Mozart and the Sea Lion

...title from the movie Mozart and the Whale.

My I am too tired to write much which I hate because I hoped I could write a long detailed post about every aspect of today but it took me so long to put away groceries eat do dishwasher that I got pretty tired but I would like to write as much as I can Then bed for me.

Lack of punctuation due to tiredness Ha

this is what i used to do when i wanted to remember the events of a day but was too tired to write about it in full....do it in list form

So.

1. Got up 6:45, left at 8am. Went to Nye Beach. Was cold windy rainy so didn't stay long. Thought it might be cloudy all day but wasn't raining so was glad for that. Went into bakery and was able to tolerate it chemically much better than before and would have maybe even stayed a bit but they still had absolutely NOTHING I wanted to eat. All bread products, no cookies or other pastries. But Dylan was playing and they even did Knocking on Heaven's Door and that made for a very nice atmosphere.

Did my ritual of asking random scattered people nearby how to get to the bayfront since I still can't seem to remember. Decided to take my RM's suggestion and follow the road opposite Panache all the way and cross the highway. Eh yeah that was way out of the way but I did get to see another part of town. There was an ice cream place called Oregon Made or Maid and I really really wanted something sweet to eat I haven't had hardly any junk food in 2 weeks and that was one of my goals today. The door was open so I decided to see if I could go in. First I read the menu from the window to see if there was anything good. Then I approached very cautiously and went in very slowly to see if I would be able to tolerate it inside. I tolerated it surprisingly well. Ice cream at 9:30 in the morning is not something I usually do, but when the opportunity strikes, you got to take it. :) The woman working there was kind of a bleached blond washed out I can't think of the words....she looked like she was in some high school movie from the 80s. Only, ten years later. Haha, I don't know. Just different. She seemed a little suspicious at first. When I asked for a sample she asked me if I was going to buy anything. The ice cream was surprisingly good - it might just be some of the most flavorful ice cream, rather than gelato, I have yet had. I got expresso ice cream....Just right for giving me the energy I needed for the day....and figuring out how to cross the damn blasted highway that was next to it. Ha. And a chocolate peanut butter covered banana - Yum! That was good. Only $1.25 too. She almost didn't take my debit card because I didn't have ID, but come ON, people, the damn thing has my PICTURE on it.... do I not look like the picture? Yes, my hair is shorter, but it's pretty similar.

Anyway, the ice cream kept me on enough of a sugar high to deal with the congested icky smelly highway I had to cross and I won't be taking that direction again. Asked directions again and found myself right by Oceana, a pleasant surprise since I knew more or less how to get there from there and it was short.

Got to Bayfront, sat by coffee shop outside for a few minutes, then started walking down the street. My next goal was to get some chocolate covered pretzels and to try to be brave enough to poke my head in one of the candy shops to do so. The first one wasn't open yet, the second was and the door was open. I won't go in anywhere where the door isn't open, too many unknowns chemically speaking when you open it, which is why I love that the majority of Newport shops seem to have their doors always open, even when it's cloudy out! Makes them so much more approachable.

So, I do the looking through the window thing first and then cautiously make my way in - very quickly - to see what's inside. This place wasn't as good as ice cream shop but was ok for a few seconds. Found the choco pretzels, popped back outside for some air. Then a whole gaggle of scented 20 somethings came in and started to engage shopkeeper in lengthy conversation. I stewed on the sidewalk annoyed at having to wait and afraid of losing my nerve. When they left I went back in long enough to ask for some of the pretzels and came back out to wait while she bagged them. I came back in to give her my debit card and she said they didn't take debit cards. But that they had an ATM. At that point more highly scented people came in and I had to run back out. When I came back in to attempt to use the ATM, she had come out from the counter and handed me the pretzels, telling me they were a treat. How nice is that?? I think I heard her say "She can't walk," and it is true that the fragrance from oter people made me stagger on the side walk for a minute but that wasn't my actual problem... I just couldn't walk in her store, lol.
What a nice person though. Perhaps a little on the embarassing side but hey I tried and I succeeded in my goal. They were good pretzels too. Not as good as Trader Joes but decent.

I then walked to the end of the street and sat for a while at what is becoming my favorite pier, dock or whatever, the one by the Saffron Salmon resteraunt....Bay Street Pier I think it's called.
It has a bench and is a beautiful place to sit and watch the ocean, watch the boats go by, and enjoy being outside. I heard some good songs on the oldies station, I think When the Lion Sleeps Tonight was one. I enjoyed them very much, but had to leave when a guy cleaning windows moved his operations from inside to outside two feet from me. It was good while it lasted!

As it was 11am I decided to make my way back down the street to the fish market which opened at 11. The nice girl who waited on me before waited on me this time and we seemed to have the talking from the sidewalk routined down quite nicely. There is no door so to speak - it's completely open, and only a few feet from the sidewalk to the counter. So I only have to go in long enough to give them my card to pay. I got some red snapper - remind me to look up what exactly that IS, lol - some shrimp and some crabmeat! What a feast!! I am going to try to make it all on my own tomorrow before my roommate comes home so that it will be ready when she comes home, I have enough for her too. I have never done anything of that magnitude before but I figure how hard can it be if I just try, and find recipes beforehand, maybe call my dad for advice on cooking it. It would be cool to surprise her with it when she comes in. But we'll see how it all works tomorrow. We'll see. Maybe, maybe not, it depends on how functional I'm feeling tomorrow, I suppose. But I'll try.

After that I walked the rest of the way back to the other side of the Bayfront by the coffee shop and sat on the bench for a few minutes. Then at noon I was supposed to meet my RM at Oceana so I walked up the (very conveniently located next to the coffee shop) street that went there and we both got there at exactly the same time! I rested for about half an hour in the van while she had lunch inside. Then I went to use the bathroom, which was thankfully a safe one, and had my lunch in the van. The crabmeat was very sweet and tasty. If I can find where I put it (ha), I'll use it in the dinner tomorrow. I could only get a very small amount because it was very expensive, but enough to taste and know it was good. Apparently Dugress (sp?) crabs are very popular and well known here, whatever those are. Not heard of them before.

So, then at 1 we headed to the lighthouse and state park and beach. I got out and took some pictures, then put camera back. She napped for an hour while I went to walk on the beach. Oh my God, it was so freaking beautiful. It was bigger and even nicer than Nye Beach I think. And it was sunny by this point. The sand made so many interesting designs and was firmer to walk on than Nye. I started walking and walked for quite a ways in one direction. I kept thinking it was like the "Lost City of Atlantis," it was so breath-taking. I wanted to walk to the wall of rocks- a jetty? what do they call it? - on the other side but I ran out of time. Then of course I had quite a time trying to remember what staircase I came down - that's what I hate about beaches! Insanely easy to get lost. I truly thought I had the right one, and with only about 20 minutes until I needed to meet my RM back at the van, I was glad. But when I got to the top I had NO idea where I was. Not surprising as that is getting to be a theme. :) Bunch of businesses and hotels. So I did what is becoming second nature, I asked the nearest friendly looking person for directions. He said "go that way all the way till you get there." I thanked him and was off, till I realized after a while I still had no idea where I was so I asked #2. He was from out of town but suggested I head in the general direction of the lighthouse, which was reasonable. Except after a while more I still had no idea where I was so I asked #3 and #4, both of whom said the lighthouse and park was on the complete opposite side of town, very far away. I wouldn't have believed it if one person had said but two did, so. My heart sank and I asked how to get back to Bayfront. I hoped RM would realize I had gotten lost and head back in time to not miss her next appt. Lo and behold though I got to the bridge and then saw a sign for the state park and lighthouse. I followed it and eventually came upon the van!!!! I couldn't believe it, I never thought I'd find it and I was only 5 minutes late. I kept thinking of how empathetically the elderly woman and the delivery truck driver had proclaimed that the "lighthouse was on the other side of town" yet here I was, definitely still on this side of town. Pretty funny. Guess not everyone can be gifted at directions.

I was completely wiped out after six hours of walking around and exploring, so when we went back to the office for RM's next several appts, I stayed in the van and rested, and made use of something I never really fully appreciated before: CELL PHONE RECEPTION! I called a friend in Montana, my friend Deb in New Hampshire, read for a bit, and then my friend Lisa in New York. They were all good convos but the latter was particularly good, a nice and flowing convo where I lost track of how long we talked and it was an hour before I knew it . Love that, miss it with few phone using options.

Before I knew it, it was already 5:45....Three hours had gone by pretty quickly. RM came out a little after 6. We went to the co-op for groceries and I actually felt brave enough to be able to go in (natural food store). Which was good cus there was soooo much good fruit to buy. I LOVE FRUIT! MMM! Heaven. I got Driscoll's strawberries and raspberries, and some blueberries, apples, and bananas - oh and they even had ORGANIC CANTALOUPE! Heaven. And I have watermelon at home. Seven different kinds of fruit who could ask for more?
The raspberries were divine.

I was able to tolerate the store much better and felt much less disoriented after, knock on wood, which was good. It's much more satisfying to do your own shopping if you can.

We got home around 7. I saw a peacock outside! It was beautiful. My roommate went to try to shoot it with a slingshot cus she doesn't like the loud noise they make and she doesn't like them on our property. That cracks me up, it just does. The idea of someone even having a slingshot and knowing how to use it and having peacocks....so funny.

I continue to be amazed by her. When I had so many bananas I had to make a kind of building blocks, balance on top of each other rather artsy banana design to fit them all in the bowl, she laughed with me, long and hard, about the humor of the design instead of telling me I had bought too many or failing to appreciate the humor - someon who can appreciatw the humor in very small bizarre things - is what I have been looking for all my life.

I am completely bushwacked now too tired to hardly sit up. So I will go to bed. But glad I got to write and glad I succeeded in my goal of showing myself that happiness is still possible.
I need to be reminded often it seems.

But it works...

Tomorrow is another day.

Goodnight,
Kate