Haines and more

I realized that I've been slacking on my blogging lately. I mean, since I last wrote, I have been in Haines for ten days and back to Seattle. Alaska was awesome. Which, come on, we all knew would be the case. I decorated, hiked, watched football, ate... it was grand. And I realized that as much as I love that place, it's ok that I'm not there right now. Sure, I'd love life if I was living in Haines, but that doesn't mean that I can't love it since I'm living in the greater Seattle area. So I hereby declare that I am going to work on loving life more in Seattle rather than wishing I was somewhere else. You heard it here first.

Oh Seattle

I joked about dressing in all my Seattle sports gear and calling myself a masochist for Halloween. After this weekend, I kinda wish I had. I spent the weekend in Eugene with a bunch of Duck fans and went to see the Ducks slaughter the Huskies on Saturday. It was fun enough, but just about every time a Seattle sports team leaves the field/pitch/court my heart breaks a little because we usually just lost another game (of course our main court team got taken away, but don't even get me started on that...). It almost makes me wish that I lived in New York where I could cheer for winning teams and not feel like a sell-out. But then I remember that I will never be a band-wagon fan and maybe, just maybe, we'll do better next season. In a way, cheering for Seattle teams year after year is a little proof in my life that I really do have hope for the future.

October Madness

10 days ago I took off in the car with my mother. We knew a few stops, but had some playing to do in between. We ended up going to Eugene that first night, a place I hope to never see again. Then we went to San Francisco and played tourist for a few hours and hung out with Stefanie, the intern who lived with my parents my Freshman year of college. We were at a bar in downtown San Francisco when the Giants made it to the World Series. It was pretty sweet. Then we went to Huntington Beach via Merced. I got to hang out with Erica (friend from HS) and her husband Matt, which was fun. We went to the beach because my dad had a conference down there. Two nights in the Hilton on the beach? Yes please! My mom and I went out to a bar that night for dinner and I got carded, which led to me receiving a free dessert. Best getting carded that's ever happened to me. And as long as we were only 20 minutes away, we went to Disneyland for my birthday. 25 on the 25th, and I must say, my birthday was indeed golden. And I have pictures of me and many Disney characters to prove it. The next day we went to Ruby's on the pier. It's over 1800 feet from the road next to the beach out to the restaurant, and it's all alone out there. Pretty rad. Walnut Creek and my Godparents were calling our name, so next we headed back up to the Bay Area. It's always good to see Scott and Nancy. We spent a couple days with them then went on to Bend to see Scott, Alissa, Owen, and Josh. Those boys are super fun. And my brother and sister-in-law ain't so bad either. We were there for three nights then headed back to the Seattle area today.
My mom and I drove 2713 miles and spent about 42 hours in the car. Good times.

I just think this is cool

Because it's never to late to follow your dreams. check it out

October

October is nearly half over. I have done just about nothing exciting. I have worked on school and hung out with people. Maybe the second half of October will bring a little bit more excitement.* It is my golden birthday this year afterall...

*hint: I know it will :)

Use less

Have you ever wondered how useless is like use _ less... like dude, that information was useless, you should use less. Yeah.

useless information

I woke up this morning trying to figure out how to spell the word that describes those small open sores in your mouth. Not because I've had one recently, just because I knew it rhymed with anchor. Turns out it's canker.

----

I've been getting emails from Old Navy Maternity for a while. I am not pregnant, nor do I plan on being pregnant. It just occurred to me today that I should hit unsubscribe at the bottom of the email.

----

My dog will only pee if someone is watching her. It makes mornings colder than they need to be.

hardcore

I went camping on the Olympic Peninsula with Sean, Jamie, and Kevin this week. It was a typical peninsula fall week... i.e. raining and suuuuuper cloudy. We went for a little hike in the clouds one day, but Kevin and I decided that we didn't have enough of the clouds, so we kept going up while Sean and Jamie went back down to get the car and meet us at the top of the trail. We ended up hiking 10 miles. Now, 10 miles on its own, not too bad... 10 miles in the windy rain, getting a little more hardcore... 10 miles in the rain in Chacos, borderline stupid... 10 miles in the rain in Chacos with the crazy stomach cramps, just another day in the life of Kate Maxwell. I'm just that cool.

Fast food to the MAX

On Sunday, I was fortunate enough to get to hang out with my good friend Ingrid Harper. I rolled out of bed around noon and she came over shortly after. Following doing not much of anything for about an hour, we decided that we should go to Dick's (more affectionately known as Richard's) to get some cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes. It was tasty.

Then, after a few hours of watching stupid TV and movies, we decided to go to church then grab some dinner with some friends. We decided to wait until after church because we weren't super hungry, aware that we could be starving by the time that church finished. Well little did we know that the new youth pastor was being ordained and installed at that service so it lasted a lot longer than average. Thus, at 9:00 rather than the normal 8:00 we were starving and wanted to eat as fast as possible. If one finds oneself in the U District in need of food ASAP, where does one go? That's right, Richard's. So we ate at Dick's again.

We went home and then watched a couple more movies before deciding around 2 AM that we were still hungry. So we did one anyone with the munchies at 2 AM would do. We went to McDonald's. We were really hoping for some good fast food breakfast, but were informed that McDonald's only serves breakfast after 4 AM. So naturally, we had chicken nuggets instead.

After returning home for another hour or so, I was still totally craving the fast food breakfast, so we went to Jack in the Box where breakfast is served all day. I got my sausage and egg biscuit as well as some french toast sticks. We also stopped by a Red Box so we watched a good movie. Life is good.

That's right. Four fast food stops in twelve hours. I really am that awesome. And oddly enough, my stomach was totally fine after all that junk.

The best part of the McDonald's experience was when a dude got out of the car in front of us. I was jokingly hoping that he would have to pee. I figured that it would be hilarious if we saw a guy pee in the bushes while going through the drive thru at 2. But he just adjusted his pants and sat back down. Then the dude on the other side of the car opened and I was hoping that dude would have to pee. I then said, "take a pee, take a pee" but Ingrid pointed out to me that he had already gone pee based on looking at his pants. But he continued to the bushes anyway where he wrenched multiple times. So rather than seeing a drunk dude pee in the bushes, we saw one puke in the bushes... and that was the most eventful thing of my weekend.

TMI? Part II

So yesterday I went in for my colonoscopy and endoscopy, basically meaning that the doctor stuck a camera in both ends... I've heard that the worst part about this procedure is the prep. Well, I mostly agree with that, because it was, in fact, horrible. However, I'm going to have to go with the worst part being when they thought I was out and couldn't feel anything, but still felt that little camera snaking it's way up my colon. That was quite possibly the worst thing I have ever felt. Luckly, I fell asleep like I should have been after about 10 seconds... Still, that's not right.
They didn't see anything abnormal except for a little excess bile in my stomach, which apparently could be causing some of the discomfort. They also are going to do a few biopsies of stuff they took out, whatever that means. So that was that. Now I'm back to waiting.
I'm still eating whatever I want, but am more aware of what upsets my stomach. For example, I can no longer have Cheetos or pizza from Little Caesar's. The list is a work in progress.

'nother sweet weekend

This weekend (if you can call Tuesday-Monday a weekend) I went to Oregon with my parents. It was pretty much awesome. I read some Harry Potter. I took some naps. I played with my nephews. I flew some kites. I put together some puzzle. Good times.

sweet weekend

This weekend I went to Mt. Rainier with Karuna and Becca. It was pretty much awesome. We totally lucked into a campsite (or God had a plan...). We hiked, we ate, we burned stuff, we slept in the woods. All in all, a good time.
In other news, the eating gluten is going fairly well, aside from the sporadic stomach cramping, desire to lay in the fetal position, and need to run to the bathroom...

My true love

I have owned a few kayaks over the years. I always thought my true love was my slightly used blue wilderness systems tempest 170. It turns out that I am a fickle person, as my true love has changed to this one...



and Tika likes it too

Murphy

For better or worse, I was the owner of a '95 Subaru for the past two years. It hauled my stuff up to Alaska almost two years ago, hauled it all back a month ago, and took me and my kayaks many places in between. But I sold the Murphy. I just didn't like him anymore. Because with Murphy, whatever could go wrong, would go wrong...

TMI?

I get to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy on the 26th of August. So I'm gluten free for another 2-3 weeks, then going on a gluten tour of Western Washington for 2-3 weeks, then don't eat for a day... should be good times... hopefully they find something that can lead to something other than the bullshit diagnosis of IBS*. But I get to wait at least another month to find out. I guess this is why I moved back, because if I hadn't it would be yet another trip back and forth... But I wouldn't mind being in Haines for the summer... if only...

*After talking with friends, we have agreed that IBS is what doctors say you have when they know something is wrong with your digestive system, but can't tell you what it is. "Oh, you have stomach issues but don't have Celiac, Crohns, food allergies, or a parasite of some sort? Huh. It must be IBS."

wait for it...

So I went to see a GI specialist at the University of Washington Medical Center today. What did he tell me? Here's the dramatized version...

Dr: It easily could just be IBS.
Me: Wait... you're telling me that I have had such crippling pain that I've almost gone to emergency rooms and moved 1,000 miles to be closer to doctors, and this is something that I just have to deal with?
Dr: Maybe. But since this really seems to be bothering you, we'll do a colonoscopy, endoscopy to take a biopsy of (insert technical thing regarding gluten here), a full blood work-up, and more labwork on a stool sample.
Me: What is that going to tell us?
Dr: Probably everything will come back negative and it's just IBS.
Me: So I just have to live with it?
Dr: Yes. It could be Post Traumatic IBS, which would mean that it could go away eventually, but that can take years.
Me: So we're just going to test for everything rule out other possibilities?
Dr: Yes. Oh, and for the biopsy to work, you have to eat gluten for at least two weeks before.
Me: So I basically get to eat whatever I want again.
Dr: Yes.
Me: DONUTS!
Dr: Oh, and I want you to start consuming more fiber. Try citrucel.
Me: Awesome. Or something.

So where does that leave me right now? The same place I was over six months ago. What the heck stomach?!?!?

a week in

I've been back in the lower 48 for just over a week. Granted, I spent half of that time in Oregon with my family, so I haven't exactly had the chance to settle in, but I think things will be ok. In all honesty, I think the hardest part about being in the big city will be loneliness... being that I am living between 35 and 1000 miles from most of my friends. I wonder if this is how people who live out the road feel...

Home Sweet Home?

Home is where your heart is right? Then more than being homeless, I am homefull. Or something like that. Saying goodbye to my people in Haines was crazy hard. I for sure left a part of my heart there, but am back in Seattle for a year or so or longer... who knows. I put my car on the ferry yesterday and then flew down to Seattle today. On Friday I'll head up to Bellingham with the amazing Ethel and pick it up and hopefully get a few pictures (because it is comically loaded down). Then I'll start unpacking my old stuff (life) and make it feel like home in Seattle (Arlington). Here's to living in my parents' basement for most of my 25th year!

fishing and walking and fishing some more

Ashley and I got to Kenai on Tuesday, so I had a couple days to myself while Ashley passed the interview process from the boyfriend's family. I went fishing on the Kasilof River and caught myself a sweet king salmon. I'll be sharing that with my family when I get to Seattle in July.


Then we headed up to Anchorage where Ash, Mom, Dad, and I walked 13.1 miles. Dad says he's ready to do it again next month. They won't, but he's already looking at half marathons in different places for next year. Pretty sweet.

Then Pa and I went fishing on the Kenai. We spent about 10 hours on the river with not even a bite... I think it's because we were out there to spread Grandpa's ashes and that crusty old fart was looking down on us and didn't want any of the attention of the day taken away from him. Besides, we fished a couple weeks with grandpa and caught only one, so it seemed like it's how it was supposed to be. (and I'm pretty sure that fishing in the Kenai isn't as good as people claim...)

I'm gonna miss this...

Today, I went kayaking. I know, big surprise. But today as I kayaked the same route that I have kayaked lots of times before, I saw something that I have never kayaked with before... a humpback whale. It was pretty much the coolest thing I have seen in a long time. It was just another reminder that I am totally going to miss this place. Haines has become home. While I'm excited to move closer to my family and all that good stuff, I will definitely miss Haines.

small town Haines

There's those places in the world where everyone is connected to everyone else. Haines is one of those places. Most of the time, I love that about Haines. But when a 14 year old drowns swimming a relatively short distance in the ocean, it's hard that everyone in town is connected to it somehow. It's good though too, because that way everyone can lean on everyone else. So tonight my prayers go out to all the people of Haines who knew Andrew Williamson, a good kid who's life was cut unfortunately short.

Time keeps ticking away

I'm moving back to Seattle from Haines in less than a month now. And at least half of that time I'll be in other areas of the state. It bums me out a little that I'm leaving so soon. But I'm just trying to make the most of the time that I have here, which includes working a bunch, kayaking a bunch, going bear hunting, and spending time with the people that have made this place like home.

come on jump out of the water porpoise

So Jamie was hanging out in town for a bit this past week and I got to hang out with her yesterday evening for a bit. What does one do when hanging out with a friend and you have already stopped to get ice cream, walked through town, and gone out to eat dinner? That's right, when you're Kate Maxwell's friend, you go kayaking. So off we went and just kinda hung out in the boats. While we were out there a group (herd/gaggle/pod/school) of porpoises came to check out our boats. It was pretty much the coolest thing (since kayaking with orca, anyway). So we watched the sun go down from the boats and stared at some sea life and then wandered back to shore. Good times.

drumroll, please...

For all three of you who follow my blog, this is me publicly, internet-ly announcing that I am moving back to Seattle. Most of Haines hasn't heard for sure yet, but I'm sure it'll start trickling around, and the people that I wanted to make sure that I told personally, I have told, so here it is in blog-land. Kate Maxwell will be living in (or near) the emerald city once more. In case you haven't figured out the reason why, refer back to any post about Pedro. That pesky bugger seems to still be wreaking some havoc on my guts, so it's time to go to a place where I can get more regular help and not have to travel anywhere between 5 and 18 hours to get to a doctor. So Seattle, here I come. Look out, or you might not know what hit you.

comical stomach

While I was in Seattle the past week, I went and saw a few more doctors. We're back on the theory that I am gluten intolerant. Isn't that exciting? Someday I might have a clue about what is going on. Until then, I'll keep doing the random crap my doctor tells me to.

seattle

So, I'm back in Seattle yet again. Someday I might finally kick Pedro out of my guts. But until then, it looks like I'll just hand out with people who have letters following their names. Oh well.

border patrol

So I went to Whitehorse with Ashley this weekend. It was pretty fun, but I think the highlight of our trip for both of us is when we stopped at the US border on our way home. The officer noticed the brace on my hand and asked what I did. I told him that I did something to the ligament in my thumb because I was trying to do a flip on a trampoline. I didn't talk about the fact that I was trying to do a flip off the wall, but whatever... his response? "What a loser! I'm over 200 pounds and even I can do a flip on a trampoline!" Great. Thanks. Can I go home now? He didn't even really care what we brought back with us. He was laughing too hard.

tagalongs

turns out some stuff really doesn't sit well in my stomach. like girl scout cookies.

scrabble

don't you hate it when you're playing scrabble and your letters looking something like this "O O O I I Q R"?

active yet lazy

The active part...
All the Maxwells are doing some sort of fitness challenge this year. My parents are walking a half marathon, my sister-in-law Alissa is running a half marathon, my sister-in-law Sara is walking a full marathon, Ryan is running a marathon (or biking the STP), Scott is gonna mountain bike something fierce, and me, well, I'm gonna take 4 million steps in 2010. 10958.9 per day, in case you were wondering. I started a little late, so I'm a little behind. But walking 20,000 steps each of the past two days is getting me right back up there. But not to give into healthiness (between my family and my doctor I'm actually being healthy right now), I do still have my lazy moments. Which leads me to...
The lazy part...
Yesterday, I wanted some eggs, since that's one of the three foods that I can eat. And I knew that I would want some more today. So rather than wash the pan and sit there over the stove twice, I cooked twice the eggs and microwaved my breakfast this morning. The pan is still on the stove, dirty. Don't judge... it's hard to do dishes when you can't use your thumb...

maybe there really is hope...

I mean, if google can find Waldo, then anything is possible, right?

the long list...

of things I am apparently at least a little bit allergic to...
cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, cow's milk, lactalbumin (one of the proteins in dairy), yogurt, blueberry, grapefruit, orange, papaya, pear, raspberry, strawberry, alfalfa, celery, cucumber, peppers, mushroom, olive, onion, potatoes, tomatoes, buckwheat, corn, kidney beans, oat, pecan, pinto beans, rice, sesame, soy, chocolate, and coffee.
In case you're wondering what that leaves... I am pretty much eating nuts, meat, select veggies, apples, and bananas. In six weeks I get to start adding some stuff back in to see how my body reacts to it and what I can deal with. Doesn't that sound exciting?!? On the bright side, we may have finally found the source of Pedro...

maxwells

Within the span of just over 24 hours, I saw my whole family. Well, at least my brothers and their families. That pretty much never happens outside of Christmas, so it was pretty fun. Highlights from this weekend include:
-Owen thinking he can scare anyone by saying "BOO" at any point in time (and me pretending to be scared every time)
-Getting to hang out with baby Josh (despite some spit-up)
-Owen telling me that I have big toes (and me telling him that at least they aren't as big as his daddy's)
-Making Calla giggle by putting her on my shoulders and running or jumping (even though she tries to eat my hair)
-14 hours in the car with Ethel laughing at random stuff (like people who are really, really bad at parallel parking)
-Getting to have conversations with my big brothers and their wives (a total of four people... no one in my family is polygamous)

Oh, and btw, a Sky High update... it turns out that I stretch or strained or in some other way injured the ligament in my thumb, so I now have a brace on it to prevent it from moving for the next 6 weeks.... on the bright side, it is stationed in such a way that I can still hold a ski pole and a kayak paddle (not at the same time, of course).

And in case anyone was wondering, I'm ready to be back in Haines any time now...

older than i thought i was

I went to Sky High on Friday. Trust me when I say that it's much harder than it looks. I was determined to do a flip, which might not have been the best idea that I ever had, but the teenie boppers made it look so easy. It was super fun, but I kept landing awkwardly, which has caused me to be sore for the past 48 hours or so. Brutal. All this has led me to the conclusion, "I'm not as young as I once was," which is the first time that I've ever really had that thought. I guess everyone has to grow up sometime...
But let's be honest, I'm still gonna do random stuff that will likely get me hurt. Sorry Mom.

snowshoeing and kayaking

This weekend was freaking amazing. Yesterday I woke up to go snowshoe up Mount Riley with Jenty. It was such a clear, beautiful day. The mountain kinda kicked my butt, largely because I didn't really eat a good breakfast and didn't drink enough water. So I kept trying to find snacks to eat all the way up and adding snow to my water bottle so I had enough to drink. At least Jenty put up with me...

Then I went kayaking with Julie. It was pretty much amazing. We went toward battery point and got harassed by some sea lions that were none too stoked that we were there. As we turned to avoid them, we saw a couple orcas just kinda doing their thing. It was so amazing. The fog was rolling in a bit, so we decided to follow the orcas back toward Julie's house. It was a glorious day.
On the other hand, today I woke up and could barely move because I was so sore. So I watched some movies and slacked off. Good day.

lazy

I'm sure there's at least three or so people out there that are wondering how school is going, so here's the lowdown...
The first semester of my masters in teaching is going fairly well. I've finished one class, schools and society, and now I'm working on Human Development. Sounds thrilling, huh? Yup, it's about as thrilling as it sounds. So rather than actually doing school work, I'm writing about it. I'm not really sure how that works, but it's what I do. I've been subbing at the school a ton lately... today is the first weekday that I have been in Haines and not been working at the school since the first of the year. So I feel like all I've been doing lately is working and studying, but I guess that's not such a bad thing in small town Alaska, as the crazy wind is in the air and some people seem to seek drama like a wolf with a knife soaked in blood (even if it never really did happen). So I'll immerse myself in school and some working and movies sometimes.

intestines

So when I was in Seattle over Christmas I went to yet another new doctor who insisted on testing me for parasites. And yet again, he found nothing. So then he decided to test for Celiac disease (Gluten intolerance). So I hauled by bum back to Seattle to get some blood drawn so he could test this theory out. In the mean time I was told to have no gluten. Great. Awesome. But it actually helped a little. Amazed at how much gluten infests every food I took for granted, I avoided it (with one little setback that I paid for later) and felt amazing. So I was pretty sure I had this gluten intolerance thing. But wait. I finally talk to the doctor yesterday and the says that I don't have the gene that is present in all people with celiac, but I do have some genetic variations that resemble the disease and could make me more prone to intolerance or an allergy. What the heck does that mean? So don't eat gluten (bread, pasta, beer...) for the rest of my life on a hunch? REALLY? So I'm kinda back where I was before... Still feel ok... Have no idea what sets off that magical combination of ingredients that sets my intestines loose like a psycho doing the luge. So it looks like I might be heading to Seattle again in the not too distant future for, you guessed it, more tests. Someday I might actually get rid of all the remnants of the stomach funk formerly known as Pedro.

pens

I LOVE new pens. They just get me so jazzed. So when I went through my stuff when I moved from the little house to the little octagon, I found probably close to 100 pens. I think I need to get rid of some junk.

pants

remember how my favorite pants were eaten by a dog? well, as proof that God is real and can work miracles, they were resurrected from the dead by my mother. patched up with some husky fleece from a fabric store, they are totally wearable. they will always have the scar of that pit bull weimaraner, but at least we have been reunited.
in other news, you can tell it's February in small town Alaska by the sheer craziness of the people in town. I missed that last year since I was in Seattle for most of February. But really, whoa dang.

procrastinating

So, it's been a long time since I've posted. Since the blog world last heard from me I have been to Seattle twice and Las Vegas once.
The first Seattle one was planned... that being Christmas. I had such a good time with my family. It is so much fun having three little kiddos around. Owen (nephew) wanted to help everyone open their presents.
Las Vegas was awesome. I went there to meet up with some friends from the Dominican Republic in '08. We just chilled and caught up. Good times. And since what happens in Vegas obviously doesn't stay in Vegas, if you want to see pictures, check facebook.
The second Seattle trip was medical-related. I finally found a doctor who was willing to keep looking (beyond just lingering parasites) for something wrong with my stomach. So I went down to have some blood drawn. I get the test results back in about a week, so I'll reveal the diagnosis at that point.
Other than those three jaunts, life has been pretty standard. I have been subbing a bunch at the school, which is cool. I'm getting a little bit better of an idea what age I want to teach and stuff like that. School is good. Working on my masters is a little harder than undergrad, but I guess it should be.