Another Attempt at a New Thread

Some of us seem to be trying to kill this family gathering place before it even gets going. Another leading comment about whether or not the inaugural spending is atrocious will almost certainly do that. And I'm going to do my best to prevent that from happening. I would suggest, instead of trying to sway family members to a position of your choosing, you organize with others of like mind and inform your representatives in government of your collective objections. Funny thing; that is the exact kind of activism that the president in question has spent his entire career trying to engender in politics and amongst his constituents.

Full disclosure: I also think that the inaugural spending is completely unwarranted and over the top. But I'm more inclined to work (harder, if need be) at my own job, that I am good at and interested in, to fund the changes that I think are needed and being worked towards in government, than I am to work at developing grassroots community organizations devoted to eliminating profligate spending. If you're equally adept at the latter as the former, by all means, pick up a megaphone and lead the march. If not, then you better keep that blackberry humming, because if the far left has its way, it ain't going to be cheap, and you're returns on your 401k won't pay for it all, or at least not for some time.

But despite the inauspicious start, I'm in favor of giving the new guy a chance to eliminate some of the presuppositions about how government needs to function before we start attacking him based on a party to celebrate said new initiatives. Looking backwards at the previous regime certainly does not bode well for anyone wanting to compare one administration's ability to conserve resources to another's. The spending of taxpayer money in the last 8 years virtually defines profligate; the ends were entirely different, but equally fruitless. Small government, it was not.

Well, there went my attempts at a new thread. But I've still got time, assuming you're still reading and with it being a holiday and all....

So I'm still getting married at the end of the year, though I wish it were a lot sooner. But I'd like to solicit my family members for any words of wisdom with regard to embarking on a lifelong partnership, be they about planning a wedding, the event itself, handling finances, continuing to develop our relationship, starting a family, whatever you can think of. Coming from an extended family with such strong bonds, I can't help but think that each and every one of you has something to offer that Lizzie and I can incorporate into our life together. Looking forward to any responses.

Thanks, Happy MLK Day.