An Early Christmas Present......

An old friend of Clyde's from high school in San Antonio, TX sent us a Christmas Care Package that we received yesterday.  It was like getting an early Christmas present not knowing what was inside and unwrapping each item.  She asked what we wanted and Clyde requested some Blackened Cajun Seasoning which we just love to sprinkle on fish.  I asked for some make-up remover wipes from Wal-Mart since similar items here are about ten times the price.  Thank you so much Dee-Dee for your warm generosity and thinking of us in our new home, far away from family and friends. Along with those two items was a collection of other things which included: some Texas potholders and coasters:; chili powder; body lotions and bath accessories; a pocket planner and a music cd.   Thanks again Dee-Dee and here's wishing you a happy, prosperous and healthy Christmas and New Year from Panama!

After our stop at Mailboxes Etc. to pick up our box yesterday, Clyde was in search of a tire store.  A few days ago we had a flat tire and once Clyde swapped it out with the spare we realized that we needed a new tire.  But after examining the remaining three tires, Clyde decided that it was time to replace them all.  We found a place in Coronado that sold Bridgestone tires and after receiving a quote Clyde decided to go for it.  Tires are NOT one of the cheap things here in Panama, but since our lives are riding on them every time we leave the house, they are a necessary expense. 

They took the car in immediately and Clyde watched in amazement at how slow and carefully the technicians moved.  We left for a while and walked to a nearby store to pickup a few things thinking they'd be done by the time we got back.  Three and a half hours later they had completed the task of mounting and balancing four new tires on the car along with an alignment.  They picked the best one to keep as our spare and pulled the car out of the bay.  It took about another ten minutes to produce the paperwork for Clyde to sign and pay the bill before we were on our way out the door. Since our Toyota Rav 4 is a 2010 model it seems to me that the tires should have not needed to be replaced this soon, but what do I know?  Hopefully these new tires will last us for many years of exploring happily here in Panama.

The rest of our day was spent re-organizing our lives here at home.  Clyde made some shelves for the kitchen cabinets to make better use of our space in the tiny kitchen.  And his latest project had been an over the toilet teak shelf for my bathroom since I needed a place to store more things.  He completed this yesterday which meant I needed to re-organize the stuff in my bathroom too.

Over the Toilet Organizer

Shelves under the kitchen sink

Napkin Holder out of Scrap Teak

Coasters made out of
Scrap Teak

 

Once everything was back to normal we crashed for the night on the couch and had a quick bite to eat. We enjoyed feeling the cool night breeze blow through the windows as another day came to an end.... along the gringo trail.