Only suckers own stocks

So, our economy is in the tanker.   Never before have I been so glad that I don't actually have any investments.  I mean, I would like to buy a house in approximately 10 months and the credit freeze may put a damper on that particular plan...  But I work for the state, my job isn't going anywhere.  And I do love my apartment, so if Jimmy and I have to sit tight, save our money, and keep on renting for a little bit after we're married, so be it. 

Although, I have faith in the credit union.  KY is like, 46th on the list of foreclosures, so we're doing ok.  And because the Commonwealth Credit Union is only in KY, I feel good about it.  No, really.  I'm staying positive. 

Next week I start my four day workweek.  Yay!  I'm going to be off Fridays, which is exciting because it will give me a normal workweek to do some wedding planning up in Cincinnati. We're starting the wedding dress search in a couple weeks.  Sweet. 

Wedding stuff is actually going along smoothly.  We've got a working guest list. I have all the stationary-ness all designed and ready to be printed.  We've put down a deposit on the venue.  I have my officiant (dad) all lined up.  I have a short list of caterers, florists and photographers to interview.  We have a short list of resorts to give to Jimmy's mom so we can get the timeshare stuff squared away.  Umm, what else?  We've decided to hire a jazz trio for the reception, hopefully these guys Jimmy knew from Willis.  Ceremony music is still up in the air, but we have a few different ideas.  The ceremony itself is going to be pulled from the LBW.  Dad, Jimmy and I need to sit down and iron out those details sometime in the next, oh, nine months or so. 

Wedding planning is so easy for us non-perfectionists.  I'm amazing at not sweating the small stuff, to use a pretty trite cliche.  I'm sure dealing with vendors wont be the most fun thing in the world, but I'm actually a little excited to use the extensive negotiation training that I've been put through for work.  Seriously.  I've gotten really good at getting people to do what I want.  Thanks, DENF!

Anyway.  The daily show is almost on and I hope to see McCain's speech from Capital.  Did you see that?  I got to see McCain look stupid from my little alma mater over and over again all day.  It was good.

Later Days,

Laura

Why get married when you can just be a babysitter?

So I was flipping through one of those wedding magazines yesterday to look at the dresses and, for some unknown reason, I decided to read one of the articles. It was on "how to get him involved in the wedding planning". If I were a guy, I would be kind of offended. It was pretty funny, though. Partially because Jimmy really wants to be involved, but mostly because the article basically says that all guys are emotionally five and need to be tricked into caring about their wedding. These tricks including buying them a toy (or gadget) every time they cross something off their to-do list, tap into their competitive side by talking about how helpful your friends' husbands are, or by sneaking stuff in on the way to doing things they want to do. Kind of weird.

Anyway, moral of the story: Bridal magazines are dumb, but they have pretty dresses.

You wont be sorry

Ms. Pac Man: feminist icon

I'm happy being me

I'm still trying to figure out what to say to people when the whole changing-last-name issue comes up in regard to my pending nuptials. (I'm getting tired of the word "wedding"). Sample conversation:

random person who clearly doesn't know me well: What will your name be after the wedding?
me: Laura Witt
rpwcdkmvw: Your fiance's last name is Witt?
me: No. I'm not changing my name.
rpwcdkmvw: why not?
me: The one I have right now still works.
rpwcdkmvw: What about your kids?
me: I don't have any kids.

Ok. While obviously, I'm hilarious, this gets pretty contentious pretty fast. And since this person doesn't know me well, I don't want to be too snarky.

So sample conversation #2:

random person who clearly doesn't know me well: What will your name be after the wedding?
me: Laura Witt. I'm not changing my name.
rpwcdkmvw: why not?
me: I think it comes from a long tradition of viewing women as property. And while, I know that Jimmy would never view me as property, the tradition still gives me the willies. I know a lot of women see it as a symbolic gesture of joining a new family and thats great for them. I think its a personal choice. For me, I'm always going to be a product of the Witt family, not the Stevenson family and I'm glad that Jimmy is comfortable enough in our relationship to not be threatened by the fact that our last names aren't the same. He know I love him and feel like his family but would never ask me to change something so fundamentally me as my name for sake of a tradition I'm uncomfortable with. And we both recognize the impracticality of hyphenation. So we're going to be married and committed and family, but in recognition of the fact that nothing changes about my history, life, experiences, or my relationship with my family when we get married, I'm keeping my name.
rpwcdkmvw: Wow, thats a really long explanation.
me: yeah, no kidding
rpwcdkmvw: What about your kids?
me: Well, kids aren't a given yet for us, but if we do choose to have them, we'll borrow a tradition from the Hispanic cultures and give them two last names. Or two middle names, however you want to look at it. Basically, the kids will have four names and informally they'll probably just go by their first and last ones. But, as they get old enough to choose what they want to be called, we'll support whatever they want. And since I prefer the aural aesthetics of Witt before Stevenson, it would Joe Bob Witt Stevenson, or whatever. And probably go by Joe Stevenson. Neither of us are so possessive that we care which name get used the most, but we both want both names on the birth certificate!
rpwcdkmvw: Oh I see. Well, I'm glad I ran into you on the way to work. I need to go eat lunch now.

So wordy, right? I need something short and sweet but not glib or harsh.

As soon as I figure out how to imbed videos, you will be treated to my favorite about Ms. Pacman. its amahzing.

Later Days,
Laura