The Other Side of the Equation: A story of Life, Love, and Math...

This last few weeks in Portland have been scorching hot. Well, for Portland it's been hot, well into the 90's. Luckily I was out of town last week at a conference in Seattle, where it was a bit cooler, while people in Portland were boiling through temperatures in the  high 90's. This week has been pretty hot too. My third floor apartment, without air conditioning, has been sweltering. I sit on the couch, sweating as if I am in the full sun, sticking to my couch. It has been a humbling experience. Air conditioning....a simple thing that can be something that defines where you fall in the income standings. This is the first time in more than twenty years that I have not had air conditioning. The eighteen years of my marriage and the time before involved air conditioning. Previous to being married, I didn't have it, but I was also a single parent living near my parents so my daughter could go to an acceptable school. I was spending sixty-percent of my income to make it w

Looking back on my blog history, I realize that it has been since March since I have written. For someone who was a consistent writer, this is a lifetime. For anyone who knows me, you know that this year has been a challenge, well, really the last three years have been a struggle, physically, emotionally, personally and professionally. I have been doing a lot of reflection recently, looking at myself in ways that I haven't had the courage to do before. There have always been areas about myself that I have been less than thrilled about, physically as well as emotionally, and I have realized that it is time to move forward. It is time to shed some of the negative that I have dragged with me for years. To give a bit of background...my mother (like the one that gave birth to me rather than the mom of my heart), who I have written about before, raised me with some unique beliefs about myself, my body, my emotional health. I am not looking for sympathy, no pity parties here, just giv