It seems another year has past and it is time for me to renew my blog. I debated this time about letting it disappear into oblivion.  In the end I decided to keep it going and to recommit myself to posting once a week.  It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 4 years since I started this blog.  I can’t say I have been consistent about it and I know others that are much better at posting often, but I do enjoy the occasional rant.  So I am keeping my namesake for another year at least.

So what has been happening that I have been so mum to mention?  Well, I’m glad you asked…

1. I have decided to make math a part of my life, and actually followed through with it.  I am not sure exactly why I have followed a career path that has led me to a “shadow-math”, that is how I will now refer to programming (sorry to all you programmers out there that are offended, I am simply not a programmer and I am ok with that).   In the past few months I have started tutoring at a local tutoring center.  And I am teaching a night class at a local private career college.  Both of these experiences have made me feel the acute pain of a “realized loss.”  Just like in finance, the pain of an “unrealized loss” is much less.  And by getting back into the learning arena, I have more than realized the losses I have had in terms of knowledge; things I had once known or come easily are now a struggle.  I am not backing down and I am not letting the discomfort of learning stop me from getting it back. And along the way I am having fun working with people and trying different styles of teaching.  

These two experiences have shown me that I would love to have math back in my life on a full-time basis.  So read into that what you will. Let’s just say if you hear of anything in the area, let me know…

1. We have found and are purchasing our first house.  We are planning on moving in almost exactly one month and I couldn’t be more excited.  Searching for a house turned out to be much more difficult than looking for a condo.  There was a lot more to consider.  And houses are not generally rehabbed the way condo buildings are (or at least the ones we purchased in the past).  Because of this there is more analysis on what you are willing to deal with and what is a non-negotiable.  The house, as it turns out, was the second one we looked at on the first day with our agents.  I definitely knew at that time I was interested in it and remember not being interested in anything else that day.  Being new to town, we were cautious to act and took our time exploring a few other areas.  In the end, I am glad that we did take out time and I am very happy with the way things have worked out.  The house appraised a little lower than we were hoping, but that is ok too as we ended up getting a better deal than we were originally.  The timing couldn’t be better as our short-term lease is up at the end of February. 

I have already put a lot of thought into the kitchen, which will have to be remodeled, and the redecorating both inside and out that I want to do.  I can’t wait to have my very own garden. And attic and basement. and garage...

1. On a more stressful, sad note, one of our cats was diagnosed with diabetes. We have learned to give him insulin twice a day and have switched his diet to a diabetic friendly diet.  He is doing well now.  He is much more active than he was and I think his weight-loss has slowed.  We are optimistic about it long term since it is common that cats respond to a diet change and eventually don’t need insulin at all or only a couple times a week.  Having to be consistent with his feeding and shots has had a very interesting side-effect: I now get up everyday at 6 am.  I am finding that I enjoy having the extra time to do things around the house.  It really shouldn’t be a surprise, as I was always doing these things when I worked outside the home.  Since I have been working from home, I have been taking advantage of the roll-out-of-bed-and-into-my-desk-chair convenience that it allows.  However, this was not really good for my psyche.  And being forced to get up early is exactly what I needed to get out of that rut. 

I spent a lot of (ok, most of) the day yesterday trying hard to find things besides work, feeling resentful that I had to sit at my desk all alone.  The day was slow to pass and at 5 you really have nothing to show for the past 8 hours.  So today, I am delving in and working.  And the day is going by a lot faster and this project isn't really as bad as I thought it would be when I was procrastinating. 

On another note, we continue to look for houses in the Twin Cities area.  There is an area we really like with really cute houses and a gf bakery within walking distance. But the airport noise is worrying us, so we will be exploring other parts of the city to see if the perfect house is some where else in the city.  I don't think we will find as much stuff to walk to in other neighborhoods.  

Amy has this great and short post that got me thinking. And since I don't seem to be able to comment on her page (I think I know my own email password?) I am posing my response here. 

This is indeed a great question especially around the holidays.  My answer is some-what (ok, mostly) selfish.  

You know what I really want...

• To spend less time in front of a computer.
• To spend more time with family and friends
• To spend more time talking about Math and learning and helping others learn.
• To have more time "off" from work and commitments where I can simply be.
• To express myself more creatively.
• To add more substance and less fillers in my life.
• To simplify my life to the essentials.
• To laugh more.
• To relax more.
• To take action more.
• To exercise more.
• To travel more.