The Return

An outing to a local river

Rene loves taking pictures with the locals.

His hotel room, they were fed some good meal at this hotel.

Awful looking spider, Yikes!

The President's sister. Rene decribed here a very nice lady.

The Bishop

Exhausted after a heavy day of patients.

So Rene has returned yet again from another great humanitarian adventure. Overall, he said his trip was productive and rewarding. He was sent to a rural area about three hours from Panama City. He saw the Panama Canal, but sadly did not take a photo. He met with the President of Panama's sister, the bishop and a local priest. He worked long days providing dental care along with his team, and provided guidance which is his actually his real job. Lucky for us he returned a few days early due to a transportation issue back to Panama City. Glad he is back. I am so blessed to have such a great guy in my life.

The sweet smell of Rain

Yesterday we had a pretty interesting afternoon. Storms, storms, storms. Typically I love to sit and watch the lightening, but this was just ongoing with no end in sight. Heavy rain, wind, and some pretty scary lightening rattled the city with force. It was estimated that 2200 lightening strikes hit the city. I guess this is what a monsoon is really like. I am sure the folks here in Vail really welcome the rain. I was scrambling to save my patio pillows from sinking to the bottom of the pool. I ended up sleeping with Larissa, not because she was scared.

Ours to Keep

A golfer looking for his ball

As we continue to settle into our new area, the place continues to grow on me. My daily routine consists of a morning run, cleaning the pool when needed, re-arranging furniture, watching my soaps, preparing a nice healthy lunch, some reading, then off to pick up the kids. Wow! As the days go by, I begin to realize how blessed we are to be able to live this lifestyle and have the choice of staying home. My neighbors across the street (nice people) don't seem to work either. I swear they are on the witness protection program. I have submitted three applications and hoping to get the RD base position which closes Sept. 30th. I would be able to commute with Rene, see him at lunch, and have increased flexibility. All in all, I am in no hurry to start work. My original plan was to stay home until January and take advantage of traveling and enjoying my time back home for Christmas. So time will tell and we will see what transpires. Every morning I sit and watch the golfers. At times they come pretty close to the fence line looking for their lost balls, most of which land in my backyard. We have started a collection bucket. Life is good.

Good Deeds

With medical supplies, Deet, and luggage in tow, Rene is on his way to Panama. His new job title is called International Health Specialist, and part of his duties will take him to Humanitarian Deployments to South America. He will not necessarily be dong dentistry, but more importantly to go make contacts with the Embassy personnel and other Health Ministry diplomats. I am sure he will also do what he loves doing, and that is offering a helping hand to those who need his services. We provide many medical/dental services to so many host countries. Panama is just one of many. He will be staying in a remote site where groups of AF personnel provide many services to the people. I will not divulge his exact location, but as long as he does not venture into Columbia, we are good. Stay safe my luv.

Beauty Around Us

Larissa and I enjoy walking to the lake late in the afternoons, it is so tranquil.

Today I took the time to appreciate all the beauty around us. The sunsets here are magnificent. This lake lies right outside my bedroom window/backyard view. Daytime temperature was a whopping 107 degrees with no rain in sight. My workout consisted of traveling 20 minutes to the base gym to run 4 miles on the treadmill. Yuk!

Mission Accomplished

For the couches, I went with a bold terra cotta cinnamon color, Beautiful!

I started a paint project and what a difference a little bit of color brings to a room. I have been watching to much HGTV.

Today we accomplished so much thanks to my wonderful husband who worked so hard to please me. As mentioned in my previous blog, he took apart the entertainment center and brought it back together so perfectly. We also thanks to our good friend Marcos completed a dinning room light fixture. We enjoyed the evening with wine, great steaks, and laughs. As of now my house is complete. This blog segment is dedicated to Ann. You wanted pictures, you got them. I promise no more house pics.

Christmas in August

Back to back deliveries

Our kitchen, and one more wall I need to paint.

Unpacking my beautiful margarita glasses

My entertainment center which Rene worked so hard to cut. No more hutch due to wider HD LCD TV's. I just could not bring myself to buy a new one. I love this one, but I will miss the hutch. This will take me awhile to get used to.

So nice to finally have my complete bedroom back.

Ah yes, the moves that every military family can relate to. The topic of conversation that takes place over tea, and dinner. The relentless chores of packing and unpacking, trips to Goodwill and the garbage can. I have been too tired to even open up my blog section. We finally received our furniture shipment and storage shipment from San Antonio. These long awaited shipments have been taking so much of our time. Boxes to store, boxes to goodwill, boxes to unpack. What to do? Nevertheless, I am happy to finally put things in their places, and quite surprised that after three years in the heat, our furniture fared very well. As with any move, things get scratched, so all my rustic stuff even looks more rustic. The more rustic looking the better, since we have several more tours to go. I am not one to spend money on furniture, and that is probably a good thing. One scratch here, one there does not really bother me. I just look forward to the day when we will have no more moves to come, and everything will just stay put. One more delivery to go. My special order couches will arrive Saturday. Hooray!