Again, it’s been a while since I’ve written anything. I have ideas but the day goes by, and then another, and then a week and I still haven’t written anything. It seems like there is always more than I can fit into a day.

This is our 7th holiday season here so it’s no longer all strange and new to us. People put up beautiful lights and fun decorations, and any trips to shopping areas are to be avoided if at all possible because it’s nuts out there. Christmas eve is the big celebration with parties, fireworks, and midnight dinner, gifts, and well wishes to everyone in person or by phone. Christmas day is for quieter family time and recovery from the late night before.

It’s also warm. No snow here! We are just going into summer, the dry season, and summer vacation for all the school kids. Christmas day was one of the hot and sunny afternoons.

So, what has been happening here? Well, Sunday we had a crazy gig, one of the most fun we’ve had with both dancing gringos and Panamanians, and even people dancing in the street! A young guy and his band were there and took some fun pictures.

Our friend from the band Neblina Verde

all kinds of fun!

Monday evening, we had no power. The kids were playing in the street and throwing a metal cane up in the air. It landed on the power lines and shorted them out, and downed part of the cable. It took the guys maybe 1 1/2 hour to get here, and then a couple hours to do the repair and get the power back on.

Dinner and dessert by Luci light

Tuesday, the band had a Christmas eve gig at Los Establos, a boutique hotel in Boquete. It’s up the hill from the town and the view is gorgeous.

Speaking of the band, I have taken my new amplifier out for the last couple weeks and it’s awesome. It has two volume controls. I’ve had the first (the signal coming in) at about 1 1/2 and the main volume (the output to the speakers) at about 5. I can’t turn it up much more than this or I’ll overpower the band! It’s strong and clear, sounds great, and Peavey is known for reliability which is really important. And, I got it on eBay from someone named Hempstead_Pawn for half the retail price. I don’t know why no one else bid on it, but lucky me. (I brought it home in my suitcase on our last USA trip).

Wednesday, we spent Christmas day at home relaxing. After all the gigs it felt good to have a down day.

Thursday? What did I do? Oh right, went biking, visited friends, and bought a week’s supply of produce from our veggie guy. When he and I met we were both waiting on new granddaughters. His was the last to be born, Christmas eve, and this year she turned 4. We’ve known each other for a while now.

Friday we visited a couple stores in the new Federal Mall that’s just starting to open up. I’ll share pictures in another post. Feliz and Stevens are open now, both very attractive upscale stores.

Saturday, today, stayed home, practiced for tomorrow’s gig and did other useful things around the house. Maybe I’ll get back here and get this finished before there’s another week rolling by!

Well now it’s Monday. I have a new laptop and I’m learning GIMP software for photo processing, so it’s a slow learning curve at the moment but it will be fine in time. But, I think I’ve got this post together so a proof read and up it goes. Feliz Año Nuevo everyone!