Chiming in with My Two Cents

Not that there isn't a dearth of political pundits discussing these two topics, but I wanted to throw in my two thoughts about the recent political events that have occurred - the election of Scott Brown as the new Massachusetts senator and the Supreme Court's decision to repeal the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation so that corporations may now contribute directly to candidates' election campaigns - mainly because I can't do so without having a contentious discussion with my father :). My blog is thus the perfect venue to vent my thoughts :).

First, I have to admit that I was kind of surprised that Massachusetts of all states elected a Republican to replace the "Lion of the Senate".  I don't know if I agree that it was an election referendum on Obama's presidency thus far, or if it was more of the way of the American people to elect parties to balance each other out in the Congress. The political institution was designed by the founding fathers to be thus so - no one party would ever gain a significant advantage over another for any significant amount of time.  And the voters throughout the centuries have born this out - with this election as the most recent example.  Whether or not this permanently derails the health care legislation currently being pushed through the Congress will remain to be seen.

As to the Supreme Court's repeal of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation, I do feel like this is a setback.  But according to a Yahoo! News story that I came across shortly after this broke, corporation CEOs want candidates to leave them alone and quit soliciting them for money.  I also believe that candidates will find that the constituents that they hope to reach with their inordinate amounts of money already will tire quickly of them and vote against them.  The danger lies in the possibility of good political candidates being snuffed out because they don't have money to get their message out.  Perhaps the proliferation of new media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and other Web 2.0 tools, will allow these candidates to be innovative and use these free tools to spread their message.  It will interesting to see how it affects the coming elections...that is if I'm even interested in the coming elections.  For I really do detest the inanity and bureaucracy of anything to do with government - a system that is designed to hinder ANYTHING of worth to be done.  Which is why I will stick with the private sector - the only place that moves and changes anything, in my opinion!

And on a completely different note, I am very excited for a Saints and Colts Super Bowl.  It will hopefully be a great one!

Made It Through!

Wow. I can't believe that the month of January is over and done with. All I can say is thank goodness! I don't think I would have been able to take much more of it! It was definitely one of the hardest months I have gone through in a long time, with the start-up of our new business venture, handling baseball madness, planning for two huge company-wide meetings and executing them, buying a new car and straightening out the annoyances with it, and adjusting to all the changes within my circle of friends! I am glad that it is in the past, dealt with the best I knew how, and now all I can do is look forward.

February does have its pitfalls though - mainly, that it isn't spring yet and second, I am turning 26 - which may not seem all that bad to others reading this, but when you realize that you are closer to 30 now than you are 20, it's kind of depressing. There is this feeling that I have to constantly fight against that I should have "it" all figured out by now, which is a complete lie. Or I have to stop comparing myself to other people's lives and just be fine and content with where I am in my own life - which I am for the most part. I just often forget that I am.

But, going back to the beginning, I am really, really glad and thankful that my meetings are over and were the successes that I knew they could and would be - it is very rewarding to know that all the grey hairs and the stress paid off. The look on our EOY's face, the tears in her eyes, and knowing that I was dead-on when I knew that this would be a life-changing event for her, validated everything that I know about my coworkers and in looking back, I know that it was totally God's hand in it all. It completely affirms everything about the mission that God has placed me on here at this place - to love and serve my coworkers and in doing so, I hope that they see God in my imperfect love and service to them.

It is good to know that in the heartache and gut-wrenching awfulness of the economic times and situation that we find ourselves in, this was such an amazing moment and I can carry that with me through the hardships ahead. I know that towards the latter part of one person's life, knowing all that she has gone through, she has been validated and recognized and all her hard work has been rewarded.

Now I know why my grandpa made it his life's mission to encourage and validate everyone around him and make them believe in themselves.

In other random thoughts - Calling all Lost fans!?!? Holy Cow, what a premiere!!! How are we going to survive an eight episode season!??! Post your thoughts and theories in the comments!!

And anyone watch the best football game, possibly ever??
I have never seen a drive like before in my life. Talk about destiny - in that one play in which Eli scrambled away from the blitz and got away from all those defenders and made that pass that Smith caught on top of his head!?!?! Are you kidding me?? How do plays like that happen?! Just complete awesomeness. It's a game like that that makes me love sports - that perfectly pitched game, that amazing jump shot for the game winner, the 4 goals scored by a player after his nose was broken (Ovechkin), the chip shot that goes in the hole, and the best drive in football I have ever seen. Things that regular people shouldn't be able to do, yet somehow find a way. Again, just awesome. Hats off, Eli & Company!