T Minus 2 Days Till Panama!

As you may remember, my "reward" for having to quit my job and move to Toledo, Ohio for 4 years was a 2 month trip to visit my Mom in Panama and brush up on my Spanish.

Well, I leave in 2 days and should I be packing?

Yes.

What am I doing?

Juicing. That's right juicing.

Our "bought on an impulse, used once and threw in the cupboard never to be seen again/housewarming present" from my Dad was a juicer.

Which I love although it is a bitch to clean. I wavered about buying a juicer a.)because they're so expensive and b.) because it takes away all the fiber.

But I rationalized the second point by realizing I wasn't eating enough veggies anyway, so I might as well be getting at least the minerals and vitamins from them if not the fiber.

This is what they want you to think the juice looks like.

It actually looks a lot more like this.

But depending on what you put in it, it really does taste good. I tried raw garlic once and don't think I'll be doing that again.

Fennel is good, as well as apples to sweeten it a bit. A handful of parsley's always nice and celery and carrots are pretty tasty.

I'm also writing little notes to Leo on how to work everything around the house. I once caught him trying to turn on the burner and it wasn't cute.

However, the big news is that I got a job with the federal government!

This is what I've wanted for about 5 years now because I'm oh-so-over having to move to a new city, research employers in that city, put together your resume, apply, interview and get used to a new job again.

As soon as you say you're a military spouse to a civilian employer, it's like you've just said you've got leprosy since they know you'll likely be leaving in a few years.

I just have to pass this massive background check, which I'm sure I will and I'm good to go.

Luckily for me the background check takes a long time, since I really didn't want to cancel this trip. It's been the only thing keeping me sane for the last few months!

Next time you hear from me, I'll be in Panama--hanging with Mom and her crew of senior citizens. Where we'll talk about how cheap everything is, how Panama is like the US was in the 1950's and start Happy Hour everyday at 4 p.m.

(Not kidding about the Happy Hour thing--those oldies can really knock it back).