I’ve been home from Ecuador for a week and the time has come to write some sort of summary of The Trip. Despite my best efforts to hold on to every moment of it, to keep it alive in the present, I can feel it all slowly slipping into that hazy, fuzzy place where all… (read more)

Look, people. It’s GO TIME. How do I know that it’s GO TIME? Well, for one, the calendar says so. For two, the butterflies in my stomach say so. For three, The Pile says so. I use my patented “Pile It” method when preparing for a big trip — as in, I start a pile… (read more)

The sun was still shining on the glistening petals of my front yard tulips when we started our meeting at 7 pm last night, a sure sign that Spring is truly here. The official arrival of this most prolific of seasons brought with it the knowledge that our June departure is now just around the… (read more)

So, it’s been a long little while since I blogged about Ecuador. Lo siento. I don’t really have any good excuses . . . save for, you know, Life. I don’t quite remember where I left you, perhaps at a meeting in Heather’s apartment on a cold and blustery day? We have had 2 meetings… (read more)

I can be a pretty rigid person. I sort of like things a certain way, and my brain has an annoying tendency of shutting down when it’s (dumb) “rules” are violated. Knowing this, I work extra hard at pushing myself to be flexible in difficult situations, even when it’s scary. Actually, especially when it’s scary,… (read more)

It has been an interesting September in Portland. I’ve often proclaimed it as our most lovely month, our just reward for the soggy and cool days of June-uary that kick-off the summers around here. While we were thankfully spared much of the June drizzle this year, September unfortunately didn’t get the memo that it was… (read more)