A typical day in my life today overflows. From morning to night time, I fill it to the max. I have enjoyed being busy—that hasn’t changed!

Morning

My day started at 7:15 AM with the alarm going off. That gave me time to charge my iWatch, put Cequa in my eyes for my severe dry eye condition and do a Netty Nose wash for my sinus issues!

Every morning I try to write my Morning Pages, a suggestion from Julia Cameron in her famous book, The Artist Way. I write three pages in a spiral notebook, and I’m on notebook #193.

When we moved to Panamá we decided to change our lifestyle, so we only have one vehicle. My dear husband got up early to go to the gym to exercise, so I could go to my Zumba class at 8:15 AM.

I started Zumba last week, and I love it. Before the pandemic in 2020, I had done Zumba regularly. I love the dance moves, the Latin music and the fun. The Zumba instructor here is fantastic. Today, the studio wasn’t overflowing like it was last week, so we had more room to move around.

But I forgot to put the lidocaine patch on my leg for the nerve damage, and it has hurt most of the day!

Then I rushed home to eat a late breakfast about 9:45 AM. I grabbed a quick shower and got ready for our next adventure.

The library in Boquete has Chats every Monday for the expat community here on a variety of topics. As I passed the front desk, I picked up my library card I had applied for last week—now I can check out books at the library—yahoooo!

Today we learned about Burial & Cremation here in Panamá. That may sound gruesome, but my husband is 85 and I’m 72, so we’re nearing that part of life that these topics apply to us. The Chat informed us of some major differences here versus the United States, so it was well worth it.

Noon Time

Afterwards, we drove downtown and ate at El Sabrosón, a restaurant we hadn’t eaten at yet. They served cafeteria-style, so I could pick out what I wanted: fish, salad and plantains. What delicious meal! There are about 125 restaurants in Boquete and we want to sample each one!

While we ate, a friend texted me to see if I could loan her a dongle for her Mac computer. I assured her we could bring it over later.

My husband just happened to pick that area of town because it was across the street from his favorite ice cream shop, Saori’s. For dessert, I had a scoop in a cup of maracuya pie, passion fruit!

Afternoon

When we got home, Lin and I watched an episode of Castle, a rerun of the detective show. We’ve gotten hooked on it. Then we both started a nap, and I elevated my leg and iced my foot, but I had scheduled phone call with a recovery friend who lives in California, so I cut off my nap. We had so much fun catching up on our two lives. She moved before we did, so our lives have parallels in getting settling in a new community and make friends and starting over.

After my phone call, Lin and I followed the pin my friend sent me to find her house. Here in Panamá, we have no addresses like in the states. So a pin on a map program is the only way to find someone’s house.

We had a lovely time at their house because it was our first time there. It’s a solar house and quite large for here. She and her partner enjoyed showing us around. I had to cut it short though, because I had to finish the tax preparation for our family ranch.

When we got home, I called a doctor here to set up two appointments for Lin and me so we have a primary care physician here. We will see the doctor on February 9. I’m excited to get that done!

Evening

After that, I grabbed my laptop, mouse, mousepad, check register, a pen and highlighter and moved to patio to enjoy the beautiful day and figure out the problem for our ranch account. Somewhere, I had a mistake in the Open-Source bookkeeping app I use because its balance didn’t match my check register. So I looked and looked. I found one major mistake—whew! But I couldn’t find a $200 one.

As I worked at the patio table, my husband busied himself with planting to beautiful plants he bought last week at the Tuesday Market in the front yard near me. When he got to the bougainvillea, he asked my opinion about where to put it. After he showed me his choices, I agreed with one, then he chose another place—that’s the way it goes!

Before eating dinner, I checked email in two accounts. I found a good deal on a promotion for my second book, When Will Papa Get Home? for February. I’m trying to do a better job of organizing my promotions for my books this year, so I’ve identified one per month, then overlapped a couple of them. Going through my email drives me crazy because I got so many spammers offering to do book reviews and they are all spammers! What a waste of time for me!

I had to stop away from the bookkeeping task, so we ate a light dinner of a small slice of cheese, papaya, mango, bananas and prunes. I add the prunes for my stomach. As we ate, we watched another Castle episode.

When I finished eating, I picked up my knitting and almost finished another baby bootie I’m working on. I joined the Boquete Knitters and Quilters group and they give baby and children homemade items to the native people here in need. I love it.

Then I returned to the bookkeeping project and found the $200 mistake. So I sent the paperwork to our CPA. That’s a big load off my mind!

Finally,

Here I am writing this blog to share a typical day in my life—a retired teacher turned author turned expat who co-owns a ranch. I love my rich full days—how about you? Could you keep up with me?

Later Tonight

When I finish this, I still have my Spanish lesson to do on Duolingo. I have 333 consecutive days stacked up!

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Larada is my name. My life has been 72 years of wonder and adventure. Today was a sad day—my Denver Broncos lost the AFC Championship game to the New England Patriots, but I’m proud of them.

Larada’s Sunday Schedule

Every Sunday I write this blog. Usually the day overflows with my morning Quiet Time of writing my Morning Pages and reading recovery devotionals and my Bible. Then I attend my church on Facebook Life from Albuquerque. Football has dominated our Sundays for the last few months. Then evening I attend on Zoom a recovery meeting. Whew!

On top of all of that, I’ve been participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge for the month of January. I’ve only missed three days which seems pretty good to me. This commitment has been exhausting to me, but so rich and fun!

So tonight, I want to share a poem about Larada from my new book, Time Measured Out!: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry.

I’m tired—losing that game was hard. So here we go!

The Back Story for this Poem

I wrote this poem in 2002, twenty-four years ago. That’s what makes this five-book poetry series so precious—you have the privilege of seeing me grow as a poet and seeing me in some of my most vulnerable moments and years. See, I never wrote these poems to publish them, but I decided a couple years ago to share them!

Natalie Goldberg is one of my writing mentors. Known for the writing book, Writing Down the Bone, I used her concepts in my literature and language arts classes I taught. At this time, I was teaching, so being in a workshop with her ignited me! That’s where this poem came from in its spacious musing about who I was!

Enjoy this poem and let me know what you think of it!

Meet Larada

2002

Natalie Goldberg Workshop

I am turquoise, red, hot pink
And purple, a kaleidoscope
Of color rearranging
Changing as the parts of
Me fall into place.

The turquoise reflects the
Peace and calm deep within me
     Like the waters
          Of the Mexican Caribbean.

The red in me ignites into a flame—
Passionate and energetic
     But hot to touch.

The hot pink cries out
Notice me, I’m present—
You can’t ignore me
     Anymore.

The purple states my power
That place inside me that has
Matured to womanhood
     But still holds a girlish twinkle.

A waltz,
A jitterbug, a swing dance,
The Latin rhythm of rumba,
     Or bolero.

The depth of me expresses itself
     In dance,
The spiritual connection to
     The music,
The beat,
The magic, and the sway!

The me totally revealed on
The dance floor,
Vulnerable,
Bare,
Connected to my partner
     And me
          And the song.

If this poem, speaks to you, go and buy a copy at Amazon–and leave a review. I would appreciate it.

Finally,

Who are you? Have you ever thought of yourself as a color? As your favorite hobby like dancing? This sort of musing expands our thought process, creating space to enlarge your view of yourself. Don’t we all need this! Move away from the norm, the status quo—jump out there! Be turquoise—be Larada!

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Buy My Audio Books:

This Tumbleweed Landed

Let Me Tell You a Story 

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook

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Giving blood to someone who needs B+—I was up for it, and we even drove the forty minutes to David but was refused! Because of my age!

What Started the Giving Blood Idea

A couple days ago on one of the Boquete Facebook pages, someone needed nine pints of B+ blood to have an operation. Immediately Lin and I discussed it because I thought I had B+ blood. Then we searched to find something to confirm it. Finally, we found it.

So, I googled the hospital and got a phone number and texted them. They shared important information, and we planned to go.

Later, Lin came up with more specific questions, so I texted them to the number for the hospital and went to bed.

We Drove to David

So yesterday morning, we drove to the hospital in David. They responded to the text with specific identification of the building where I could give blood, but not specific directions.

We arrived at the hospital about 9:15 AM and we could not find a parking spot. Eventually we found one at the hospital next door. So, we walked over, but still we didn’t know exactly where we were going, only knew we were looking for Tower F.

So I did what I do in a crunch like that—I ask questions of anyone who looks like they might know.

We Found the Place

Eventually, after asking a couple people, we found the building. Someone graciously walked us over to the place to draw blood.

I looked at the waiting room, and I saw a sizeable crowd! Oh, my! I stood in line and was waited on quickly. The receptionist understood my Spanish and had a stern look on her face, as she seemed to measure me.

Immediately she asked for my birthdate and how old I was?

I told her my birthdate, “I’m 72.”

She asked for my ID card and peered at the computer screen for a couple minutes, then she stated, “You cannot give blood.”

I asked if it was age. She said, “Yes!”

Lin had found a seat and was waiting patiently in the waiting room. I told him the news and he seemed surprised.

Why the Limitation

So it wasn’t a wasted trip, we did accomplish something we had intended to do since we arrived here—we registered our insurance cards with one of the hospitals.

On the drive home, I texted the hospital number to let them know I had come to give blood, but hey refused me because of my age. I asked if they knew why.

Their response, “I don’t know.”

So I headed straight to google for the answer:

“Upper age limits for blood donors are intended to protect elderly blood donors from donor reactions. However, due to a lack of data about adverse reactions in elderly blood donors, upper age limits are arbitrary and vary considerably between different countries.”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4164071

Finally,

after some more research on the age limits set for giving blood, I saw there’s a dire need for donors in Panama, so how sad it is they follow the rule when people might need my blood. I just hope the man awaiting his surgery got enough blood to do it.

Have you ever donated blood? Yes, it’s not pleasant, but you can help someone in need, and some day you might be the person in need! Think about that!

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My Newest Books

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Buy My Audio Books:

This Tumbleweed Landed

Let Me Tell You a Story 

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook

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