Day 339: Moody, Bluesy, Lonely & In Need of Chocolate

Thursday, August 21

Another gray start to the day, rain channeling in and out of the sky.  I wasn’t really hungry, so I had a lovely frozen fruit pop in coconut milk and pineapple.  It’s packed with vitamins and tasted like a pina colada.

I chugged through a busy to-do list.  It’s amazing how quickly the days fly by.  I’m still stunned that we’re in the near last leg of August.  How did that happen?

I wasn’t feeling great early in the day.  Not sick.  No, more mood-wise.  I had PMS, I guess, unless that’s just an excuse I’m using for feeling a little bluesy.  I played some music at my desk today and kept it on artist Meiko for awhile.  Her song Hawaii is ethereal, delicate and haunting.  I imagined myself floating on a longboard under a pink sunset, towering palm trees behind me, cautionary fronds swaying in the wind telling me to paddle in.  It’s easy to get carried away by gentle waves of distraction.  I am rocking over the rise and fall, sweating under the languid breeze, hot and warm, while the persistent pull, the letting go rolls me along.  And sometimes I really just want to let go.

I met a photographer for lunch today at the Dundee Bistro to go over some shots we need for our stock photo library.  It’s all part of a larger piece of work I’m doing to use better images for storytelling.  I had Italian sausage with polenta and broccolini and a side salad.  It was pretty good.  My favorite sausage and polenta remains to be cooked up at Bar Mingo, mamma mia!  But this hit the spot.

After lunch, I finally went to the post office to send my cousin’s new baby the adorable Portland designed onesie and baby cap I purchased at the Saturday Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago.  I picked up a book of stamps with sunny sunflowers on them.  Very vibrant.  I needed vibrant.

I didn’t leave work until 7:15 p.m.!  What the heck??  I had a lot of work to do.  And I also emailed Kerry, who was back on the east coast for work, to give her my typed verbal diahharea on the usual woe-is-me crap that came with the said “PMS” blended with boredom and loneliness.  There.  I said it.  The dreaded “L” word.  I’m normally not so down, not so, well, lonely.  Mostly, I missed my family.  At least I’ll see them in a few weeks.  I’m looking forward to that.  And I missed my friends – we haven’t been able to hang out much these days.  I’m flailing all by myself, so I suppose it’s good that I have a lot of work to do.  It’s a distraction.

I have also been concerned with my aunt in Seattle.  I received an email this week from my cousin that she had to have surgery on her gut.  Well, apparently, there was some kind of infection.  I’m really not sure.  But, she’s back in the hospital.  So, I called my dad’s brother the other day to check in.  It sounded like she’s stable and doing okay for now.  Hopefully she’ll get to go home this weekend.  I have been thinking about them all week.  I plan to go up for a visit when I return from the east coast, which means, most likely, in early October.  Plus, that will give her ample time to recover.

I went to Fred Meyer to stock up on some fruit, salad mixings and, oh yeah, Dagoba chocolate.  I found a new organic, gluten-free EnviroKidz cereal in peanut butter and chocolate, called Leapin Lemurs.   I also picked up a box of Frosted Perky-O’s.  I don’t usually eat sugar cereals, but, well, clearly I’m jonesing for some sweets.  I got organic strawberries and white nectarines, as well!

The sunflowers on my postal stamps must have been in my head, because I bought myself a bouquet of flowers with three lovely sunflowers.  I needed some cheering up.  Sometimes a single girl’s gotta buy herself flowers.  I mean, I do everything else for myself.  Why deny myself from receiving flowers?  There I go again with my moodiness.  Well, the flowers were a treat.  And, yes, I even smiled.

My sunflowers shown with the green-leaf square ceramic plate I had painted a couple weeks ago.  Painting pottery has been another soul soother for me these days.

When I got home, I re-heated the beautiful gluten-free pizza I made last night.  I actually took a photo of it:

Yup.  Brown rice crust that I brushed with olive oil, a little bit of organic tomato sauce, fresh mozz, a little salt and pepper, super-thin local heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil from our garden at work.  It’s the best thin-crust, traditional Napolitano Margherita pizza I’ve had since I was diagnosed with celiac (hey…Dad…are you looking at that photo??  Now that’s gluten-free pizza!!).

As I ate, I turned on the genius box and watched Jaws 3.  Hell, three’s a charm!  I figured, I watched the first two the past two nights, might as well fry my brain with the 3-D version without 3-D glasses.  I was stunned.  Was that really Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Lea Thompson??  Ha, ha, ha.  This was 1983.  I was nine years old when this flick came out.  And still swimming competitively.  Though, I figured out at this point that sharks didn’t swim in pools.

 

That’s awesome… Anyway.  The 3-D made for silly television viewing.  Especially when the “35 foot” Jaws swam straight for the glassed-in control room at Sea World in the end.  It was so fake, so goofy I couldn’t stop laughing.   Oh, and then when it blew up in the end – it was hilarious how ridiculous it looked with bits bursting out in blood red ocean water, namely a large half of the jaw with several jagged teeth still intact floating to the forefront.  I laughed out loud again.  Too bad I didn’t have any 3-D glasses around.  Anyway.  Why was it that all the Jaws sharks were blown up at the end of these movies?  I guess that was done for the teenaged boys.  After Jaws 3, after the great white explosion, Dennis Quaid and his lady friend surfaced in their scuba gear and called out to their dolphin friends, who flipped and jumped in the finale.  Uh, that was the teenaged girl’s ending.  All they needed were rainbows and pegasus.  And then, Jaws 4 could emerge from the bay and take down the wing of pegasus..a segue to a final chapter.  I digress…

Anyway.  I turned on the Beijing Olympics to watch the American men win the beach volleyball gold medal.  It was killer!  Again, I am pumped to play volleyball.  That’s another thing I missed about living in Seattle.  I was part of a group that played volleyball every Tuesday all summer long at Greenlake.  I missed summer volleyball.

In any case, I had a round of crunches to get to.  And another piece of Dagoba dark chocolate.  My favorite.

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Day 334: More Sweltering Heat, More Ants But No More Stomach Woes

Saturday, August 16

I had every intention of sleeping in, but it was way too hot.  Sweltering, really.  Humid like the east coast.  I got up at 9:30 and stretched.  My sore throat was almost totally healed.  No more gargling with sel gris water.  I felt rested.

I went downstairs and my water war last night clearly did not put an end to the army of ants marching in a defiant trail toward my trash can.  It was unsightly.  I sprayed the trash can with Raid ant spray, as well as one of the baseboards along the trail.

I left to run errands.  I went to the bank and to the painted pottery place to pick up the work my co-workers and I did last week.  I loved the way my leaf plate came out, as well as a cute little trinket box I made for Susan’s birthday.  Upon returning home, I went to the gym and ran for forty-five minutes.  I have been neglecting my workouts, especially with the lethargy I had been feeling from my celiac disease coupled with travel (early morning flights).

I’m not sure where the day went.  I watched the Olympics and worked on my story on gluten-free dining.  I made homemade salsa with organic heirloom tomato, red onion, garlic, fresh lime juice, cilantro and fresh ground peppers.  I wished I had chiles.

At last, my celiac symptoms were clearing up.  No pain.  The swelling and bloating was still lingering.  I snuggled with my kitties and watched more of the Olympics until I began to fall asleep on the sofa.  I sprayed another round of rogue ants with my plant water bottle and tried to kill yet another new trail that had been made by these dogged little buggers.

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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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