Loose Tea

Isn't it odd that when one looks back at the ten low points for 2007, it feels impossible to disentangle them from the high points? They are inextricably intertwined. Here is my list of 10.

Ten High Points

1. I found a new job that challenges my mind. As difficult as it was to leave one job and find another—not in that order thank goodness—it has been a welcome change. I feel that I can add more and better value in my new position. It is closer to my home and it is a fresh start.
   
   
2. The Ypsilanti Income Tax was defeated. My friends and family at least do not have one more financial burden placed on their shoulders. Instead, they are resiliently toughing it out with existing challenges. My shoulders also feel like they have pushed off a possible oncoming obstacle.
   
   
3. Visiting Cancun was a life altering experience that has stayed with me. My trip was sponsored in part by one of my clients from my old job. I never would have had the chutzpah to leave gloomy Michigan in February for a warmer, brighter climate. But, when I disembarked the plane it was as if the scales fell off of my eyes and I immediately felt that I was a new person. I wanted to rip off my bulky and somber navy blues and replace them with the bright colors of rejoicing. I MUST try to retain this lesson: If you feel downtrodden and gloomy in one place, do what is necessary to move to a sunnier, happier atmosphere, even temporarily.
   
   
4. Visiting Florida and the Everglades in August with my family also altered my consciousness. I think maybe it is not enough to read about the National Parks from Nevada Barr, one must visit them. And while visiting, why not take a side tour to Key West and Miami Beach and Hemingway's house and a Swap Shop with family.
   
   
5. The Chili Cookoff and a million other small visits with my nieces down the road. I still vividly remember last year's cookoff with my intrepid four year old companion. After all, it is not every day you see a four year old sitting in a bar stool at a smokey place like Aubrees reaching up to the bar for a bite of hot chili.
   
   
6. My dogs have consistently greeted me day after day at the door when I come home. They also seem genuinely concerned when I leave and propel me daily into taking walks with them outside. They also are true companion dogs with Maverick chatting on and on through the better part of most days we spend together.
   
   
7. My house has not fallen in on itself and I have escaped being a victim of the subprime lending crisis. At my cousin's recent wedding, my great Uncle, who rehabs foreclosed houses in one region of Michigan, brought the news home for me. Make no mistake, times are hard in Michigan. The sheer numbers of foreclosures for one week in Saginaw alone demonstrate the reality of the situation.
   
   
8. T'ai Chi, T'ai Chi, T'ai Chi. A few months ago I started to take T'ai Chi with Sufi Greg at the Riverside Arts Center. At times during class I have worried that I am revisiting those nightmarish days taking ballet so as my Dad would explain I wouldn't move around like an elephant. I could never remember the moves then and lived in fear of whether I was correctly executing fifth position. With T'ai Chi I have the same problems with remembering the steps. But the experience is entirely different. The instructor goes slow and is very understanding. One of his main emphasis points in on relaxation.
   
   
9. I am taking a mystery writing course through Washtenaw Community College's Live Work Learn program starting in January. After I make my first million from publishing the first couple books in my series, it will be farewell cubicle, hello living.
   
   
10. My sister did not die in the ER and emerged relatively unscathed. This is the best outcome to a visit to the emergency room and though she may not feel it totally in her life, at least I can know that I have dodged a huge mental bullet.

The aim of this post is to slowly take stock of the year just about gone, specifically from the point of view of the valleys with the idea that then I can turn to the mountainous highs tomorrow.

Bottom Ten List

1. Michigan lost 4 games, might lose a fifth. My fall highlight is usually the stability of an awesome Michigan team. I do think this team was grand, but losing games takes away from the overall faith I put into gravity and nature's laws. Those who do not follow sports will not understand this. Those who do will have no problem getting the notion.
2. My sewer backed up twice. I don't feel I need to say more.
3. My dogs got out and were gone for a bit. OK, so it was less than a few hours each time, but my heart just about stopped anyways until they were found.
4. I left my job of four years. This sort of change is very difficult for me to face. It seems my mind and body like their routines.
5. I have fallen into bad eating habits. Cheeseburgers and soda pop are winning the battle right now.
6. I found an old friend while searching the Internet. The old friend is in prison—for life.
7. Cash flow has prevented me from helping those in need in ways I would like to in order to make a difference. From friends to family members there have been moments of serious need I have had to stare down this year, hoping that a quick prayer thrown into the dark abyss might do some good.
8. My basement is not done and progress on my house is slow. I ran into a neighbor while Christmas shopping at Ann Arbor's Downtown Home and Garden. She wanted to know if I still live in the house (she lives practically across the steet) and with a good deal of concern asked if everything was ok. She did not invite me to her yearly New Year's party.
9. My friend's dad died He was sick for a long time. He had Crohn's disease. Still, he is very sorely missed and his relatives had a difficult Christmas without him—even though he was Jewish.
10. My sister went into the ER and almost died. She came back out but it has taken some time for me to deal with the notion that my family members might not be around forever and that death could come knocking at any time.

Each year around this time, I make attempts to purchase items that I think those on my gift wish would want.

I go from store to store and try to get into the mind of my recipient. I try to shop local where appropriate; I try to "be the gift."

This year, as I do the mind meld with my gift buying side, I realize that this is not really me. That I cannot shop at the mall, sorry to all those reading this who wanted that Coach bag from the store or the JC Penney frilly gloves or the whatever else is at the mall. I still don't believe in gift cards, so no, these will not be plan B.

Instead I am going around to the places I usually shop through the year. The places where refunds are non-existent and you are much more likely to get a one of a kind.

Happy Holidays to you and if you don't like your gift know that you've supported a worthy cause. You've helped those out there "Doing the Most Good."

Yesterday, my sister and I visited the Detroit Institute of Arts for free. We used the Macy's Museum Adventure Pass I checked out from the public library.

I have to say, I am a huge fan of this program. It is so easy and is a great incentive to go out and visit area museums.

Here is a link to their website: link

The program runs through October 2008, as follows:

You go to your local library and find the brightly colored Adventure Pass box, usually near the circulation desk. You find a plastic card for the museum you're interested in visiting and you take it to check out. Then, you have 7 days to visit that museum.

Here is a list of participants: List

Have you been waiting for just the right moment to visit the Ypsilanti Historical Museum (link)? There may never be a better time. Free passes are also great to use when out of town family members come trucking in for festive holiday fun.

Sometimes when it is as windy as it is outside right now and has been for a couple of days, I get the sense that I am due for some major life change.

And usually, the world does turn, the wind blows and suddenly my life is re-configured. I wish I could say this is always for the better but sometimes it just means a brand new challenge is brewing and then finally unleashed.

This past weekend, I had my friend from 2nd grade over to my house. I hadn't talked to her in 4 years and she has a 5-year old daughter.

While she and her husband seemed much the same as ever, their daughter had a brand new, sparkling personality. I expected she would be shy—her mom always was when she was young. My friend's daughter was not.

She was quite talkative and engaging with a surprising vocabulary for a 5-year old.

But that wasn't all. When we sat down to have a mock tea, she actually drank tea with the adults, along with hot cocoa and Sprite. She was very excited that she could have THREE drinks at one time. She also had a contagious excitement about such things as my egg salad sandwiches, and the honey and peanut butter ones.

Her mom says that at school she arrives early and drinks tea with her teacher. I can only hope that her tea is not my coffee, that she will learn to appreciate being five and not rush into being an adult straight away.

My 5-year old niece also came over with her 10-year old sister to help me prepare for the visit and to keep the new little girl company.

Right away, my friend's daughter connected with my niece. About 5 sentences in, she asked, "Can we be friends for life?"

The thing is that this is the way it happens after all for many people. I know there are people in my life that 5 minutes in I hope they will be "friends for life."

And that even after a 4 year absence I will still want to spend time with them and ask after their family and their health, and hope for their well being.

I am sitting watching my Sunday night trash TV. "Desperate Housewives" is the perfect multi-task show. You really don't need to follow anything but 10 minutes a show to catch what's going on.

In tonight's episode there is much ado about a tornado coming. Outside my house the wind is blowing so hard the curtain on my front door is flowing. (Not the best insulation.)

If this trick really works, I hope we will soon see some shows about balmy, unseasonably warm December weather until Christmas and then ONE day of light snow.