Money Matters

I noticed last week that the Euro had fallen to around $1.30 from the $1.56 it was when I left. I was feeling a little frustrated that the 10 months I spent in Europe were the 10 most expensive months ever for an American to live in Europe. Then, yesterday, Kirsten came into the office and mentioned that the Euro was crashing fast. Faster than the dollar anyway. We looked it up, and I almost passed out...

$0.79

This means that if I paid for my whole year over at today's rate, it would cost me roughly HALF of what I actually paid for rent, food, plane tickets, museums, trains, etc... thousands of $ really. Still, I have no regrets about my choices, or experiences. It was worth every penny, timing just wasn't on my side. On the other hand, I'm enjoying the gas prices these days...

Work Hard, Play Harder

Somehow having a job, a social life, nursing applications, a healing knee, and Spanish classes leaves me with somewhat less time to blog. Really, I can't believe that it's almost November or that I've been home for home from France for almost 6 months. It's nice to be settling in again though, I'm enjoying feeling at home and busy. But considering how excited I was to be home in May, it's amazing how itchy my feet are sure getting again. But in the mean time I've been playing hard, and loving life. A few weeks ago we headed out to Smith for the Oregon Mountain Club Beginner Smith Climbing Trip. It was my first time lead climbing outside, and I was excited to climb my first 5.10 on top rope! I've been trying to climb at least once or twice a week at Dixon to get back into climbing shape. Hopefully I'll still be able to squeeze in at least one more trip outside before winter really sets in in Oregon. So far we've been having a simply lovely Fall, and I've been loving it!

Starting my first lead climb on Bunny Face 5.7 at Smith Rocks

Keith came to visit in the middle of the month for a long weekend, and it was great to see him again. It was nice to see most of my family all in the same place at the same time and, of course, of mounds off good ol' home cooking that accompanied that. We also enjoyed a run up on Mary's Peak, drinks out with friends, a cider pressing party, and a lazy Saturday with our folks in the mountains.

Today I finally got a chance to go play with my new baby, my friend Josh and I headed up to the Clackamas this morning. I guess that officially makes me a kayaker. I have a bit to learn, and I'm excited for the day I won't flip in 32.1° water in a class 3 rapid, but it was awesome just the same. Actually I only flipped twice, but despite repeatedly sticking my roll over and over on Wednesday in the pool, I still swam once today. Brrrr. Sadly I forgot to buy batteries on when we stopped on our way up to the river, but here is my boat hanging out in the garage. Can you see the new scratches on my paddle?!

My knee is also finally healing, which I really think is making the difference for my stomach, as I can finally run and seriously work out. It must simulate normal digestion by helping move everything around. It's certainly bringing down my stress level, and making me happier. I'm still swimming when I can to take some of the stress of my legs, but I'm upping my running mileage to almost 10 miles a week. I guess you have to start somewhere.... A trail run in Mac Forest is the first thing on my list tomorrow though, followed by the lazy Sunday I've been needing.

It's been a while since I've carved a pumpkin, but I'm getting excited for the prospect of actually having Trick-or-Treaters for the first time ever.

Boulder

This past weekend I snuck away from work and took an overdue trip to Boulder to visit Keith and Melanie. I flew into Denver late on Thursday night, allowing me to wake up to a day of vacation on Friday morning already in Colorado. So after a lazy morning, Keith and I hiked up to the Third Flatiron. Keith decided we should simoclimb all 6 pitches in succession due to the ease of the climb. I was afraid I would slow him down, having not even put my climbing shoes on in almost two years, but we flew right up the wall. In fact, we passed all four parties already climbing when we had started! Instead taking the estimated hour and a half we had anticipated we reach the summit in about 45 minutes. It was a perfect climb, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day either, the weather was perfect, and the view of Boulder was awesome! We chatted with some of the other parties that were catching up and then rappelled off the back and hiked home to get ready for a night out on the town.

The Third Flatiron
So Melanie picked us up, and we headed downtown for a fancy dinner of Tapas and excellent French wine. We started out the evening with a drink at the bar while we waited for dinner. Unfortunately the waitress didn't warn me that their Margaritas came in a PINT glass. Followed by an amazing, but light dinner and half a bottle of wine, feeling a wee bit Tipsy. We strolled down Pearl Street, bought Keith a new pair of pants after noticing his had an enormous hole in rear, and popped into a few other bars before heading across town to catch a little folk concert at a local music hall.

Mum's at the Farmer's Market
Not surprisingly, Keith and I opted for a lazy morning at the Farmer's Market where we loaded up on goodies to make what turned out be an enormous feast for dinner later. We sampled local pastries, and Colorado cheese, took another wander through downtown, stopped in at the local Dem's office, and enjoyed a trendy and late breakfast.

Bouldering at Flagstaff
The rest of the weekend was filled with beer tasting, cards, delicious food, a nice hike up in the canyon, brunch at the Tea House, a visit from Keith and Mel's friend Cory, cheering Melanie for a half Marathon, a little bouldering and lots of catching up. It was a wonderful weekend, and going back to work was pretty hard on Tuesday.

Looking out over Lake Isabel

Whoops.

So I tried to think of a few excuses as to why it's been so long since I've posted. Almost two months!!! I've been busy... I've been working a lot. I lost my camera cord to upload pictures. I went rafting, kayaking, hiking, attended weddings. I've moved. Been at war with my stomach. Really though, I have no good excuses. Hopefully as I start to feel settled again, I will get back into the swing of blogging. I certainly have plenty to share. Like I said, I've been busy. I don't even know where to start.

The Pizza Creation Station at our Blackberry Bonanza, in which we celebrated the peak of summer with blackberry picking, swimming in the river, making wood fired pizzas, and eating most of our harvest in the form of cobblers. I did make some jam the next day though.

Well, I have a final diagnosis on my stomach. It's paralyzed. Seriously. Post-Viral Gastroparesis to be exact. After several months of no gluten, I was still getting sick. Frustrated, I went back for even more tests. This time I was given a radioactive egg salad sandwich to eat, and then I laid under a whole Geiger counter while they watched the sandwich move. Or, in my case, not move. Basically when I eat food, it doesn't move along like it would in a normal stomach. Rather it sits, and swells, and make me feel perfectly terrible. And it's something I'm learning to live with, as there isn't much they can do. Mostly though, it's nice to know I'm not crazy and something was really wrong. It makes feeling sickish on a regular basis almost bearable. The current experiment for an effective treatment involves me swallowing pills full of HCL with every meal. Never a dull moment in my medical history.

Johannah flying the canoe across Clear Lake.
I'm not about to let it slow me down though. At the end of August I moved, finally. Moving was a drag, but also, a relief. I almost feel like a big kid again. It's nice to be settling in, and I'm looking forward to the upcoming year. I'm just finally starting to feel like I belong in my new home. I moved into an established house, and for a while it just felt like I was visiting friends. After weeks of looking for a 1 bedroom place, I somehow found myself looking at an open room in a house of 5. And for some reason it just felt right. I took it, and haven't regretted it once. Turns out a few of the roommates have climbed with Keith, and have various ties to the Mountain Club. And because of this I've run across more than a few people I have met in previous years. It's certainly nice to be around active people too. Since moving in I've rafted the MacKenzie, and spent a weekend sea kayaking in the San Juan's, and there are plans for Smith Rock trips, and adventures down the Rouge. Now I just need an bottomless bank account.

Sunset on Cyprus Island.
The Sea Kayaking Crew. Me, Keith, Lea, Colleen, and Ian.
My childhood friend Mary married her partner Jaci in an absolutely beautiful ceremony last month.

My favorite nephew.

What happened to June...

Ok, ok, OK. I guess I've been slacking a little in the blog department. I mean, I wasn't exactly hopping boarders, or convinced I was dying last month. You know, ho hum, not a lot going on in June. June was dedicated, instead, to one mission, and one mission alone. Job hunting. Which, left me, as one little ball of stress. I think if I saw the words EMPLOYMENT HISTORY one more time I would have screamed. I applied to the Portland Art Museum, the Portland Opera, the Portland Children's Museum, OMSI, OHSU, a wine and cheese shop, three nursing homes, the Raphael House, and seven different positions at Good Samaritan Hospital. I guess the job market isn't quite what it could be.... I looked at 2008 Nursing Programs... full till next year... CNA classes are full till January in Corvallis.... full in Eugene... full in Salem... then on a stroke of luck I called three days before they opened a new CNA class in Portland, and got a spot. Then the temp agency finally called me back for a temp to hire position as a Secretary for CARDV (Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence). Upon investigating their website, I realized they had other, more appealing positions open. In particular, ones for which I was rather well qualified. I took my application for the Sexual Assault Response Advocate to my temp position interview. They called me two hours later to set up a real interview, and I was offered the position just in time to drop my CNA class. I started this past week, but more on my new job later. In the mean time, you can check out CARDV's website here.

I did, thankfully, manage to find time to do a few other things between drafting cover letters:

Allison and I drove to Portland to visit Alice in her new abode.
My parents celebrated their 17th Wedding Anniversary. Aren't they cute??
and the scrumptious Filet Mignon on a bed of Caramelized Onions and Sweet Potato Mash I made for them.
Johannah, Chelsea and Will at the swimming hole in Eugene.
Will expressing his love for Garlic during our Sunday afternoon of pickling.
This is how much Eugene loves T&F, and it's awesome.
Our view of the Olympic Trials last night. I think they call this the "Nose Bleed" section...
Jenny and I enjoying the Meet.

Death by Wheat

Well it's been entirely too long since I've updated my blog, especially since the last post sort of left off at the begging of the huge Tour de Médecine I've been on this past month. So far I'm averaging 2.75 doctors appointments a week, so maybe that's why I haven't sat down long enough to update my blog. And have any of the tests been conclusive? No, not the Barium CT Scan, the Small Bowel Follow Through X-Rays, copious amounts of blood work for Celiac Disease, Thyroid Disorders, Tissue Inflammation, and the Consultations with Surgeons, Gynecologists, Generalists, and GI doctors seemed like dead end after dead end. But I was getting sicker and sicker. A week and a half ago I was eating a cup of food at a meal if I was lucky only to be overwhelmed with horrible stomach pains and feelings of nausea and a bizarre pressure at the back of my throat. It was like I'd just eaten Thanksgiving dinner, several times. I didn't want to eat anymore, but I was soooo hungry. Within 20 minutes of eating my stomach would swell, distending into a round ball, bigger and bigger over the course of the day. Each day I was less and less energetic, sleeping on the couch most of the afternoon.

Then about a week and a half ago my Mom insisted I try an elimination diet. I started with rice and rice milk on Day 1 and added a small food group each day. I first added fruit, then nuts, veggies, and finally dairy products, starting with yogurt. Within 24 hours, I felt better, in two days I was a whole new person. I started eating full meals, my stomach started to shrink to a normal size and my cramps slowly began to dissipate, getting better each day. The only thing we didn't add back into my diet was gluten. Hummm... a pretty obvious correlation to me. My GP wasn't convinced, but she really had no other answers, but your blood test for Celiac is negative the Medical Community insists. However, with some firm persistence, I finally got in to actually see my Gastroenterologist in person. The colonoscopy scheduled for Monday was switched to an oral endoscopy. They are looking for Celiac in my intestinal walls, but the biopsies might still miss it. Celiac presents in a patchy distribution, and he will only take so many samples. It could be very easy to get a false negative. So in order to give me the very best chance of getting a positive biopsy I was instructed to start eating gluten again. No problemo! I headed straight for Big River and ordered the biggest piece of Chocolate Cake on the menu. So bring on the cake, fresh baked bread, cookies, just rolled pasta & beer, I'm going down in glory. And God, do I feel awful. My stomach cramps roared back to life, my tummy is slowly swelling back to previous proportions, that dreadful feeling at the back of my throat is back, my head aches in a foggy haze and I've taken up residence on the couch again. You can have the cake back. For as devastated as I was a week ago upon contemplating a life without soft pillowly bread, I am now counting down the days till Monday. Go Figure.

For more information on Celiac Disease: Click Here