This is exactly what I knew was coming.

My friends frequently have to tell me to stop talking about politics. (I tend to get a little over-enthusiastic.)

I registered to vote the the Monday after my 18th birthday back in 2003. I have voted in every single election since then, whether it was for local candidates or for the president. It's my right and if I want to have an opinion about politics, then I need to vote.

Originally, I was hoping and praying for Mitt Romney to win the presidential race, although I knew from the beginning it would be a long shot. When McCain received the nomination and announced Palin as his running mate, though, I was sold. (This should be evident by the pink bumper sticker on my car which will remain until a Republican is back in office.)

I really hope that I do not offend anyone by what I'm about to say here, but this is my blog and I can voice my opinions - but only because I voted.

Yes, I saw the comic in the New York Post. Yes, I thought it was funny. No, I don't think anyone needed to apologize for it. Here's why:

1. The stimulus bill/economic recovery bill/whatever-you-want-to-call-it bill might as well have been written by a monkey. It will not do any good. Inflation is going to sky-rocket. The people who are out of the job right now will not be getting a job thanks to the bill. That means that Aharon won't be getting a job because of this bill. Why? Because the money is going to create jobs with existing companies who are going to give more work to their existing workers, not hire in new ones. The insinuation in the comic that the monkey could have written the next bill was funny. Hands down. No exceptions.
2. Obama looks like a monkey. This is not racist. A family who used to attend my church - that I miss very much - had a little girl. She, with her porcelain white skin and light blond hair - looked like a monkey. George Bush even looked like a monkey! Some people look like monkeys and it has nothing to do with the skin color, place of birth, or anything else.
3. Perhaps the author meant it to be racist. Getting all upset about it isn't going to help. I would respect people a lot more if they could laugh at themselves and get over things. I understand that slavery was horrible. I don't doubt that or discredit it. But it's been years. Let's move on, people.
   

I was not happy about the idea of Obama as president. This is not simply because he was black or even because he was a democrat, but rather because of the eventual racism that would appear in full force. And I'm not talking about white people being racists against black people. It goes both ways, and unfortunately I think it works a little harder against white people lately.

So let the hating begin. Now that we have a black president every single thing is white people being racist. And that is exactly why I am sad about having a black president. You had your day of celebration. Now let's move on. It's over. He's just one more president in a very long line that will continue after him.

I think that this country has gone above and beyond when it comes to making things right for slavery and for all the inconsistencies of decades ago. But we've made it right. Years of affirmative action, for one! The fact that my brothers and I were not able to get scholarships because everything required you to be a minority. How's that for not fair?!

If the next four to eight (and I pray to God every day that it's not eight) years continue like this, with a weekly break in reality for some bitch session about how black people are treated and how all us ignorant white people should apologize for the rest of our lives and suffer because of it, then this country is certainly not behaving in the way it should. We are all equal. But when these kind of things become headline news, I don't feel equal. I feel like black people hate me even though I did nothing.

So guess what, I'm going to bitch about how all us white people are treated.

Enjoy!

It's not that I don't care, it's just that I don't care.

The wedding planning is coming along nicely, for the most part. We have a date, place, caterer, hall, and a bunch of ideas floating around in my head. We still need to find a photographer and figure out the flower/decoration stuff and figure out all the shower info.

But really, it's not that I'm worried about offending people or anything like that. I just really don't care. I don't care what we eat at my shower. Serve popsicles for all I care. I don't care what time of day it is. I. Don't. Care.

I don't want this to be some crazy huge expense and to stress people out. I just want it to be enjoyable.

The only things I stand firm on are my dress, my flowers, and not having a ring bearer or flower girl.

At the end of the day, when Aharon and I are married, that's all that counts.

I vote that somebody is stealing the mail!!

It's no secret that this economy is causing everyone - individuals and businesses - to have some cash flow issues lately.

It's also no secret that the US Postal Service has been talking about cutting mail delivery down to 5 days a week due to budgetary constraints. I personally think that the government should get its hands out of everything and let the postal service be privatized. I think it would run a lot better that way.

Case-in-point:

Last Friday, exactly one week ago, we (The Accounting Department at my place of employment) mailed out 40 checks. Most of the checks were going to vendors who had been patiently waiting while we dealt with some end-of-quarter cash flow problems. All of these vendors were either insurance providers or vendors who had been waiting for the checks in order to release shipment on parts or material that we were waiting for in order to do business.

As of today, not a single one of those checks has been delivered. This includes vendors in Chesterfield, MI and Newark, NJ. Not a single person has a check. If things were running slow and there were big weather problems I might be able to understand out-of-state deliveries taking a full week. But in-state? Even in-county?! I mean, Chesterfield is a 20 minute drive from here!!

The Post Office here in Memphis is actually located in our building. They rent from us! My mom also informed me earlier this week that someone from the city had taken some packages to the post office on Friday to be mailed to city council members. As of their meeting on Wednesday, none of them had received those packages. My mom's wasn't delivered yesterday or today either. There's really no excuse for mail going from Memphis, MI to Memphis, MI to not be delivered the very next day.

We took the matter up with our post office. They assured us that while rare, occasionally this does happen and those checks will show up and be delivered soon. They also guaranteed us they had left that particular post office.

So I called Royal Oak. That's where all of our local incoming mail is postmarked as being from. They told me that they no longer sort our mail and to call Pontiac. So I did. They wouldn't answer the phone. I've left four messages and have not gotten any replies.

Something fishy is going on here, and if it doesn't clear up soon we are going to be in trouble. Without those checks, vendors won't release shipments, and without shipments, we will eventually run out of the materials we need to continue operations.

Some Random Thoughts About Getting Married

1. Not being able to spend money on whatever I feel like after I get married worries me a little. It may take some getting used to.
2. Having to prepare three meals a day for us is something that I think may require more time than I feel like giving it.
3. School is going to be even more distracting than it is now.
4. I'm afraid my need to clean will take up more time than I have to give it.
5. For the first few months, I'm sure I will live in panic about how much our utility bills are going to cost.
   
6. It's not that I don't like coffee, it's just that I don't want to drink it. I prefer pop.
7. Life would be a little more comfortable if we didn't have to pay for phones and Internet access, but I don't know how we would accomplish anything without them.
8. What if changing my name turns into a huge nightmare much like we go through anytime we have to use Aharon's social security number and they begin to question why it was issued by immigration?
9. I think I will have to stop coloring my hair after we get married. It just seems like a foolish way to spend $30 every two months. We could go on a date instead.
10. I'm really going to miss my dog.
    

Uncomfortable Situation, Meet Sarah!

Back in high school, I went through what I like to refer to as "the dark ages." Looking back, I regret pretty much everything about high school and talking about it makes me feel like some stupid misinformed kid. I don't really talk about my high school experiences because I do not enjoy reflecting on them. Plus, I come from a family that does not talk about uncomfortable circumstances. So, it seems natural to me.

I went to a private school for kindergarten, a second private school through fourth grade, was home schooled for fifth grade, and then went to a third private school for sixth through ninth grades. Up until the last school, I had no complaints. I less-than-affectionately referred to the school (NLCA) as the "nasty little crackhead association."

I have always been a leader and not at all a follower. The cliques at NLCA were formed before I got there. Some of those kids had been in school together since kindergarten and they weren't about to let newcomers in. They did, eventually, and I even made some pretty good friends. I still talk with some of them from time to time. However, I was miserable. I felt like because the school was so small, we were forced to be friends with people we would never be friends with on our own. After much debate with my parents, they allowed me to switch to public school for the remainder of my high school years.

Things went downhill from there. Public school was worse than the last private school. Those kids all drew up together. There wasn't room for new kids. Sure, I made some friends. I'm marrying one of them soon! But it wasn't what I expected and it wasn't a situation that I enjoyed. I felt like I had no friends and that nobody understood how difficult the adjustment was. I ended up getting into self injury.

Back then, 8 years ago, it wasn't the thing it is now. Apparently, now, it's a pretty common thing. Why? Because kids talk about it and they hear about it from others. I had never heard of it. I thought I was the only person in the world.

But, I get it. I understand why it helps and why it appeals to so many people. Anyway, some people at school found out and I ended up in counseling. It helped, but ultimately I had to overcome it on my own.

I was not aware that most people knew this about me.

Until Sunday.

The wife of the youth leader at my church called. They have a girl in youth group who has been struggling with it and they just don't know what to say to her. They asked if she would be willing to talk to someone about it who was familiar with it, and she said yes with no hesitation.

So Wednesday night, I have to go to youth group to meet with this girl that I do not know and talk to her about something that I have not talked about in 5 years...something that I do not want to talk about because it is a time in my life that I wish had never happened.

Great.

A New Political Stance

Obama has been president for like 8 days, right? I'm already fed up. I knew I was going to be, but I decided to give him a decent chance. I think it took like 24 hours. So rather than spending every day in a state of annoyance and disgust, I'm attempting to simply become apathetic. I don't think I will actually accomplish that goal, but I do look forward to hearing an Obama-voter complian so I can remind them that they voted for him thus they can't complian. I voted for Bush and I did not complian about his decisions.

So what am I supposed to do? I feel like everything in the world is against me lately. My country is digging itself into a hole, my school is accusing me of being a closed-minded fundamentalist, and although the housing market is dropping, rent is apparently soaring. Six-hundred square feet for $450 a month? I could buy a house for that price. I did find a nice little gem: 820 square feet, 2 bedrooms, $500 a month. The problem? Aharon's unemployed and I don't want to assume he'll find a job before July. This is Michigan, after all.

My dad was a little concerned when I told him that I passed up on contributing to a 401(k) for the year. My reasoning? Everything lost money last year. Not one plan that was presented to me actually made any money or even broke even. Wouldn't my money be better spent keeping me out of debt? Because wouldn't being debt-free and married at 23 put us a little ahead of the game? Yeah, yeah. Retirement. Do I actually expect "retirement" to still be a concept in 50 years? Probably not. Besides, all those target retirement date plans are designed for someone who is 25. Get back to me in two years, people!

I don't even understand why I'm not being permitted to cash in my matured savings bonds from when I was born. The government's interest rate is like almost zero, right? So wouldn't that money be better off in my ING savings account? Last time I checked, 2.4% is much higher than .02%.

So, maybe the super-tiny ghetto apartment for $340 a month will have to do for now. Think of how much we can save up while we wait for my parents to move or my dad's job to get relocated! Why buy a house now that we don't really like when we can buy a house we love in a few years?

Sometimes I wish people would just let me do what I want to do.

January 18, 2009

If there's still anybody in the world who hasn't heard, Aharon and I are engaged! I am so excited, nervous, happy, and five million other emotions right now.

We are planning, at least for now, on getting married on Friday, July 3, 2009. This would be our five year anniversary. We thought that was fitting, and since we've been together so long anyway and are pretty low-maintenance people, we don't feel the need for a long engagement.

And the details: Aharon and I have been talking about getting married for quite some time now, so I was expecting this but he still managed to surprise me. I had been trying to leave weekends open in case he was planning something I wasn't aware of, but this weekend just filled up too fast. I had hours of work to finish up, school to catch up on, and family and friends to see. By Saturday night, I was positive that another engagement-free weekend had come and gone.

But then Sunday rolled around. What a great day! We went to church, went to my Uncle's house for my Grandma's birthday, and then went out to dinner with our friends Jack and Michelle and their 14 month-old daughter. And then, around 9 at night, we got back to my house. We got out of my car and Aharon ran over to his and promptly started it. Usually on weekends he stays at my house until 10 or 11, so leaving at 9 was strange, but I figured he was tired. He came inside to say hello to my parents and grab his xbox, and then he told me that he had to get home before the roads got bad again. And then he said, "But before I go, will you marry me?"

Let it be known that I did not cry! Rather, I jumped up and down and screamed and hugged and kissed him.

So, the next few months are sure to be very busy. I can't believe how much goes into planning a wedding. I thought all along that if you kept it small and simple it wasn't so much work. Our immediate families and closest friends alone total more than 100 people! It's going to be tough.

But, in a few months, I'm going to marry my best friend. I couldn't be happier.