The Life of the Nickness

I have tons to say and updated you about, but for now I’ll keep this post to a short and simple rant.

I just found out(4 days before the rehearsal dinner, mind you) that my father won’t be paying for ANY alcohol at the rehearsal dinner.

His reasoning? He believes if people know they can order alcohol on his tab, they’ll go crazy and order as much as they want. (Does he think they’re alcoholics or something? He hasn’t met a single one of them!!)

Keep in mind that the ONLY thing they have to do for the wedding (other than show up and rent a tux) is the rehearsal dinner.

Also keep in mind that they didn’t plan a damn thing concerning it because they live in England and felt they couldn’t, so Megan and I planned everything.

Also keep in mind that when Megan and I proposed the current rehearsal dinner plans(that they agreed to and said they would pay for) it included 1 beer for about 90% of our guests there–because we know who’s coming and who drink and who won’t. Not to mention it also included a wee bit of ‘wiggle’ room for those guests we thought might drink two.

It’s tasteless to invite people to a rehearsal dinner and have them pay for their own drink, and I can’t supply any alcohol because the restaurant obviously won’t allow it.

If only they could have let us know this, oh, I don’t know…. MONTHS ago when this was originally planned, I’d be prepared for it, and who knows? Maybe would have picked a place that allowed us to supply our own drinks. But no. Gotta be an ass and tell us 4 days before the event.

Thanks alot.

Now to find a tactful way of telling people that they can’t order alcohol, even though most of them think they can.

I was going to go with the whole ‘my father is an asshole’ excuse, but we both know thats not tactful.

My sister claims it’s because it’s my second wedding and I’m having (what she considers) a large rehearsal dinner.

Wow. With that attitude I guess I should feel special he’s even showing up.

Not that I even want him to now. Thank God he wasn’t paying for anything for the actual wedding. We’d be having it in the backyard with hose water for refreshments.

Yup, I’m pissed.

EDIT: I’m still pissed, but it turns out Megan called my mom and ‘gently reminded her’ of the financial details(ie, how cheap alcohol is at this place) and that they’d already agreed to pay for it. My mom spoke with my dad(I don’t know what was said) but my mom called Megan back and said they’d pay for it. Thank God.

So I’m at work the other day, and this kid comes up to the counter and wants to pay for 2 $5 items. Heres how the conversation went:

Me: Your total is $10.60
Kid:(blank confused stare)
Me: Is everything ok?
Kid: I only have $10.
Me: I’m sorry.
Kid:(another blank stare)
Me: Which one did you want to put back?
Kid: (another blank stare) I only have $10
(At this point I’m trying to figure out if the kid is retarded, or hoping i’ll let him slide on the sixty cents. He;s old enough to know about tax, but just doesn’t seem to care)
Random guy 4 people behind the kid: Here, I’ve got an extra dollar you can use.
(the kid give me the extra dollar and I ring it up and give him the change. The kid prompty grabs his bag and leaves, not even stopping to offer the random guy his change)

This may be very mean of me to say, but I abhor both parties in this situation. One, the kid needs to learn if they’re going to buy something, they need to consider the fact that the government taxes things, and buy appropriately. Two, people who think they’re being ‘nice’ by offering kids the extra money to cover tax are NOT being nice. They’re teaching kids early on that if they don’t have enough money for stuff, people will just give it to them. No working hard, no learning the value of money. Nope. Just stand in line and make people wait long enough, and since you’re just a kid, someone will eventually get tired of waiting and front any amount of money you need.

You may think I’m being melo-dramatic, but this is just the most recent example of this I’ve seen. In the past I’ve seen people give kids as much as $18!! What the crap? People will give $18 to some stupid little kid but cuss out and hang up on the the fire/police/charity organization when they call asking for some help?

Whats become of this world?!?!?!

–My job is going well. This is week two, and I gave up one of my days off to earn some ot. yay for extra money.

–I got my W2 in the mail and have already done my taxes. Yay I don’t owe any money!

–My brother (finally) got a wordpress blog. Check out my blogroll to visit his blog–he’s known as Nona the Ninja(I gave him that name. Doesn’t it rock?!?!)

–Heath Ledger died due to an overdose of sleeping pills. Is it sad when I heard this news the first thing I thought of was that there won’t be a ‘Return of the Joker” movie with him in it?

–Wedding news: DJ and photographer booked. Next up: a tasting on Sunday with our potential caterer.

Time for me to get some sleep while my chicken defrosts in my sink. Yup, I’m back to the old no carb lifestyle. Yay for losing weight!

I’ll leave you with the English translation of a chinese keychain we have at work. The pictures are great and the translations on it are absolutely hilarious. Each number goes under a picture. Note: what I’m about to type is NOT a mistake.

“1. Collect Stupids People. 2. Push Cliff. 3. Yay Drowns!”

I should know by sometime tomorrow if I got the job at Five Below. I’m pretty sure that I did, as I’ve been made a sort of ‘unofficial’ offer, pending the green light on my background and reference check. I’ve been unemployed for over a month, and it’s been fairly difficult. It’s exciting to be getting back to work again, and in a place like Five Below. Their products and the atmosphere in the store are incredible. I’ve decided once I get paid, I’m going to put away(as will Megan) somewhere around 10% of my paycheck into a high yield money market account, in order to:

1. Build up a savings of three months pay.(I’m starting out small, going with one month built up, and working my way towards three. You never know when life is going to throw some unexpected surprises your way, and it’s best to try and be as financially prepared as possible)

2. Pay off some ‘bigger’ debts that Megan and I have accumulated; including credit cards, school, medical, and cars bills.(many people think it’s normal to have car payments. I do not. The sooner I pay off our cars, the better. It’s a monthly payment that could be going to a much better use, and the next time I buy a car I’m saving for it and paying in cash)

3. Start saving for some sort of meager down payment for a place of our own.(I abhor renting. People pay thousands of dollars a month to rent a place for a year, and when it’s all over they have no investment in that property. It’s like throwing money away. The same amount of money people throw away to rent a property they could have used as a mortgage payment and actually have some equity in their property. When my lease is up next year, I plan on buying)

Any extra money we come into(Birthdays, Christmas, Wedding, etc) we’ll also add to the account.

Financial stability is very important to me, and it’s exciting to see my plan in writing. Any comments? Whats your savings plan? Have you even thought one up yet? If not, I encourage you to do so. Knowing where your money is going–having a plan for every dollar before you even get it–is a very freeing experience. I know I haven’t talked about it in this post but budgets are a fantastic tool that really take the stress and pressure of money matters off your back. Microsoft has a bunch of budgets that are free to download available here. I used to use a personal budget like this one, but due to it’s lack of a ‘projected’ column, I found it inadequate to meet my current needs. However if you’re very new to making a budgets or if the idea scares you, it’s a great way to begin. I happen to like this one, as it contains a longer list of expenses and has a projected column. Once I’m married I’ll probably be using the Family Monthly Budget, as it’s much butter suited to married/family life than the other two.

Hehehe. If I was talking to Megan about all this stuff she probably would have zoned out by now. Money and budgets and spreadsheets are not her idea of stimulating conversation. My guess is you’re not too far behind her, so thats enough money talk for now. Hope you all are having a great week!