Haiti - no words

I have no words to describe this disaster or my own emotional response to it.  I'm also working on this at work a bit, so I have almost nothing left in terms of verbal, physical, writing energy to devote more.  Once again, I'll just punt to All Souls Church because they say it well, and somehow get the
spiritual/emotional/action balance just right.

2009: The Year in Review (2)

[Dear reader, I’m writing my year in review chronologically, but if you are just arriving, you’re reading it in reverse chronological order. If you want to get the full picture, I recommend you scroll/jump down to the 1st entry.]

Summertime. I began to feel some stabilization. Life was now going to continue as it was, with Laz in the military; Grace in a good public school; reliable childcare; and work in autopilot. Many times, I felt my nerves frayed and my fuse short, but I was swimming twice a week, and that was doing wonders.

I began this swimming routine in 2009, specifically to clear my f-ing head, and it did do that. When I was at my wit’s end, a swim could clear the noise and set me straight. Ideally, I’d get this daily or 3-4x/week, but 2x/week was realistic, and I’m all about what’s “good enough,” not "ideal" these days.

2009: The Year in Review (1)

2009 was a year.  I can not be more understated.  As the year closes, I guess my conclusion would be that it was a flat - back to baseline; at best, achieving a small uptick.  But considering 2009 started deep in the negative, and continued that trend for a few months at least, that’s damn good news.

As the year began on the heels of a trying 2008, I put stock in the global sea change that I hoped would project on my own personal sphere of influence.  I was excited, thrilled even, at the reality of Barack Obama becoming President (and still am!).  It felt like a new beginning, and hopefully a turnaround that would translate into my personal life as well.  (Funny, how I (like many others) expected  for that to work out.)