ENVELOPE NEEDS TO BECOME A BINDER

For those of you that know me or as much as you think you do or want to, you know that I when I do something I tend to get it done.  I won't start something unless I know it will be done that day or soon after that.  If I have an idea, such as having a room painted (notice I said "having it painted"), I will call the painter, schedule the date and have the idea completed.  I have done my fair share of painting, so the same thing goes for when I set myself out to perform a task, I want it started and finished in a really timely fashion.  This I know for as much as I can know, from my readings of Panama (blogs, magazines, internet stories, interviews/forums with ExPats already there...) will not be anything easy once in Panama.  But for now, when it comes to this blog and the hope of retiring to Panama and what I can control, I will be all over it.

I kept a journal for my daughter for 15 years (I started writing it on our first computer in 1994 and finished it in 2009 when she graduated from high school).  This was my "Computer for Dummy" lesson. I did go crazy loco over it at times...if I hadn't written an entry in weeks or months, that was a bit nerve wracking, but the reward of having it bound into two separate "books/journals" and even having pictures added to it along the way was priceless.

These days, I have been keeping an envelope for Panama.  I keep articles, International Living magazines (more on this later), website links and pieces of paper in this envelope.  I need to turn it into a binder though.  I hope it will someday hold legal documents and all of the forms Panama requires to have this dream even turn into reality--it will become a big binder if that's the case because Panama isn't easy.  From what I have been reading, Panama has a person for every form, an appointment needs to be made first to get to that person for that form, and things are done tomorrow...maybe.  If I keep telling myself this and writing it down, perhaps I can build up more patience.  Will have to check with Ray on that later!

The biggest hope is that as I put our daydreams into words, these words will soon turn into actions that get Ray and I to Panama in the coming years!