Things that irk me.

I realize that I should be posting something about my amazing fiance and how he proposed and how wonderful it is to know that I will one day take his name and he will one day be my husband and how being engaged to him is the greatest honor in the world.

Well my friends, today is not that day. Today is the day I list off a couple things that have been irking me.

• My name is Sarah. Not Shara, Sahra, Sara, it is Sarah. With the “h” at the end. If I send you an e-mail with my name appearing in the “From:” section that reads “Sarah Wakefield,” end it with “Thanks, Sarah Wakefield.” Have my signature appear at the bottom that reads “Sarah Wakefield.” WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? Why do you send me an e-mail back saying, “Hey Sara….”? I have just spent most of the intro and all of the ending with the “h” attached to the end of my first name. Would you stop using my name in vain?! I just might not respond anymore to people who address me as “Sara.” Do I ever assume that you want me to spell your name any differently than what you have given? Do I take it upon myself to correct you and how you spell your name? Do I think to myself, “Oh, they must have forgotten that Susie is spelled with a ‘z’”? No, I trust that if you are old enough to be working and to be using the computer, you are old enough to know HOW YOU SPELL YOUR NAME!!! Granted when used vocally there is no real tried and true way of determining if they have mentally attached the “h” or not, but that’s not an issue. THE ISSUE IS THIS: when my parents named me before I emerged from the womb, when they then wrote my name on my birth certificate thus determining forever how I should be addressed, they wrote “Sarah” (plus the rest) and they assumed that all who interacted with me on a written level would respect their decision. So yes, that’s what I’m saying. When you knowingly desecrate the spelling of my name, you are knowingly laying insult against my parents.

Great, now you’ve insulted my intelligence and my family.

• YES I want to get married in 3 months. No I do not want to spend my time planning a $30,000 wedding for a year. Don't you realize that the only reason people wait a year is because 1) they don't know if they want to marry that person, 2) they're compensating for years of feeling like they were never their father's princess, 3) they've spent years believing they were a princess and care more about their wedding than investing that time and money in something that will last longer than 6 hours, 4) they're not out of school, 5) that's what everyone else is doing because they are dealing with #'s 1-4 and even 5.
• No, I am not pregnant. No, I have no hidden crimes I am running from. No, I am not an illegal immigrant and thus need a natural born citizen to marry so I might stay in America.
  
• No, I am not rushing him. I am not pushing him into a marriage he does not want. I am not begging to be married right away. We happen to really like each other. We have no reason to wait to get married. It's only going to drive us nuts. Get this: I would much rather get married in City Hall than have an elaborate fest of bows and ribbons and fake ornaments and fake elegant. I want real. He wants real. Together we're planning a very beautiful, very genuine (no curtains to cover up the messy plumbing of the hall, no fancy decorations to pretend it's a party (no one looks at those things in admiration anyway!), very honest wedding. We're signing a covenant between the two of us with our invited guests as witnesses. The covenant is a serious yet celebratory event. Please don't ask me to make my parents pay for something that will not last a lifetime like our marriage will. Flowers wilt, paper disintegrates, ribbons shred, everything gets old. I want to celebrate, I want to rejoice, but I want to do it without creating, without creating the "poser" atmosphere. I want it to be real.

That's all for now.

I'm stepping off my soapbox for a drink. Be back soon. O' wait, announcements and disclaimers.

• I'm engaged!!!!

• I realize that many of you have waited for longer than a year and while school may have not been a factor, something else was. Please know that I respect your decision and am just fired up at all those, Christians and non, who seem so shocked that we're marrying soon. As if we're creating some faux pas. We're a pure, honest, loving couple. We make a great pair. Were we in some sort of world war, waiting 3 weeks would be ridiculous. So back off it, it's nunya. Don't make me go ninja on you. I've about had it. I can't stress enough how irritated I get with people who go on about how long they were engaged, and how fun it was to plan the wedding. Plan the wedding? How about plan your lives together? Who cares about a program? No one is listening to the various instrumental and vocal performers! No one is going to stay in awe of the building you chose any longer than it takes for them to step out of the doors and onto the sidewalk. Your invited guests are there to celebrate sure, but they're not the bride or groom. All I care to do is walk down the aisle, make the covenant with my betrothed, and celebrate. Gussying up a building that I will not look at (as I will be staring intently into my beloved's eyes) for an audience that does not care about the ribbons, bows, flowers, etc, is a waste. I could never do that to my parents. And no, I am not downplaying the importance of a wedding, I'm just questioning and pointing fingers at everything we don't need and everything we do for the sake of appearances.
  

Shew.

Still don't feel like I'm finished, but ol' gal is thirsty.