2RetireesInPanama: IT'S A WRAP!

What a fun way to wrap up the past four days plus three hours with the crew and a few friends today! I suppose fun is a good way to put it, because it did seem to be more of a lighthearted day. The day was shorter in content (Ray and I didn't have to stay with the crew the entire day), but the hours were still the same, since we had the "reveal housewarming party" at the end of the day. But first I have to say again, Ray and I are wiped out. This is hard work for two retirees!

I guess when I thought I was working hard the past thirty years treating patients over and over and over again, day in and day out, I was mindlessly working or perhaps kicking back and taking it easy, because this HHI filming has been exhausting, and we are not doing a whole lot of anything! I will say it is mentally nerve wracking, because while I feel I can find it easy to take a decent picture on camera, I seem to stutter a lot in front of Mike's video camera. And I am usually never at a loss of what to say, but for the past five days, I have not had a whole lot of intelligent things coming out of my mouth. And yes, I did fall into the trap of saying "looking for open spaces, so we can entertain friends". The part about having friends over and entertaining is true though. Ray and I want to enjoy this house with everyone. But I don't think I ever said "I don't like the paint or the countertops". I hope. My point about the work involved is that once my head has hit the pillow, I am out like a light for eight hours! I am dead asleep. I am sure it has a lot to do with the sunshine and heat.

Before then, This morning we all met at the chosen property (!) at 8:30 am, loaded up on coffee and within an hour we had filmed the interview about the decision Ray and I had made and our choice of homes. We also discussed how we have fared these past few weeks, or past week, or maybe this past month (however long they decide to make it later on in editing) living here finally! We then set up to film our day at the beach (Ray and I took the crew to Punta Barco, since it is really just ten minutes away exactly from our garage to sand), and from there, we spent time with the mostly Panamanian weekenders as well as surfers. It was bright and hot. It was more driving up and down the hill approaching the beach, walking up to the beach, walking on the beach, getting our feet wet, putting our umbrella up (all the while Chris held a rain umbrella to shelter him from the sun), setting up the chairs, walking and talking some more and so on! We tried to tie in a face time chat with Carly, because this is what we had discussed during our back story with her February (how easily accessible we would be from Panama with all the wonderful technology we have now). But Ray and I were too shaded. So we wrapped it up at the beach after a little more filming of activity along the beach, and once the crew was finished with the B roll filming and lunch, they arrived back at our house to film the big reveal party! But wait, first we had to cut a pineapple and get the Sangria ready (we did the preparations last night and finished it off today). We had to discuss the party, and we managed to sneak in a chat with Carly. Interesting day with face time today though---lack of connection several times. Of course, the camera is rolling and nothing. After a few tries, there was Carly! We talked to her about our guests that were getting ready to arrive (they were in the guest bedroom signing release forms), and we cored and cut a pineapple. Then we filmed Carly on the video chat (more angles), and the guests were allowed to come out of the bedroom! I should write here that a few weeks ago I asked the Producer in New York City via email about the "reveal party". Should I invite friends over? If so, on which of the four days should they come to the house? And what time? How many should I invite to the party? His response was that it was a great idea (he acted like he had never seen HHI before), and perhaps we could incorporate filming preparations for the party into the show. HHI would provide flowers and fruit for us to display and cut up for the Sangria. As the shoot approached, we were then told to have everyone over to the house at 5:00. This scene would be from 5-6:30. Then, by filming other scenes yesterday, we were told 4:00. Then today, it was moved up to 3:00. This is a shout out of a big thank you to those few friends that we were able to invite being super flexible with the time! This is also a note to say I wish I could have invited everyone that I was talking to about the "reveal party", but after experiencing these past few days, I definitely understand why even more than ten people would have been a little too much for this scene. Having more than ten friends over will have to wait until we settle into the house more and have some outdoor furniture as well. And also, once we are back from vacation!

Back to the show though--after our face time chat with Carly, and for the next ten minutes or so, the camera was filming whatever it was filming--I had stopped paying attention. It will be great fun to see who shows up on the show, or perhaps all the guests make it into the scene! All I know is it was then those beautiful words of "I think we got it all, Mike, don't you" from Elizabeth, and it was a wrap! After another busy day of seemingly doing nothing, Ray and I are ready for that vacation from retirement!

***I don't know when the air date will be (six months?), and I also don't know when I will get a copy of the show. I was told to pester the NYC office, because they haven't really connected with the contributors. Unsure if I really have to see myself crying like a baby on camera or telling Ray those words "you're right", but I am thinking a party with more than six friends is in order with a little more Sangria to go around--that will make it all better!