Day 330: Returning Home, Exhausted, Then Painting Pottery

Tuesday, August 12

Mamma mia!  I don’t do early mornings very well.  It was painful waking up with the 5:15 a.m. wake up call.  But I was very ready to return home.  I hurried to get dressed and finish up packing my stuff.  My stomach was all kinds of grumbly.  Not good.  I worried that I was going to get violently ill again.

But, I persevered and made it out of the hotel by 5:35 a.m.  I drove to the airport and dropped off the rental car at Avis.  I checked in and went to the airport diner for a bite.  I thought, if I put some food in my system, my stomach might feel better.  I ordered a small ham and cheese omelet with a side of hasbrowns and a pot of green tea with honey.  I felt a little better.  I soon boarded the plane and we were off to Seattle.

I really wanted to go to sleep, I was crazy exhausted.  But, got pulled into a coversation with the guy I sat next to.  He was very nice and engaging, from Baltimore.  We had a lot to chat about – from back east, to Montana and Oregon, to spirituality, happiness, compassion, meditation, and so on.  He was an eighth grade teacher and potter with a plan to move to Portland at the end of the next school year. 

When the plane landed, we said good-bye, he actually gave me a hug, which was very sweet, and then we went our separate ways, to our gates.

Thankfully I didn’t have a long lay-over.  I was soon on my next plane headed for Portland.  I fell asleep immediately.  Hallelujah!  Amen!  Thank God!

When I got to PDX, I had a seemless exit.  My bag came right up at baggage, I caught the waiting shuttle toward the economy lot and I was on my way.  I noticed, while on the shuttle, that my new friend, the guy I sat next to from Missoula, had sent me a really nice text message telling me it was nice to meet me and that he hoped our paths would cross again.  I was flattered. 

I must say, though, it’s feast or famine!  I sware.  And, as typical, funny to meet really nice guys from far-away places.  I didn’t think too hard about that.  You never know what’s going to happen!  I had a nice connection with Santa Maria guy, and he had called, which was a super pleasant surprise.  I hoped we would re-connect, and I really do want to hit some wineries in the Santa Barbara AVA one of these days, so, you just keep your doors open and remain grateful for meeting nice people who make you smile…and, in Santa Maria guy’s case…laugh a lot and smile.

I was exhausted!  I got home and unpacked.  I snuggled with my kitties and was disappointed to find another ant infestation.  Every time I leave town and put out the extra food, the ants come marching in.  Little buggers.

I unpacked, gathered myself, drank lots of water, then was on my way to the office.  I thought I was going to have to do label press checks, but not until later this week.  I picked up some Pad Thai on my way in and ate at my desk.  I got caught up on emails and tried to organize myself.

After work, I met a couple of my co-workers to paint pottery in Sherwood.  At first, I was so tired that I thought I didn’t want to go.  I’m so glad I didn’t listen to that sleepy voice.  I had a blast!  I painted a square dish a light pea green and then overlapped a bunch of different green leaves on it.  It looked really cool.  Next, I found a cute round box, which I painted in Tuscan reds, greens and black for Susan as part of her birthday present.  I painted a ceramic pear that would go on top.  I added red dots around the edge of the top of the box and then painted the inside in a decorative fashion, as well.  It came out just how I wanted, as well.

I put another project aside that I would come in to do for the next time.  It was a fun, relaxing, creative activity with my colleagues.  We laughed a lot and my co-worker kindly brought gluten-free crackers, a cheese spread and fruit.  It was really great.

I left at 8:15 and really wanted to go the gym.  I decided I’d go in the morning.  And, instead, I headed over to Safeway to pick up some groceries – pretty much fresh fruits and veggies.

I was happy to get home to relax and go to bed early!  That is, after watching the Olympics.

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Day 329: Working the Wine Market in Missoula

Monday, August 11

I got a good night’s sleep.  Still, I was kind of tired.  I got out of bed at around 9:00 a.m. and returned a phone call to the sales rep I would spend the morning with going to a few wine shop and restaurant accounts.  It was a gorgeous, sunny morning.

I cleaned up, got dressed and went to the lobby to meet the sales rep.  I ordered a latte in the lobby gift shop. 

We drove first to a cool market in the likes of Portland’s New Seasons and Seattle’s PCC Markets.  It was called Good Food Store.  I really enjoyed the visit there.  I ended up buying sweetgrass incense there, as my connection to it following my visit in the Wallowas – I felt a spiritual connection to Sweetgrass, felt it would be healing and soothing for me, especially for meditation. 

Next, we went to a restaurant where I learned the owner went to high school at Lake Braddock in Burke, Virginia, graduating with Kerry!  We had a nice meeting there.  All in all, it was a good morning of visiting good accounts.  We met the other sales rep for the distributor at Finn & Porter, the really nice restaurant in hotel where I’m staying, The Doubletree.  The restaurant edged the Clark Fork River.

We all had lunch.  I ordered the scallops over arugula.  It was pretty good and guarateed gluten-free.  After lunch, I spent the afternoon with the other sales rep.  We went to several good accounts, including the Missoula Country Club, with a gorgeous golf course!  Another highlight was The Red Bird restaurant.  After a busy day, we returned to the Doubletree and met with the wine buyer there, and were later joined by another wine buyer from a downtown restaurant.  All of the accounts today really loved the wines.  It was a lot of fun to chat about Oregon and our wines.

I had an hour or so to relax, check emails and chat with my mom.  I then refreshed my make-up and walked downtown to the Red Bird Restaurant.  I sat at the wine bar and ordered a glass of Cava and a light Thai inspired small rice noodle salad.  I waited for the sales rep to meet me at his account for dinner.  There was a great older gentleman playing the guitar and singing old cowboy songs.  I  was loving Missoula!

When the sales rep arrived, we ordered a bottle of sparkling water, beef satay and the lettuce wraps, guaranteed gluten free.  We then ordered a bottle of Problem Child Rhone blend.  I ordered the grilled lamb kebabs with a lavender mustard.  For dessert, I had the creme brulee and a cup of decaf cappucino.

After we ate, a funny character of a man, who was drunk, over-poured his Belgian Ale, with thick head foaming all over, and he started coming over to tell us really bad jokes.  He looked like a cross between French actor Gerard Depardieu and Thomas Hayden Church.  This guy wore a crazy shirt and just kept coming over.  More bad jokes.  Mostly about nuns, actually.  He was happily digging the music, singing along, yelling out “yeah!” or “that’s it”, answering the singer as if he were being personally addressed.  It was classic wild west.

I happily walked back to the hotel.  I packed up my stuff and braced myself while I called for the 5:15 a.m. wake up call.

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Day 328: Drive from Whitefish to Missoula

Sunday, August 10

Man.  Today was not good.  I didn’t go to sleep until 3:45issshhhh.  My limbs ached, I was still so tired when I finally got my butt out of bed.  I started to pack, showered and ate fresh, ripe, local Montana cherries.  I was super slow moving. 

But the shower helped.  I checked out of the Kandahar and made my way down the Big Mountain for Highway 93.  But first, I stopped in downtown Whitefish for a bite to eat at the Craggy Range Bar & Grill.  I sat at the bar, watched the US men’s water polo team and ordered a bacon burger without the bun.  It was damn good.  I sucked down two iced teas, totally dehydrated.  And then I was on my way.

It was a pretty drive, albeit the sky started off clear and blue and transformed into a dark, overcast sky.  But I headed through Kalispel and made my way toward Flathead Lake, the largest fresh water lake in the western states.

It was amazing to me how fast people were driving.  Montana was for a longtime the last state to not have a speed limit.  Those days are long gone.  The limit is now 75 on most highways.  And the drivers were all passing me along the single-laned highway 93, going at least 85 mph. 

I passed through Elmo, through Polson at the very bottom of the lake, and then down, away from the lake, toward Ronan.  Rocky, craggy mountains were up ahead - beautiful, commanding, brilliant.

I finally made it to Missoula in the early evening and pulled into the Doubletree Hotel on the edge of the downtown.

I was spent.  Exhausted.  I checked in and hopped onto the large, inviting bed with a cush, downfeather comforter.  I sank into the many pillows.  I love lots of pillows.  I turned on the television and on Turner Classics an Alfred Hitchcock movie just began – The Man Who Knew Too Much, with Doris Day (famous for her singing Que Sera, Sera in the film) and Jimmy Stewart.  Only, I fell asleep half way through the movie. 

When I woke up, I was too tired to go out to eat, so I ordered room service.  It was very sunny out at 7:30 p.m.  I ordered antipasti with hard salami, cherry peppers and goat cheese, then for my entree grilled shrimp with basmati rice with a mixed greens salad.  I ordered sparkling water and hot tea.  My stomach was really upset.

After eating, I realized I had ingested gluten.  Probably a lot more than I was aware of – and my stomach had been upset for over 24 hours.  After a few hours, past eating dinner, I got really sick.  I mean, really sick.  It was God-awful.

I then watched a special on PBS called Dreams of Tibet: A Troubled Country and Its Enduring Fascination.  The part of the series I watched was a moving account of a woman who was born in Tibet, but her family fled to the US in the 60′s.  She’s now living in L.A. and is involved in an awareness movement in her homeland.  It was deeply moving.

After, I turned on the Olympics and went nuts watching the US men’s 4×100 freestyle relay pull ahead of favored (and trash talking) France.  I couldn’t believe it!  It was the most exciting Olympic moment I’ve seen in a long time!

I continued to sip on some comforting hot lemon-ginger tea, starting to slowly feel a little bit better.  My gut was still swollen, as were my arms and legs.  It would take a few days for the symptoms to ease.  I would have to go through a really solid detox when I get home.

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