Temporally Out of Service

I realize I have been here now for one full week, and have managed to write zero posts. I’d say the first few days were pure, solid relaxation. Jen and Jeremy arrived on Tuesday, which was another lazy day for all of us.

However, come Wednesday, I hit a speed bump. I’m not quite sure what I did, but I somehow managed to move in a way that made my back go out. I spent all Wednesday night screaming in absolute agony and 100% immobile. I slept on the floor with mom in my bed attempting to keep me calm. It hurt so bad that I couldn’t take deep breaths, which in turn resulted in an anxiety attack. When I have an anxiety attack, the only way I can feel better, is to take deep breaths. So you see my dilemma here? Regardless, Thursday morning the pharmacist up here in OR gave me an emergency supply of the muscle relaxers I was given from a car accident I was in a few weeks ago. Each day, I’m a little better. The best part is that I’m actually able to walk now. However, what really puts me down, is that I had planned on going to the sand dunes that are about an hour away and ride an ATV through them. Considering, I can’t even pick up my baby nephew, I don’t think it would be the safest idea to do something that requires that much movement.

Despite this unfortunate setback, I have still had a great time up here. Yesterday we went to the Saturday market in Newport. While waiting in line for some tasty crepes, a group of 3 young guys, who looked to be poor, but likely faking it, decided to provide the shoppers with some pleasant entertainment. We had a trumpet player assisted by a melodica player. Let me just say, I was not entertained. The third guy must not have been blessed with a musical talent, but rather poetry. I don’t believe the writing of poetry, but rather, the reading of it. I felt a little awkward when he stood in front of the other two, and began Shakespeareicly reciting a very strange poem. Once our crepes were ready, I darted away from the creepy guys and tried to find a safe place to sit to avoid the strong winds. Because it was so windy, we decided we had enough of the market.

We then made our way to Historic Bayfront Newport. I love this part of Newport. You are always guaranteed to see some strange people. A few years ago when I was here I walked right by a girl who was being pulled by another girl with a dog leash. She did not have a shirt on, and had black tape X’s over her nipples. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anything that extravagant this year. The best I got, was a man skillfully carrying his groceries.

Oregon likes to celebrate the 4^th of July on both the 3^rd and 4^th. It must be their way of trying to guarantee visible fireworks, as every other day is covered with thick fog or huge rain clouds. That was tonight, July 4^th. Yesterday, however, was perfect. We purchased our own fireworks and had a bonfire in the driveway. This morning there was a Fourth of July parade about 5 minutes from our house. I’d like to remind you that we do live in a pretty small town, so it was a small town parade. More like, people just hanging signs with their store or restaurant names over their everyday vehicles. Carter got pretty freaked when the fire truck blew his horn and when the steamroller plowed through. It even scared me because when it revved the engine, the entire street shook… a little strange if you ask me. At the end of the parade, Santa decided to show up. I’m not sure why, but he was riding on one of the floats waving to all the kiddos.

The rest of the day was cloudy and foggy, but as soon as the sun went down, around 9:30pm, lots of people on the beach blew off all their fireworks. As I am still sitting here on the couch, and it is now 10:30, there are still many people blowing them off. We have a front row seat to the Fourth of July celebrations. Which is a lot nicer than freezing our bagungas off on the beach.

Tomorrow we’re off to the aquarium, and later in the weeks we will attempt our deep sea fishing. Happy Fourth everyone!!