Tuesday, October 14, 2008

On Weddings...

I have a confession to make. I stalk wedding blogs. In fact, two of them are in my blog list, and far more are on my google reader. Wow, I feel better already for just admitting that.

Now, Zach, if you are reading this you need to take a deep breath and keep reading, I swear this will get better.

Despite my obsession with learning about and following other people's weddings, I still have no desire to have a large wedding myself. In fact, the more I read and the more beautiful pictures I see, the more clear it becomes to me that having a big blow-out wedding with 200+ of my closest friends and family is the LAST thing I really want. There are a million reasons why people want a big wedding, but here are some of mine for why I don't:

1) I hate having people looking at me and being the center of attention. So does Zach actually, which I think is odd since he is in a band, but that is what he tells me. I feel sick just thinking about a bunch of people staring at me when I walk down the isle.

2) The idea of spending anything more than about $250 on a dress seems crazy to me. Now don't get me wrong, I have justified the purchase of purses that are slightly higher than this price range, but I use them about a million times, which makes the price per use seem almost justifiable. A dress I'll wear only once? Not so much.

3) I can think of a lot of better ways to spend $28,000+ (the average cost for a wedding these days). To name just a few: down payment on a bigger home (if the market ever picks up so we can sell the first one), one (or three) SERIOUS vacations, paying off Zach and I's student loans, paying off a chunk of the mortgage for the place Zach owns now, fun home renovation, or well... just about anything. When even a part of me things about that big wedding, all I can think is the $$ we'd be wasting. To me, a commitment to each other shouldn't have to begin with a major expenditure or debt up to our eyeballs.

4) My parents (and Zach's) are no longer together. A wedding means the bringing together 2 sets of people who were once married, and are no longer. Although I know that everyone would be civil, just think about the wording on the invitations if we tried to include parents?! Maybe if our parents were still together there would be some great meaning to having a wedding with everyone there, but without that it just seems like a mess.

5) I still can't figure out why a meal that costs only $25 when I get it in a restaurant, suddenly costs $85 when it is done for a wedding. I just don't think that $85 is really a reasonable price for chicken.

This isn't mean to be a judgement on the people who have big weddings, because they are beautiful wonderful affairs that I actually like attending. If those events work for you, and you (or your parents) have the money to bankroll them, I say more power to you. I'm not that girl and either is my bank account. I work for local government people, I'm not going to be rich any time soon.

It is also not meant to say that I won't some day get married, because I hope that I will. It just might include a tiny ceremony and a kick ass party afterwards that include darts and bar food instead of rubber chicken and a dance floor. To each their own I guess.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Sometimes people worry me....

Here is your SAPSA (Squirreled Away Public Service Announcement) for the day.

There is an e-mail going around which has made it to three people I know already this week. It claims, "I'm against the $85,000,000,000.oo bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a 'We Deserve it Dividend'. . . So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion..... that equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend." It goes on to explain how great this would be, how we could all pay off our mortgages, save for our kids college, blah, blah, blah.

Only one MAJOR problem. The math is off, by, ohhhh, 3 zeros. We would each get $425 not $425,000. That money is NOT going to pay off my mortgage, get me very far saving for mythical Junior's college, or even pay off the "puppy debt" I have accumulated since Rigby's arrival at my house.

If you get this e-mail, please pass on the REAL math to your friends and loved ones.

It really scares me that people don't stop to question things they get as e-mail chains... so much of it is just plain garbage. Not only this one but there are plenty of others out there that people seem to believe are the truth somehow because they come through their e-mail server. The other BIG one I remember is the one which is circulating about Obama being a Muslim, and hates America and other things. If you'd like to check out the "fact check" on that one you can do so here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp. I remember a lady I used to work with who got the Obama one, passed it on to others, and was continually warning people about the things listed in it. She had previously stated that she was going to vote for him too! It scares me that she didn't stop for a second, think it through, and try to check out some of the facts in the e-mail she got before she contributed to the madness.

So please people, think before you hit "Forward".

Thanks you, and have a nice weekend :)