I've seen grocery store and gas prices go up. I've listened to stories on NPR about oil supplies. I've even thought about how to spend my economic stimulus check to help out the economy. In short, I have been paying attention.

But I haven't really felt the impact of the weak dollar until today, when I encountered something that hit me where I live. The price of tea has gone up. Not a lot, not so much that I can't buy the teas I like, but enough that I noticed. I buy between 1 and 2 pounds of loose leaf tea once every couple of months to fuel my 2-pot a day habit. I ordered tea today from my favorite supplier, Upton Tea, and I was startled when my order was about 8 or 9 percent higher than the last order I placed on February 28, for virtually the same teas.

I can afford the increase, but I didn't anticipate that tea would have gone up in price as a result of the weak dollar. In retrospect it's obvious that it had to -- it's a luxury agricultural product imported in small quantities (I'm not drinking Lipton here!). The extra money made me think about the weak dollar in a way all the news stories I've been reading haven't -- it made it personal.