The first week of my self-imposed sabbatical is in Nosara, Costa Rica at the Richard Schmidt Surf Camp. This trip had been planned several months prior to my decision to take time off and was originally intended to be a girls' getaway with my friend Michele. It ended up being the launch point for my 5 months down in this part of the world. As it turns out, it was a perfect way to get the ball rolling in my attempt to figure out where I'm headed and what I want...

Portland is my home. I don't mean that just in the sense that my house is here, my family is here, and my stuff is here - although those things make living here much more comfortable and enjoyable. I mean that I am completely at home here. There's something about the people, the trees, the "weirdness," the overall feel of the city and the northwest in general. It's a sense I never had in other places I've lived. I feel like "me" here. Despite knowing only a...

I am not what you would call a "shopper" by any stretch of the imagination. To be more specific, I'm pretty sure shopping malls lie somewhere in the 4th ring of Hell. Should I be unlucky enough to end up there, I imagine my personal Hell would be to spend eternity in a fitting room at Banana Republic. "Who has legs this long and can actually wear these pants!!! NOOOOO!!!" Suffice it to say, I get around this problem by finding a few things I like and stockin...

Welcome to my mid-life crisis. Mine is not taking the expected form of a sports car or face lift. Mine is a gap year (or gap 5½ months, really). It's also not so much a "crisis" as it is an "adjustment." After working for 20 years and generally following the predictable path, I've chosen to veer off course. This is not in character for me at all. In general, I tend to follow the rules, stick to an established pattern, go with the flow. So far that "flow" ...