving to Panama?  (The point is to not work.  It's not about the commute.  It's about quality of life, so perhaps it is about the commute in a way.).

Ray cannot contribute to the negative comments he has heard that are listed above, because he has learned to not listen, to not comment, and to not share as much.  I need his shell.  I need a thicker skin.  I need to use my hearing disability, perhaps, to filter the negativity and the pessimism.  I will learn to use my supposed "selective hearing" to hear from those excited for us.  Refer me to an article in a magazine like my friend's father did, and let me make up my own mind. I am all for hearing the concerns, as long as they are researched and valid concerns.  I am just no longer willing to entertain those concerns from those not knowing.    

EASY COME, NOT SO EASY GO

While watching my spots disappear on my face this past week (I was off from work for two days so besides decorating the house for Christmas, what else was I to do!), I was thinking about other things that were going to come and go over the Thanksgiving holiday.

First and foremost,  I waited with excitement and enthusiasm for my daughter to come home for the long holiday weekend.  She had classes at William and Mary in Williamsburg through Tuesday night and then another test (the Praxis II-- part of the teaching certification process) late Wednesday morning.  Fortunately her drive home wasn't hampered by too much traffic, and she arrived home around two pm. 

      Side note: In the time that it took her to drive one hundred fifteen miles home, it took Ray the same amount of time to drive home from work forty miles on Tuesday afternoon.  Besides actually going to work everyday, this is the reason he needs to be done.  The commute with all of the traffic is crazy in the Northern Virginia/DC area.

Ray and I had just finished decorating the outside of our house when Carly pulled up. We had four wonderful days with her before we had to kiss and hug her good bye for another four weeks.  I will never get used to her going away.

Second to this, I slowly inspected my face daily to see which brown spots would disappear off my face (one large freckle at a time) as well as the patch of  tiny red thread lines (early start of rosacea). How many days would it take and when would the mud splats go away completely.  Today, they are for the most part gone. 

Third, Thanksgiving dinner comes and goes.  The holiday dinner has been at my sister's house for the last two years.  She gutted the first floor of our parents 1970's house into a new and huge open concept kitchen, dining and living area.  She now has the space to house many guests along with cooking many dishes in the double oven and on the stove.  The prep began Wednesday night, the turkey went into the oven late Thursday morning, and the chaotic cooking frenzy that occurs, I am sure, in most houses across the country on Thanksgiving day began at two pm.  By four pm, the turkey was gone.  The plates were clean and clear.

Along with clearing my plate, the fourth thing that I always notice around the holidays is my waistline comes around again. My diet, or my change in eating habits, needs to come back.  It simply goes away with any holiday.  Why is it that this time of year everyone feels the need to bake everything now?  Is it to keep us warm with the extra pounds?  Is it to keep the house warm with the oven running more?  In my house, we have stock piled all the ingredients we could possibly need to make all the different kinds of cookies we never make the rest of the year.  Five pounds come, so five pounds need to go.

The fifth thing that came with the start of the holiday were the warm temperatures and they left just as quickly.  We went from sixty degree temperatures on Thursday to forty degree temperatures with wind today.  We left our coats in the car while shopping Black Friday sales and added gloves and scarves two days later.

Doorbuster items were six in line for things I could say that were put on the shelves in a frenzy by overworked store employees and that left the shelves in a frenzy on Black Friday. And we contributed to those items leaving the shelves quite a bit! Ray came home with $$$ from the attorneys at his office.  They throw in any dollar amount they want.  He is given this money to buy gifts for the Christmas Party raffle.  The support staff (about 65 employees) get chances to win the items that he buys on Black Friday.  He is "retiring" from this part of his job (somehow he ended up with this task years ago) after this year.  We have been shopping Black Friday for a few years, because the money can go a lot farther with the huge sales.  This year we stood on line waiting for tickets to buy two computers and a tv at Walmart.  He also bought a computer from Staples (online though).  Other things bought within hours of the Thanksgiving dishes being cleared were E-readers, tablets, gift certificates to the movies and to several different restaurants, along with one hundred dollars in lottery tickets.  It was an easy shopping adventure this year since we could wait inside, there were bathrooms and all of the employees were cheerful and helpful.  We did not experience mayhem, pushing or shoving.  It is always so great to see the twenty plus gifts the staff will have a chance to win.  I enviously wish I could keep them all.  The money easily came, and it went just as fast.

I try not to think too much about where Ray and I will be for the holidays once we retire to Panama.  Our conversations come and go with our daughter about her future.  With every assignment that comes her way and with every test she has to successfully pass, she is trying to take one day at a time.  Her hopes are to find a job and live in the Northeast part of the country.  And when it comes to our thoughts on retiring to Panama now that Thanksgiving 2012 is behind us, Ray and I are continuing to get into the mindset that our move to Panama will be a little easy in the sense that we will be leaving our jobs, the commute, the traffic, and the little time we have to see and do things.  But it won't be an easy go at all to leave our daughter, our families, our friends, our job that provides us security and our neighborhood that provides us with a sense of community.  Panama--easy come.  Leaving Carly, the safety net of our family--not so easy go.

GET 'ER DONE!

It doesn't take us very long to do things once we set our minds to it.  Ray has booked the flight to Panama, reserved three hotels for the week and just finished the reservation for the car.  Along with yard work, having a yummy early dinner with Lake Anna roommate, seeing a movie ("Flight") and talking to our daughter, it has been a most productive day!  This time the movie ONLY cost us $8/person, we had a free small popcorn (saved us $6), but since we wanted more we upgraded for a dollar to the medium size, and the large soda was $5.50.  And now our theater has caramel and toffee popcorn in little bags (about 8oz)--for $5 (they just want to be like the Cinepolis in Panama).  So at $22.50 (compared to "Argo" a few weekends ago), today was cheap!

The hotels we are staying at when in Panama this time are actually Bed and Breakfasts.  The one is Casa di Pietra in El Valle and the other is Manglar Lodge in San Carlos.

Casa di Pietra (www.tripadvisor.com)

Hotel Manglar Lodge (www.tripadvisor.com)

The one problem I see with how fast Ray and I act on things and get things done is that in Panama things move so slow.  Perhaps once relaxed, rested and retired, this won't be such a "problem" at all.

DRY SEASON HERE WE COME!

This morning Ray reserved our flights for Panama again!  We leave March 16th with hopes of staying in El Valle, maybe a night or two on the beach (Farallon?) and then back to the Marriott that we stayed at last month in PC.  This time we want to have a realtor show us Altos del Maria (you have to know someone or be looking at houses with a realtor to get through the gate), drive around Penonome and Anton.  We also want to have a driver take us into Panama City (Amador Causeway area?) and Old Town.  I would also love to see Albrook Mall!  Okay, I am a girl.  I want to see the furniture stores but mostly the animals that mark the entrances.  I just put my pictures of our Panama trip into a photo album this morning (long story short--my nephew had all of my pictures from one of my media cards on his computer with my card being empty.  I finally got the pictures from him and developed.).  Now to plan for the next trip!  First, Key West the weekend prior for a friend's destination wedding!  First things first!

Here in Virginia was another crisp, fall, sunny day with the temperatures not getting past 55 degrees.  More leaves raked and blown at the lake house, with our one roommate here tidying up the Spanish-style fountain. All tarped for the winter.  Ray blew and raked leaves and played ball with Rosie, the black lab.  I don't know who ended up being more tired outside.

All covered and ready for snow to fall!

Ray, Rosie and leaves.

I had to sit the festivities out for the day.  I cannot exercise for 48 hours (raking exerts the heart apparently and will cause blood vessels to enlarge).  I had a facial procedure done yesterday called "IPL".  (Also known as Ellipse Intense Pulsed Light).  It isn't a laser but an intensely pulsed flash beam lamp that is used on hyper-pigmented skin.  I just want the brown spots gone.  I hope it works well after just one visit.  Basically, the esthetician put an ultrasound gel on my face (think of the gel used for sonograms).  Then she sealed my eyes shut, because the light is very orange and very bright.  Finally, she targeted all of the sun damage with tool in hand.  It felt like getting splattered with bacon grease one splat at a time.  All over the face and neck.  She also used a laser on this blue pigmented spot that I have had dead center of my bottom lip.  Now the blue spot should dissipate over time, and the brown pigments will get an ugly dark brown, even black, coloring to them.   I will look even more dirty (with black dirt-like looking spots) as the days go on.  And gradually, I hope, within two weeks I will have a more even skin tone.  I will have to continue with the Neutrogena SPF 55 for my face when at the beach (or here at the lake) and must always have SPF in my moisturizer.  I have been pretty good about this the past couple of years, so I shouldn't have too much of a problem obeying the rules.

First night.  Only for the blog would I do this!

I did wonder if there is a spa in Panama that offers such treatment.  And what the huge cost difference would be.  But when it comes to my face, I am not so sure I would trust just anyone.  This was an elective procedure just like Lasik surgery for my eyes was, and when the appointment finally approached, I felt nervous and nauseous.  I had made the appointment six months ago to coincide with taking the 2 1/2 days off that patients were only scheduled for next week (Thanksgiving holiday).  I was excited for six months.  Then, I was a bit scared.  Once in Panama, I will check into the salons and spas for  pampered facials and get to know the estheticians a bit.  Word of mouth will be helpful, too.  Dental and medical visits seem easy to obtain and inexpensive so perhaps getting my skin pampered and my hair done will be easy, too.  When in Panama, there will be plenty of time for all of that because I will still care about my roots being colored and my skin being massaged and fluffed :)

HIT THE BIG TWENTY-FOUR

Today was a Federal Holiday (Veteran's Day), and it was also our 24th anniversary.  I am no longer off on days like today (don't get me started about how I used to have five weeks vacation, two weeks sick leave, and these federal holidays off for sixteen years until the dentist moved west)--I did sacrifice my hourly rate for much needed time off at the time.  Carly was a baby and while she was growing up it was important to the both of us that we were home with her on her days off.  Fortunately, Stafford County schools were open, so we weren't inundated with children at my office all day!  I was feeling a bit more bitter about today being a day off for some (not the military mind you), because they just had two days off for Hurricane Sandy!  Shouldn't there be make up days somewhere.  It's not like the U.S. can afford this time off.  So back to my anniversary.  (And by the way, Ray wasn't off either.  Before his law firm was bought out seven years ago, he had these federal holidays off).

Both Ray and I are so in tune with each other.  We both woke up wishing each other Happy Anniversary via email and telling one another that next year, we are taking this holiday off and celebrating our anniversary somewhere!  I know I was just in Panama.  I know I have Fridays off.  But there is just something about not being off on my birthday or anniversary that is annoying me so much more.  I know, it's short timers disease.  Hopefully, I have two more years to feel bitter about these federal holidays.  In 2015, I will be off daily.  Every day will be spent with Ray in Panama :)  He will love retirement that much more!

I wore my mom's dress from 1961 (it was super heavy).

MY SLEEPLESS NIGHT SPENT PREPARING FOR PANAMA

Last night was election night.  President Obama was in a heated race against Governor Mitt Romney.  It was going to be a close call supposedly which meant a long night of waiting for the results.  Voting was taking four hours in my sister's county (Prince William), two hours in my boss's county (Spotysylvania) and less than five minutes in my county (Stafford) from the time I entered the elementary school building to the time I got back to my car and drove away (at five pm).  My polling station had black markers and paper--fill in the ovals.  Had to color in the lines, so to speak.  This, perhaps, was why things were a little quicker for me.  Or maybe everyone had voted early in the morning before sitting in traffic on I-95 going to work.  Ray and I knew it would be too long of a night for us.  We turned the lights off at ten pm. I, no longer drugged on cough medicine, nicely told Ray that when he woke up for work he should feel free to turn the tv on to see the election results.  At 2:40 am, we found out that President Obama won the election. 

1. Election Results:Source AP

   Candidate	Popular vote	Percentage	Electoral votes (270 to win)
   Barack Obama	60580227	50%	303
   Mitt Romney	57761024	48%	206

   Control of House 218 Balance of power
   193		233
   Control of Senate 50 Balance of power
   53		45

   
   

After seeing charts, graphs, and speeches, Ray left for work and said "go back to sleep".  I should have taken the cough medicine.

Now I was awake. What could I have possibly stayed awake for two hours thinking about?  You know, Panama.  Actually, I first thought about my daughter and how she was doing at school.  How she was feeling.  I drifted on and off with the thought of her coming home for Thanksgiving with a henna tattoo on her left cheek (three actually), three small piercings (a sun, moon and star) in her left cheek with the tattoo under the piercings and a new haircut (I didn't like the new cut). Then I thought about when we could possibly get back to Panama with my daughter this time.  Next came the panic.  The unrealness of it all.  How can we rent a place in Panama?  Will we find something in Panama City first?  Will we then be able to take care of our banking, drivers license and visa paper work that first month?  Will we qualify for the  pensionado visa?  What am I going to do with all of our STUFF?   Should I have an estate sale or appraisal of my parents things (that no one wants)?  Are they of value and worth bringing an appraiser in?  How often will I come home to the States?  When will I visit my family?  Will they visit me? When will I start traveling away from Panama and the States.  There are so many places I still want to go (Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Niagara Falls, Napa Valley, Chicago, Nashville, back to Turks and Caicos thanks to a patient I saw today that was just there for two weeks, and more).  Of course, I couldn't answer any of my questions.  I just kept myself awake with things I won't have any control over for quite a while.  I can't prepare for anything more right now.  There isn't much more to sell just yet.  I can continue cleaning up and clearing out in the basement.  In the winter perhaps.  Or sometime in 2013.  And I can continue writing in this blog to get it all out.  Get unlocked a bit.  

 I realized today that not one of my thoughts was if I would like Panama (I liked what we did see), or if Ray and I were making the right decision (we will never know unless we jump).  They were mostly about the preparation.  Having all of our ducks in a row.  Being the planner that I am, how to make it all work.  Will it really work?   The excitement and a bit of dread for getting it done.  And in 2016, voting by absentee ballot.

GOOD OR BAD BUT ALL IN FUN

Near the end of our vacation, I asked the group what things they noticed about Panama whether good or bad.  Things that just seemed to stand out that we may not have read about or realized prior to our trip.  I am just going to list them in no random order.
*Rainy season on the beach--never really seemed hot to us.  Only when walking back to the condominium did I notice it was a bit humid (We were walking through the neighborhood and not on the beach, so this made sense--no real breeze.)
*It wasn't buggy during the day.  Here the bugs splat against the car.  There, I only noticed bugs at night (I wore bug spray and wasn't affected much.)
*The ice melts fast.  The frozen drinks don't stay frozen for long.  Ice in soda turns to water quickly.  Is the ice ever really that solid to begin with?
*Chocolate that I had in the condo was soft (we were asked to turn A/C units off while we were gone for the day, duh.).  Have to learn to put chocolate in the refrigerator.
*There are a ton of sandwich-type cookies.  Not too many Chips Ahoy style cookies on the shelves.  And where are potato chips  Not brand name such as Lays or Utz.  Where are Panamanian-style potato chips?  I accidentally picked up many bags of pork rinds.  The bags were labeled barbecue and natural, and the pictures looked just like chips.  I failed to notice the big letters on the bag that Ray told me meant "pork".
*Places may have hours posted such as 8am-8pm when what the owner of the establishment wants you to realize is "when I get here, I will open the store and then I will close it when I decide to for the day".
*If the website states "Open for breakfast", the restaurant isn't necessarily open for breakfast or at all that day.  Always have a back up especially during rainy season.
*The frozen yogurt place (Yogen Fruz) in Coronado Mall appeared to be open (we checked often during drive bys) late in the day, and it closed early in the day.
* The road (once through the gate) in Coronado that leads to Coronado Bay and Coronado Golf Resort is really in bad shape (Ave Roberto Eisenmann).  Perhaps they will lay asphalt down in the dry season?
*It is definitely lush, green and tropical with flowers blooming everywhere in October.
*The Panamanian people are very friendly, and they try to help.  Even just by smiling when we haven't a clue as to what we are trying to spell out to each other (use hand gestures).
*Panama doesn't really have a food type.  The food is bland.  But there are many different cuisines there, so we weren't at a loss of what to try.  Empenadas and lasagna show up often on menus.
*Driving.  Not too much horn honking where we were, and they drove a bit more aggressively than in DC.  Motorcycles love to pass cars traveling the road to El Valle.  We expected it to be curvy and steep.  That didn't surprise us, but those motorcycles passing on the curves--wow.
*Penny slots.  More of those than nickles and quarters.  Mostly just penny machines.
*And finally, the policeman yelled at my sister, but not at the Panamanian women that ran across the PanAmerican Highway.

MADNESS AT THE MALL AND THE LOVE OF PANAMA

But wait there's still more excitement and adventure in Panama!  Last Friday came in quietly.  The four of us had a wonderful breakfast in the hotel, we tried some new kind of fruit (bland as usual for Panama) that we thought was lychee but perhaps it was Pulasan and filled up on hot chocolate, juice, soda and coffee!

Buah or Pulisan fruit--ours seemed spikier but had the same white soft ball of blandness on the inside (http://www.malaysiabest.net/2006/07/21/buah-fruit-pulasan-photo/)

The next stop was the pool for a few hours.  It was bright, sunny and warm outside.  The only other thing on the agenda was shopping at the "outlet" mall and with the vendors on the overpass as well as lunch at MetroMall.  Little did we know what was in store for us.

The pool at Marriott Courtyard MetroMall

We decided to walk over to "The Sound of Music" store first (thinking it would have music like CD's, records) just in case it decided to start raining.  When on the overpass, Eric stopped to by a $2 wooden necklace.  I continued on to see what else was there and what I wanted to buy.  Out of the blue, the woman started yelling in Spanish to the other vendors and before I knew it, she had swiped the table clear of all merchandise into a 3x3 Hello Kitty bag.  I went back to the other table now realizing I wasn't going to be able to buy anything if I didn't act fast, and I found a trinket for $2 (I made sure I picked out just the right color).  Was this a police raid?  They don't have their peddlers license?  We didn't think so since the police were standing at the bottoms of the steps when we had arrived there.  We continued on to the stores realizing that the stores were closed, and around the corner there was more Spanish yelling.  A twenty-some year old Panamanian was speaking broken English to Eric while he spoke broken Spanish.  A man in his forties picked us out of the crowd and said to us in English "get in a taxi, go back to your room.  NOW."  The rioting from Colon last week had spread to Panama City and was trickling out to neighboring cities.  According to Don Winner who writes Panama-Guide, the protests were against a quickly passed Law 72 (which President Martinelli has since "taken back", and this is what took place on Friday while we were sitting at the pool:

On Friday, looters ransacked shops and stoned vehicles in Panama City following protests outside the Congress against the law. Police used tear gas against protesters.

The violence resulted in more than 200 arrests in Panama City and Colon, the northern city where the duty-free zone is located. Eleven people — a mix of protesters and police — were hurt, authorities said.

Protests first started last week when Martinelli signed the law.

Martinelli proposed having some of the proceeds go to state coffers and some to local development in one of Panama's poorest areas, but demonstrators in Colon opposed any sale.

We never felt in danger.  We just knew to do what we were told.  We stuck out like a sore thumb there.  We headed back over to the mall, and we noticed many people leaving.  We also noticed the shops were open and many people were still walking into the mall.  But then we thought about getting to the airport.  The taxi situation.  Possible road closures.  We had read about all of this in the past.  We thought it best to just get on the road.  The staff at the hotel told us what was going on and stated that if the mall management felt it necessary, they would close the shops. (Albrook Mall closer to the city had closed, buses weren't running,  and taxi fares were being hiked up.)  We loaded our luggage into the taxi, paid $5 more than the day before, and made it to the airport easily enough. 

Were they scared for their lives?  Or being melodramatic?

Everyone finding taxis and exiting the stores

Overpass cleared out (few vendors still packing up) and traffic picking up

Policemen on their way

There we paid a whole lot of money for drinks and appetizers.  We longed to return to the “interior” where Balboa beer was .40 (or even $2.50 for a bottle) and frozen drinks were $4.  And we didn’t like departing from Tocumen.  It was not an easy last two hours.  We waited patiently at Gate 7 only to find out (on our own) that we would now be leaving from Gate 29 (on the complete opposite side of the airport).  We were told to stand on line and wait to have our carry on luggage scanned only at this gate, there weren’t any scanners.  Just one slow person that turned into three that eventually decided they’d better move it or we would all miss the flight!  They had us empty our just bought and unopened liquids (soda and water) even though if you were at the back of the line that rule became relaxes.  They didn’t have children load first or the passengers that were medically compromised.  Apparently (according to a passenger in line with us) since 9-11, any flight going into the States is required to have their carry on luggage, shoes and body searched.  Unfortunately, the scanners were at Gate 7. This is when Ray and I made our decision to upgrade our Copa  airline status if possible, so we can jump to the shorter line. This was the only time I decided that Panama might be a bit ludicrous.  Or hopefully, it wasn’t just that I had taken those rose-colored glasses off!  Patience.  And yes, I still want more of Panama.

$18 nachos better be good (at the airport) with $10 drinks

Should have drank more to withstand this line--waiting to be searched again before boarding the plane

This is the one woman they had to start the search (notice the other tables sitting there empty --they were waiting for chairs for the passengers!)

SUPERSTORM, MODERN MIRACLE AND MALLS

Here in Virginia, we made it through another weather event.  This one was called Sandy (the same Sandy who's tailwind got in my way almost one week ago in El Valle), the "superstorm".  She created a mess mostly for New Jersey and New York with boardwalks washed up, subway tunnels overcome with water, facades of buildings torn off, fire on Long Island, bridges and transport systems shut down along with Wall Street shutting down for the second day (this hasn't happened since the Great Blizzard of 1888) and even here the Federal Government shut down for two days.  Flights have been canceled; I have a friend stuck here waiting to get back to California, and I have another friend stuck in Hawaii waiting to get back here.  Ray and I made it out of Panama just in the nick of time.  The riots didn't delay us.  The very slow person (okay, they eventually found two more to help) checking our carry on luggage and making us dump our unopened liquids didn't delay us.  And the plane itself took a turn to the left to avoid Sandy in the south and that didn't even delay us. Can't believe all that has happened in the last three days.

Time to daydream about Panama again and go back to where I left off of our vacation.  Onward to the Panama Canal--a modern wonder of the world!  But wait, we have to load up on breakfast and what better place to do this than at ... no, not McDonalds, but at El Machetazo again.  This time, not so great.  The fruit tasted off a bit.  My nephew had hot dogs in a bowl in some sort of sauce.  I tried the sauce.  No thanks.  He tried to tell me that they weren't hot dogs as we know it, but they still reminded me of hot dogs in some sauce.  And this time, there weren't any eggs.  Every day in Panama is different.  My sister had cake for breakfast, so that was tasty.  Ray took us upstairs (he had been there a few days earlier to get the cooler) to show us the beds, appliances, ATV's, clothing and patio furniture.  The two upper floors remind me of Home Depot or Lowes and perhaps a Bed Bath and Beyond or Wal-Mart combined.  And I took note this time that Philadelphia Cream Cheese is $6.  My belly wasn't as full from this breakfast, but we bought some hard candy and chips for the road.

Hot dogs and some kind of sauce

Sister was smart to get some cake

$1.49 for Panamanian brand vs $6.29 for Philly Cream Cheese

The smaller bikes for children sold for $50-$100

Appliances (one stove was $1200)

Eric finds his bed and soccer ball

The Village where the store was

No longer accepts AmEx

We had directions to the canal that Clyde had drawn out for Ray.  And we also had the GPS.  Clyde and Terry also told us not to leave until later in the morning.  We wanted to avoid rush hour.  We left Coronado at 9:30, filled the car up with the gas,  and walked next door to the bakery (while Ray was getting the gas) and saw lots of dry cookies (very dry looking cookies), some bread and many, many bags of small chips and Cheetos.  We pressed on.  One hour later, we pulled up to the Miraflores Locks.  We were fortunate that we caught the last ship to pass through that morning.  It had been unloaded, so it was a light load.  It was through the third lock almost, but what an amazing sight.  We watched the 3-D movie and shopped at the gift center as well.

A little too close there

Then they raced, just like at home

Figuring out the lanes

Looks like my highway (I-95) in Northern VA

Good to know we were on a "road"

Miraflores Locks Visitors Center ($8/person)

Going through the final lock

And there she goes

This brown water looked blue in all the pictures online that I had seen

How many men does it take to fill a cylinder up with cement?  Man on the right pushed the wheelbarrow over

Man in orange scoops cement out and there was a third man spraying water out of a hose to wet the cement down=THREE!

Me and Ray hanging out at the canal

Eric and Carolyn getting seriously ready for the animated 3D movie

Our day wasn't over yet though.  We did take the long route (per the GPS lady that wanted us to avoid tolls even though we didn't tell her this) through some city roads (outside of Panama City).  It was longer but more amusing and entertaining.

Selling tomatoes and lettuce at a very long light

We have been told that yearly inspections are required.  Really?

Onward to the airport to drop off the rental (it cost $50 per day with the GPS), a taxi to the Courtyard Marriott MetroMall Panama ($20 for four), unload the luggage and shopping at MetroMall.  I loved that there was a covered walkway from the hotel to the mall (it was sunny and not raining though).  This mall reminds me of Tyson's Corner (in northern VA).  Upscale shops like The Gap, Coach, Nautica, a food court, restaurants, movie theater, fancy shoe stores along with Crocs, a carousel and more!  The prices were just like at home.  

We tried to use the numbers, but we still ended up with a slight difference  in what was on our tray compared to the picture

Kids bouncing up and down

Kids circling around

Three stories of shops

To further the Panamanian mall experience, we decided to see a movie.  And what classier movie to see in Panama then "Ted".  $4 for the ticket with our seats selected ahead of time, $3 for Large bucket of Caramel popcorn (remember first that my lunch order was messed up a bit AND in the States I am never offered Caramel popcorn) and $2 for a Large soda.  ($13 for two in a clean, new theater with English speaking movie accompanied by Spanish subtitles--I really know how to curse in Spanish now).

Eric and Ted

A bit burnt but caramel, nevertheless

After the movie, there was still so much more to do.  We ventured over to the other side of the road to the outlet stores.  This time we used the overpass, since my sister had been nicely scolded by a Spanish speaking Panamanian policeman in Coronado for running across the road.  We decided to shop on the overpass the next morning once it was light outside.  The outlets run the gamut of just everything.  I found bras for .99, Charlotte Russe capri pants for $6.99 and everything in between.  $6.99 is my limit :)  And this time I was nicely scolded by a Spanish speaking Panamanian security guard.  I had just taken a picture of (wink, wink) my sister.  She happened to be standing right below a largely bosomed mannequin.  Meanwhile, a family was shoplifting (I don't know how since our bag was stapled three times) which I am pretty sure took precedence over my picture taking.  Maybe.

We found the casino (penny slots but $2.50 bottle Balboa beers compared to the cans in the grocery store for .40), where my sister won big bucks of $25.  And then we made it back across the overpass to Bennigans for appetizers, salads and what else, frozen drinks :)  $4 for those.  No wonder I had two.  

Back to the hotel where a van in the parking lot almost made my sister postal with the LOUD BLARING music.  Fortunately for the driver, he shut the music off within minutes of starting it up and left the lot.  She wouldn't do well with Panamanians as neighbors.  Good thing I have a bit of hearing loss.  Ray will need some ear plugs.