Day 338: Oregon’s Buddhist Teas, Gluten Gut, Kinder-Nightmares of Jaws & The Beach Volleyball Workout

Wednesday, August 20

This morning I was a little sluggish.  It was gray outside, overcast,  with more rain in the forecast.  It was cool out, a nice break between 100+ temperatures at the end of last week and the forecasted high 80′s low 90′s forecasted for the end of this week.

I had an especially busy day at work and got caught up on a lot of projects.  It rained all morning.  I had Amy’s Kitchen green tamale with black beans for lunch, a new favorite.  I’ve been drinking Diet Coke lately, which I’m not too pleased about.  I’m a water drinker, but I think water has been boring me, or something.  Perhaps I should pick up some Vitamin Water for a healthier change.  I’m not really a juice drinker because of all of the sugars and calories. 

I do drink hot tea, which, I enjoyed a Tazo tea this morning.  I have been drinking just Yogi tea for a long while, as I love the quality, that it’s organic, and the health benefits.  Today, I had the Ōm Tazo tea.  It was delightful.  It’s a blend of high-grown organic Darjeeling green and black teas with natural flavors of cucumber and peach.  No wonder I love this! 

The package reads (and I transcribe this without permission):
The word Ōm is frequently seen on prayer wheels, stones and flags as you walk through the Himalayas.  To merely say it releases a vibration of peace.  Imagine what happens when you drink it.

Oregon packages great teas, what can I say!  Tazo is based in Portland and Yogi is based in Eugene.

Once again, I was the last to leave work at 6:45 p.m.  I locked up and listened to my 80′s New Wave CD.  I’ve been loving the Roxy Music song “More Than This” and have reminisced on how much I love Bryan Ferry.  Perhaps I should just go ahead and get a friggin’ I-Pod.  I am probably the last person on the planet who still listens to CDs.  Yup, I even travel with my Disk Man.  What can I say?  I like tradition.  And antiques, apparently. 

When I got home, I changed and walked over to the gym.  I ran for 30 minutes, which felt really good. Here’s a crazy thing.  When I was at my yoga class on Sunday, I caught a profile glimpse of my body in the mirror and my belly was still uber swollen from gluten contamination a week ago.  Gluten Gut.  It was crazy.  It disgusted me, as I’m used to having a flat, strong stomach.  Well, this evening, I caught a glimpse of my body in the mirror at the gym, and my stomach was flat again.  I lifted up my shirt just a little, I was the only person in the gym, which is usually the case, which I really, really love, and sure enough my stomach looked normal again.  There was the usual little pooch, which I affectionately call my Buddha Belly.  But, all in all, it was healthy again.  I sighed with relief and then cranked the speed up on the treadmill.

For dinner I made an organic, gluten-free brown-rice super thin-crusted pizza with fresh ingredients, including wet mozz, minced garlic, a little tomato sauce, which I topped off with fresh basil when I pulled it out of oven.  I poured a glass of refreshing limeade and then made a small crab salad with organic, fresh ingredients – white cabbage, butterleaf and radiccho lettuces, red onion, green onion, cilantro and lime topped with a lite Caesar dressing by Annie’s.  I was satisfied with my dinner.

After, I enjoyed a cup of Yogi Indian Spice tea with a Pamela’s brand gluten-free shortbread, chocolate chip and pecan cookie.  My Yogi tea fortune on the tea tag read:  Share your strengths, not your weaknesses.

I watched Jaws 2 this evening, as one of the local channels is doing a week of Jaws movies.  I can’t help it.  It’s been years since I’ve seen these movies.  And, it has to be said, the first one was by far the scariest.  The music , the suspense and even the shark put all other sequels to shame.  In Jaws 2, the shark looked so fake that I wasn’t even scared.  I laughed.  That’s right.  I laughed at the fake man-eating great white killer shark.  Still, if I had to jump in the ocean tomorrow I’d crap my suit.  I’m just sayin’…

I lit some sweetgrass incense to relax.  I just love the wonderful scents that I have.  I watched the women’s beach volleyball in Beijing.  I sware.  I said the same thing after the Athens Games.  I’ve got to start playing beach volleyball.  They have the best bodies!  Super abs.  That’s what I want.  Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh, the American women volleyball pair, are my idols!  I am going to do 150 crunches tonight before bed.  No.  Make that 200.  I can do that.  I’m training for beach volleyball.  It’s summer.  It’s the Olympics.  I just need to find a beach that’s not as far as the coast.  And a tall partner.  And time.  If only I had more time…

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Day 337: Dinner at Red Hills & Remembering Jaws

Tuesday, August 19

I woke up to a rainy morning.  The rain was good and definitely needed out here in the northern Willamette.  I stretched and went downstairs to get in ten solid sun salutation yoga poses and 100 crunches.  I ate a half cup of cantaloupe for breakfast nd felt refreshed.

On my way to work, I headed over to Target to get materials to create place cards for our wine dinner on Saturday.  I was going with a green leaf theme.  When I got to the office, I had a meeting regarding our wine dinner over lunch.  I brought Amy’s Kitchen green tamale with cheese, which is obviously gluten-free. 

In the afternoon, I met a former colleague, a wine broker from mid-Atlantic, at winery.  We tasted through our line up and then I gave him a quick tour of the cellar.  After, we drove the back roads to Dundee and had dinner at Red Hills Provincial Dining.  It has such a beautiful dining room, much like a California bungalow, with old dark wood siding and built in cabinets, etc.

I ordered the Montrachet small plate to start, a single roll of warm goat cheese and herbs wrapped in grape leaves, and replaced the crostini with sliced apple and celery, for a gluten-free option, which also came with whole roasted garlic and marinated olives.  It was delicious.  We selected a bottle of Scott Paul Pinot noir.  And then I ordered the duck confit for dinner with chicken sausage and mixed vegetables.  The food was truly delightful.  And because it was cold and rainy, it was comfort cuisine.  They had an amazing ice cream and sorbet selection – I had to have four tiny scoups because I wanted to try them all!  It was hard enough to narrow it down to four flabors.   I was able to decide on the fig sorbet, cherry chocolate praline, lavender ice cream and pomegranate coconut. I finished with a cup of decaf cappuccino.

When I got home, I watched Jaws on television – the only horror movie that really ever scared the crap out of me because, well, shark attacks can actually happen.  I remember swimming on the swim team as a kid and I was six years old and I stood stoic on the block ready for my race when my mother, who was timing in the next lane, called over, “think of Jaws.”  Child abuse!  By the time the started shot the cap gun, I was shaking the whole 25 meter length of the pool.  The pool was shaped like a “Z”.  I was swimming free style.  As I approached the end where the deep top of the “Z” was, to my left, I peered over and could have sworn Jaws was in there coming for me!  I never paddled and kicked so hard in my life.  Needless to say, I won the race.  Got a blue ribbon.

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