According to ancient Chinese wisdom, each of us has personality characteristics that are defined by five elements — wood, fire, Earth, metal and water. The idea is that everyone possesses certain aspects of all five elements, but that one tends to be more dominant than the others. Knowing where you fall, it’s said, can help you make healthier lifestyle choices when it comes to diet, jobs and relationships.

We’re having a weight loss challenge at work, which brings me to the subject of lunch. Kind of roundabout, I know. But when you’re trying to clean up your eating, the question becomes “to bring or to buy?” I know a lot of folks who go out for lunch every single day, a routine that has its definite ups and downs. Ups include the fact that you don’t have to think about what to pack at oh-dark-hundred, when your coffee barely has settled in your veins. You also don’t have to dig deep to get creative. Do a different restaurant each day and variety is guaranteed.

When I was a writer for the paper in Boulder, we had stories we referred to as O-I-Bs, or Only in Boulders. These were the stories of unusual people and things that happened, seemingly only in Boulder.

Talking to a friend last week, I was reminded of how important it is to listen to your gut. Not the growly stomach, hungry kind of messages you get. Rather, the sense that something might not be right. In other words, your intuition.

As a single mom, I want to be a superhero for my kids. I want to be able to carve out special time like we used to have before I started working full time. I want to have the patience when I walk through the door to listen to stories about their day and worries that they have and details about their plans for the weekend.

Reading the paper last weekend, I stumbled across a headline on page three about a Detroit author who died in a car accident. As an avid reader, I decided to delve a little deeper, not expecting to know anything about the victim. So I was blown away to learn it was Jeffrey Zaslow, whom I heard speak in October at a conference in Chicago. You may not be familiar with his name but you certainly have heard about his stories. He’s the guy who authored “The Last Lecture,” a life-changing book about a professor who was dying of pancreatic cancer, and “Highest Duty,” about Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who piloted that U.S. Air flight that landed in New York’s Hudson River without fatalities.

Last summer, I had the unique opportunity to experience what it was like to have to depend on using a handicapped-parking permit. Recovery from ACL and meniscus surgery was slow and resulted in not being able to put any weight on my left leg for four weeks. That meant I had to park in a [...]

My life is divided into two time frames. Before my daughter Emma was diagnosed with cancer and after I heard the doctor confirm my worst fear. For example, before Emma at the age of 8 was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma, I knew blood drives took place and I knew they were important. But that’s about as far as my thought process went.

With news last week that actress Demi Moore suffered seizures after smoking some kind of incense-like drug, I once again realized how far out of the loop I am. I’d never heard of the drug and was blown away to discover that it’s apparently legal and sold at gas station check-out counters. It’s marketed as incense and not for human consumption, but in talking to folks this week most everyone knows you smoke it. Mind you, I’ve sometimes been accused of being very naïve. But back in the day, I think I had a pretty good handle on what was going on around me.

Have you ever noticed how subtle things like color and music can affect your mood? As part of the gradual transition my life seems to be going through, I’ve been tuning into some of the things in my world that used to play in the background, so to speak