numbers

7.5
this week i realized that i've lived in portland for seven and a half years. this is shocking to me because, in many ways, it feels like i just left minneapolis yesterday.  this revelation got me thinking about numbers and memories.
25
the number of years i lived near lake harriet.  i'm guessing i ran around this lake a few hundred times with kristin or leena solving the world's problems and checking out boys.
41
my current age. when i was a young lass i had many ideas of what my life would be like in my forties. it's quite different from what i imagined, which is neither good nor bad, it just is. although, i think at some point i was supposed to have a volvo and three kids.
16
number of years since i entered graduate school. it's been nearly two decades since i sauntered up the stairs of helen c white hall. i couldn't have picked a better profession, or a better graduate school, for me. i met some dear friends (my partners in literacy) in that lush bathroom at HCW.
23
years since my freshman year of college. back in the days of bon jovi's livin on a prayer i met a gaggle of girls who would become my sisterhood. we've gone through life together - attended countless weddings, shared parenting advice, and discovered miraval. this group can rally and be an incredible force during more difficult times - from bad hair choices to heart breaks they offer support, comfort, and always find a way to make me laugh.  also, if you need someone to put a hex on an ex beau or an evil boss, this is your go to group.
31
years i have known AEC. i have a handful of very close friends, but there's only one that i have known for 3/4 of my life. it's a friendship i treasure.  
21
years since my grandpa flotten died, nineteen years since my grandma kamman died, seventeen years since my grandma flotten died, five years since my dad died. the pain doesn't go away, thankfully the memories don't either.
5
i've lived in five states for varying lengths of time. long enough to form strong opinions about their politicians and fall in love with some aspect of each location. i love the lakes and the birch trees in minnesota, the southern warmth and mountains of north carolina, the lush green pines of wisconsin, the excitement, majesty, and history of new york, and the rivers, bridges and bounty of oregon.

while this exercise made me realize that time flies, it also made me think that i'm not as bad at math as i once thought.