It’s been a long time but that’s because there really is nothing to blog about.  It’s winter…nothing happens in the winter.  Except..

• Aaron and I celebrated our one year anniversary on December 29th.
• We decided to not move away from Marion and are buying a house.  We hope to close on February 13th.
• I have been addicted to Facebook and Animal Crossing so I have had no time to blog.
• My jewelry business is going well and so is Aaron’s web design business.

That’s all…nothing funny happens in the winter.  We will be sure to blog when it does.

Yesterday, the kids at preschool went to see Santa Clause.  On the way there, one little girl told me an interesting toy that she wanted Santa to bring her.

“Mrs. Heather!  You know what I am going to ask Santa for!?!?!”

“Tell me!”

“A JACK-IN-THE-BOX!!!!!!”

I didn’t realize that kids today knew about that toy.  I am pretty sure her home is a time warp to the early 80’s.

The ghost in our apartment is back. Heather woke me up this morning and asking if I turned on the heat. “No,” I said groggily.”Well, I didn’t turn it on,” she said.She turned it off and I told the ghost to quit turning on the heat because we want to save money. 

According to an article in today’s Chronicle-Tribune citing voting numbers from the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections (link here), less people voted in Grant County this year than in 2004? Wha? That can’t be right, can it?

Considering there were half as many voting machines as in past years and some people had to wait in line for more than two hours to cast their votes, the clerk thinks people left lines. To me, that flies in the face of democracy. Shouldn’t everyone have the right to access polls quickly to cast their ballot? Here’s an e-mail I sent to the Grant County Council today on the issue:

Dear elected officials,

As a resident of Grant County, I am concerned with the long wait time that many voters experienced on Election Day 2008. Although I have been blessed with the opportunity to run my own small business, and as a result, a relatively flexible schedule, not every resident can afford to take two or more hours off on Election Day. As residents of Indiana, we have no state protections allowing workers unpaid time off (let alone paid time off) to vote. This problem is compounded by the financial situation of our county: nearly 18% of our residents live in poverty. As such, many hardworking residents likely had to choose between exercising their Constitutional right to cast a ballot or to catch their shift to ensure their family would have food on the table. Long wait times on Election Day in Grant County may be creating a new kind of poll tax, a dangerously undemocratic situation.

As such, I would urge Grant County to do everything in its power to ensure all eligible residents have the opportunity to vote in a timely fashion on future election days, whether that means purchasing 20 voting machines or 200. Regardless of what the budget is, I believe we as citizens have a duty to ensure our neighbors are able to exercise their Constitutional right to cast their votes. After all, that’s the basis of our great democracy.

I appreciate the hard work that everyone does for our county. Thank you for your service.

Best,
Aaron Pratt

The other day I ordered some takeout food from Trejo’s Gyros in Marion.

“Hi, I’d like to place a carry out order,” I said.
“Okay,” said the friendly voice on the line. “What would you like?”
“One gyro dinner,” I said, pronouncing it year-o.
“A gyro dinner,” she said, pronouncing the entree with a hard g: gear-o.
“Uh… yes. A gear-o.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes, I’ll take an arroz con pollo dinner, too, please?”
“Is that the special?”
“Uh… what?”
“The arroz con polo. We sometimes call that the polo special.”
“Uh, yes. The polo special. With the gear-o dinner,” I said.
“Okay, great! Name please?”
“Pratt. P-R-A-T-T.”
“C-R-A-P-P?” she asked.
“No. P-R-A-T-T,” I said more forcefully.
“Oh! It’s Kratt! I just spelled crap, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
“Your meal will be ready in 15 minutes.”