Oh my! It’s our 3 year Anniversary of living here in Panama!

A photo taken at a concert in San Francisco just before our move…

How could It already be our 3 year anniversary? Ummm, well…I’m a tad distracted by a little project we’ve been working on so it snuck up on me. Hah! Three years…sigh….for me this anniversary is a great time to reflect on what this move has done to our lives. So many changes and so many incredible adventures have transpired in this last three years. Where do I begin? New home, new dog, new friends, new language, new culture, new experiences with every corner we turn. When we first came up with this idea to expatriate, so many years ago, I must admit I didn’t really believe we’d actually do it! I know! Right? In my head I quietly just sorta thought we were dreaming and it all seemed way too crazy to actually make it happen. And here we are three years into a life changing adventure that brings us so much joy and has changed us in ways I could never even have imagined. With each passing day I feel more and more a sense of being home here in this heavenly place. (not to say its “perfect” here, but man! is it pretty and so full of so many things to love!) (besides, no place is Perfect, right?)

It’s a wonderful rainy afternoon…and other thoughts…

Well, life has calmed down a bit. Of course what counts as ‘calm’ in our house is maybe still hectic to some. Pat went home on Monday, sigh. Having her here with us was so much fun. It really helped to have her here right as we were settling into this new space. She’s so good at organizing and I don’t think anyone takes over a laundry room with quite the efficiency as my mother in law! This week, our first week in our house alone, without Pat, I’ve had to break down and enter her laundry room to reluctantly clean some clothes! Darn it! I’m happy to report working those cleaning machines is not unlike riding a bike, it all came back to me! hahaha! As I mourn my return to being responsible for laundry the dog is mourning that nice lady who spoiled her rotten! She seems sad that Pat isnt here, especially during mealtimes….small treats were consistently and lovingly shared and now she’s sadly disappointed. Pat would make sure to have a special slice of cheese just for Scruffy and would bit by bit dole it out while she ate her food. I have found the dog fast asleep on the floor in the guest room a few times, I think she is hoping when she wakes up that nice lady will be back! Hah!

This n That…

relaxing on the terrace, enjoying the time before the beetles come out!

Did I mention how happy I am to be finally living in our new house? I did? Well, okay…then, did I mention how noisy and dusty and hectic it is living here in our new house? Well, let me tell you a little bit about living in a partially finished structure…well…okay…”house”! So….where to begin…first, before you get it in your head that I’m complaining, I’ll just say right off…shut up! I’m not complaining, just ‘sayin’! It’s friggin’ dusty and not just the normal, everyday kind of dust….this is really DIRT! And its in everything! Everywhere! Every nook & cranny, get the idea? I mean, its not really any good getting out the pledge and dusting anything, cuz’ that just moves it around and creates even more dust! Heaven forbid you should pick something up and try to shake it out! Hah! And, if you ever find yourself living in a not-so-completed house, don’t ever drop something, like a little fabric footstool that sits in front of a chair for instance, because this creates a dust storm to rival any dust storm you may have seen outside in say, a dirt field! Oh! this reminds me…. we were having lunch with Bond & Luana the other day, there was a field up on a hill that we could all see from our table and suddenly we saw a little mini dust tornado running down the field. I could not help but quietly think to myself…“huh…that reminds me of my living room”! 🙂 So, needless to say my sweet little cleaning lady, Daisy, who I was paying to clean the casita when we were living down there,( as much as I loved having the help), I’m not having her clean up here quite yet. What’s the use? I just gotta embrace the dirt right now…sigh…

Getting settled into our new house and our visit with Pat…

April 24th…
We’ve slept in our new house for eight nights! Getting ourselves all moved in was a flurry of craziness but we managed to make our goal and move in when we hoped to move in. Mind you, by the time we moved all our things both from the casita and from our storage unit this house was stuffed full and looked like the home of a serious hoarder! hah! Knowing we’d be having Scott’s mom visiting just a few short days after moving into our new house really added another layer of crazy to our move. And, when I say, ‘crazy’, I mean the best kind of ‘crazy’!