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.