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.