Ah, the end of December, when the MSM starts using some secret, unquantifiable formula to determine the Top Ten this and that.

You know what I mean: Top Ten News Stories of the Year. Top Ten Celebrity Gaffs. Top Ten Weight-loss Programs. Top Ten You Name It.

So, here's a challenge to Olybloggers!

Instead of ranking events, can you tell the rest of us what thing, or things, changed your life in the past year? Good, or bad, what was a defining moment for you in 2007.

It can be personal, it can be community-related, it can be whatever you want it to be.

And, I'm asking folks to refrain from sass-back (in other words, please be respectful of others thoughts). This is a chance for all of us to relate what has been important in the past year, without passing judgment on what has been important to others. I

'll start:

Camp Quixote. You've seen in another post that the Camp has been nominated for Person of the Year. I concur with this nomination. What an amazing bunch of folks!

The camp has changed my life and certainly some notions I had about homelessness and homeless people. I have watched it move from its difficult birth downtown where it was the target of community misunderstanding and scorn, into an accepted part of our big-hearted community. Getting to know the residents; the people who support the camp in large and small ways; and working with the faith communities that have stepped forward, sometimes with few resources, to host the camp or be present to it in other ways, has been eye-opening and delightful.