Behold, All Things Have Become New: Happy 2007!

Can you believe another year has come and gone? I just cannot get my mind around the fact that this is 2007!!

Memories
Boy, 2006 flew right by us! What were some of my highlights?

• Joining the Knights of Columbus the first week of the year
  
• Participating in Wheeler Hall’s Open Mic Night
  
• Joining the SGA Senate
  
• Easter Vigil at St. Mary’s in Mount Pleasant (and having my dorm room to myself that weekend, as couple of roomies went to see Dane Cook and the other - like most on campus - went home for the weekend
  
• Becoming a precinct delegate
  
• A lengthy campaign season in which my emotions fluctuated between hope and despair for our governor, while assuming (until the last few weeks) that Congress would stay in GOP hands
  
• Casting my first vote ever - to renew a school district sinking fund in February (it passed)
  
• Voting, first in the primary, and then by absentee for the general election
  
• A joyous election night that already seems so long ago

2006: What a ride.

How I celebrated 2007
On Sunday Mom and Dad went to a New Year’s Eve party, so my dogs, birds, and I stayed home. I took the dogs for a walk. Our walk route included a couple of Little League baseball fields. As we paused at a couple of the fields, I thought of the many kids who played ball and made so many memories on those fields this summer - memories they will cherish for a lifetime. I will probably be the last person to walk on these fields in 2006, I thought to myself.

I turned on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” at 10. Dick Clark himself was still not in the best of shape after suffering a stroke a couple years ago. But he was better than last year. His countdown was a little In the last few seconds, his countdown was a bit off. Still, I enjoyed watching it. Then at midnight, I kissed my dog Lucy and kind of sang along as‘Auld Lang Syne’ played on TV.

Predictions
Some of these predictions for 2007 are based on historical precedent, while others are just guesses.

• An assistant coach at U-M or MSU will become CMU’s new football coach. Just a guess.
  
• The Colts will win the Super Bowl. Their time has come.
  
• Two governors will resign. Just a guess
  
• Bush will veto more bills this year than Granholm. A Democratic Congress will pass more bills Bush won't approve of, but a State House in Democratic hands will mean not as much bad legislation will get to the Governor's
  
• Sorry, Al Gore - no Oscars. I just don't feel it happening.
  
• Hillary Clinton will NOT run for President. Either Feingold or Bayh will reconsider their decision not to run. Meanwhile, Vilsack will drop out of the race sometime in the summer or early fall.
  
• There will not be any contested races for Kentwood City Commission. Grand Rapids will see two. (Kentwood has seen just two contested City Commission races in the last four odd-numbered years.)
  
• The Tigers will again make it to the ALCS and, perhaps, the World Series. The team is largely unchanged from 2006, but it will have Gary Sheffield.
  
• I will decide by May 1 who I will support for the Democratic nomination. I settled on Howard Dean pretty early in 2003, but then I switched to Bob Graham, then Dennis Kucinich, then Wesley Clark, then back to Dean until he dropped out of the primaries.
  
• Osama bin Laden will not be found. He hasn't been found yet, has he?

Resolutions
In each of the last few years I have made vague resolutions to lose weight, be financially better off., and treat myself well. This year, I plan to save some of the cash I earn working, but also drink six glasses of water per day. Water helps with weight loss. I will also work to get higher grades. (Dean’s List anyone? Okay perhaps I’m being a wee bit optimistic. But it’s good to be optimistic.)

So here’s to an amazing 2007 for you, me, and our entire nation and world!

(PS: "Behold, all things have become new" comes from 2 Corinthians 5:17.)