Running on Fumes

You know how sometimes when you wake up in the morning you catch yourself mapping out your day? Well somewhere in between finding the snooze on my alarm and realizing that Signore (Still Needs A Name) doesn't have a snooze button I realized that today's list was a tad longer than normal. Granted I'm juggling the new commute, kitten ownership, and still figuring the house out but my mornings (well, late night for some of you) are just the warm up for what seems like an ultra marathon...the kind where you have to keep running them on back to back days.

Needless to say that today was no different, but the fact that I don't go into work tomorrow & Signore Giuseppe (formerly known as Ed in Monterey) arrived I somehow made it through the normal gym, work, class, and traffic. Well, more on the driving later.

I'm happy to report that I have another friend to hang out with now, although I'm not sure if he's going to be my friend next week after he helps out with the move in tomorrow and the fact that I registered him for a total of running 22K (it could have been 27) this weekend. I'm also happy to report that the "new back route" from Capo to Lago Patria wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it would be & I found my first two destinations without a problem. Dinner was yummy and it was almost like we were back in my Bullard office wasting time taking a break. Turns out he knows my N7 coworker so my Navy circle just merged again (2nd time this week).

Feeling guilty that I'd left Signore alone for way over 12 hours and the fact that I was getting sleepy after our Italian dinner (aka not eating until after 8) I headed home.

Or so I thought.

Despite clearing the first hurdle in avoiding the scary back road that apparently I should not be driving at night since it's so dark  & narrow I missed my turn to head in the direction I needed to. I was headed towards the Navy Lodge. Go figure. Apparently after 90 days your internal compass realigns? Since this is Italy and it's NEVER as easy as getting off at the next exit and turning around, I let the GPS recalculate. I had a feeling that I was going to end up on the road I was trying to avoid and after getting there via a different route than before (I saw some town I don't think I've driven through before) I ended up on said road. I guess it's all my late night driving on HWY68, Reservation Road, and Carmel Valley Road but this road doesn't really bother me. Granted, it's barely a 2 lane road and the shoulders are overgrown with bamboo and/or mini trash heaps and it's pretty dark...and bumpy, but I find it sort of entertaining to see just how I'll get to my house. *Parent Unit- if you're already worried about me driving on this road, please skip to next paragraph* I think the part that puts me on edge is I always seem to find myself in uncharted territory with my gas gauge is below 1/4 tank and my cell phone has 1 bar left in the battery.

Once I was more or less somewhere I knew, I was good.

Again, so I thought. Finally reaching my driveway at 11pm I clicked the clicker to open the gate. And then tried again. And again. Despite multiple attempts I couldn't get the gate to open, so I had to park  in the piazza and walk around. Luckily there is a pedestrian door in the gate so I could get in and try to figure the issue out. Well I guess between my heels up the stairs, the wind slamming the door shut, my phone ringing really loud or maybe it was just a crying kitty when he saw me walk back out the door, my neighbor (the old man) came out. I was able to show him that the clicker wasn't working. He grabbed another one but then slammed mine on the tile which apparently solved the problem. After motioning it me to drive the car around he walked down the stairs to make sure it stayed open.

Um yeah, my car doesn't/can't make that turn so after having him hold up traffic so I could do a 30 pt turn into the driveway I was finally done with today's marathon. Actually I'm pretty sure that I was told to ring their door bell if I have any other issues. I just feel bad making all that noise and having  "technical difficulties" at 11pm. Shoot. I just want to be sleeping. Oh well, just another reason I really need to start working on the Italian. I think there is hope for me...class #3 today for sure was an improvement although I'm not sure that we can have a conversation about how my name is Katie, I'm from Monterey, I'm American, and I am an accountant. Bambino steps- I know but having a grasp on basic Italian by December is looking like a no-go.

*Sigh*

Time for my beauty sleep. Although I'm not getting up at 0400 (that's in 3 hours- are you kidding me?) I still need to get up by 0700 so I can try to get my 9 hour window down to 2-3 for my HHG delivery and maybe even get a sunrise walk in around MdP since I can. Also, I was told about a fresh pasta place today that I just may need to check out. Hey, despite being told that I'm "going native" tonight I know I have a long way to go but it's good to know that after a mere 100-something days progress can be identified.