Tick, Tick, Tick, Time Is Flying By!

Everyday gets us closer and closer to our goal date for our big move to Panama.( May-June) Scott’s focus has been getting our house ready to sell. My focus , naturally, is much different . My business , mostly the people, is becoming extremely emotional for me. As we’ve entered the new year I really have a sense of the ‘end’ coming quickly. Many of my clients,(friends), have been telling me that they prefer to stay in denial that I’m really leaving. I suppose for now being in denial will work for them because we still have several more appointments set up. But for me, it’s not quite so easy as I am faced with seeing such a large number of people who I know I must say goodby to soon. It’s going to be one of the most difficult aspects of this adventure , saying goodbye! Gulp! As for my two dear colleagues, I am also beginning to feel deep sadness for abandoning them. I must say that both Natalie and Elisabeth offer nothing but the kindest , most genuine support I could ever hope for. They make me feel so cared about and I’m grateful for their desire to take care of my clients and that Natalie will take over the salon when I’m gone.

As our departure for Panama nears I find my mind oscillating between preparing my business and all the people who are a part of that and preparing my home and all that makes up my ,’life’, here. Both aspects of my life require tremendous amounts organization and the list of things to do both at home and at the salon could overwhelm me if I’m not careful. I like to think of myself as a fairly organized person and I’m kinda surprised that I’m not more stressed out about all there is to do, but there is really no firm deadline or a stringent timeframe that has to be met. We have a ‘goal’ to list our house for sale by Feb-March but I think both Scott and I are aware that there is no consequence if that goal isn’t met with precision . That being said, we feel pretty good about our progress and with how we are proceeding in our preparations.

Although Scott’s ‘Focus’ is getting our house ready to sell it surely is not his singular focus, just his ‘Main’ focus! He’s begun contacting lawyers in Panama City to ask questions about the pensianado Visa process and perusing rental possibilities in and around Boquete. He’s always researching and learning about financial investments for our future. While he takes a break from his woodworking projects he’s reading about annuities and other fun things that I would never think to read about. We both have very different things we are focused on to prepare for this adventure. I’m the brains behind organizing our material possessions , what to bring , what to get rid of, and what we need to buy. While we have many conversations about what we should bring, I’m trying to minimize our clutter while choosing to bring things with us that we will need. My piles of ,’get rid of’, are much bigger than the ,’take with us’, piles. I’m just about ready to either have a giant yard sale or just donate all the stuff we are not taking with us. I’ve never had a yard sale before and in my mind I keep going back and forth about doing it! I expect it will be a huge amount of time and energy and I’m not certain it’s worth it do go through the trouble . I don’t really know yet if I’ll be up for that. Just calling a charitable organization and having them come pick it all up has a definite sound of simplicity that appeals to me! I do know one thing for certain… Seeing all those piles of junk gone will make me do a happy dance! 👯 My heart just leaps with joy at the thought of those piles disappearing!

Today,(1/6/13), I will be taking down the Christmas tree and packing up the ornaments. Most of which are going into the’ get rid of’ pile. There will be no more 14 foot Christmas trees for us in our future. We will likely bring the old fake tree that has been sitting in our attic for years. I will bring a small amount of decorations like the new LED lights. But I hope to slowly find holiday decorations in Panama. I’m not emotionally attached to my Christmas decor, just like my Halloween decor, its not coming with us. The majority of what we are bringing with us is of course Scott’s tools, electronics, kitchen stuff, our good beds, linens, clothes, the pool table, the kayak (our toys are a priority!), and if our outdoor patio furniture will fit in the container we will bring it, but we won’t be heartbroken if it doesn’t fit. We will probably get rid of most of our furniture because it’s easy to replace and what we have is not terribly valuable. We do have a few small pieces we will bring but not much. This is mostly what we know we would like to bring, I’m probably leaving out a few minor things like my sculpture stuff.

Time is truly flying by and our big adventure is fast approaching ! We are attempting to be as organized as we can as we prepare to relocate our lives to Panama and begin a new and exciting life as expats. There is still much choreography to do for such a move and more details to attend to than you really want to read about in one post! I can feel the emotions of those around us( as well as my own!) beginning to reach a boiling point. It’s a challenge to juggle both the coordinating of our move with the gentle handling of the sadness our move is causing those around us, ( and consequently our deep sadness for such unavoidable grief). This part of the adventure isn’t so pleasant but avoidance is futile! 😢😓. I suppose it’s the price we pay for being oh so very Lovable!!! (Insert chuckle to lighten up the mood!).

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