IT'S ALL HOW YOU MAKE IT SOUND

Today Ray asked me “if we move, no let me say when we move to Panama, are we the type to actually be able to rent a place for a while and then move and rent another place to get an idea of what we want or where we want to live?”  I first replied that I still always say the if/when so people don’t look at me like I’m crazy and because I haven’t even been to Panama yet.  Then I answered his question that yes, if we are crazy enough to pack up just suitcases and some memorabilia and move to Central America, I think renting a place here and there isn’t so crazy. 

The interesting part will be when we start the housing search we will be looking at furnished homes; since we are pretty sure we will be leaving the States with only suitcases.  We will have our family, friends and strangers take and buy our furniture and décor.  This process has already begun.  Five years ago when Ray and I bought the lake house with friends, he and I had a bedroom to furnish.  I wanted a woodsy, mismatched feel to the room.  I wanted pieces of furniture that were a bit roughened up and distressed. Since our house was on the lake,  I wanted to bring the outside in.  But Ray likes “sets”.  When we met new neighbors within the first few months of owning the house, we talked about how the four of us managed to furnish the house together. We would all talk about how our room was done but the other owners still just had limited furnishings—an air mattress or once the bed was bought, no headboard or dressers for a while.  They were getting the mismatched pieces that I thought I wanted.  Again, still explaining to new friends how the four of us  managed buying a house in the first place together and how we agreed on things we brought into the house and then after a few glasses of wine at a Christmas Party,  I was explaining the furnishing process.  I explained that Ray liked sets.  How I wanted to mix and match pieces but he wanted bedroom sets.  He likes dining room sets and living rooms sets.  He likes clean and smooth, not rough and distressed.  The neighbor interrupted me to say that she thought I was telling her that Ray liked “bedroom sex”.  That he liked “sex” in general.  He liked dining room and living room sex.  But not rough and distressed.  I wonder if in Panama we will find houses furnished in sets or perhaps I will get my mismatched furnishings.  Or maybe…what happens in Panama stays in Panama.  Happy to say, I am leaving for vacation to Panama in just six days!