Musings about Tuesday...

Well, not now...but you should have last Tuesday! :)

We're a couple days out from the election now and my stress levels have finally begun to subside (along with my cravings for comfort food). Thankfully we did pretty well overall in Nebraska...the Governor's office, the Attorney General's office and most of our federal offices will be filled with good, hard working civil servants. We are very excited that Pete Ricketts and Mike Foley will be leading the state as Nebraska's Governor and Lt. Governor. It gives me hope that our state departments will be run more economically and efficiently (cough*HHS*cough), something we've desperately needed for a long time. And both men are so much better than the alternative!

The state level elections were a bit more disappointing. We had been working on two legislative campaigns - Dallas Jones in District 28 and Brent Smoyer in District 26 - and sadly both lost. They worked so hard....Dallas wore through three pairs of shoes walking his district and Brent knocked on 13,000 doors (hitting some doors more than once). The fact that both people who won in those districts are very liberal is just salt in the wound. Not to mention it's going to make my life more difficult come January.

The races weren't quite as close as they have been in previous years. I think the closest one I noticed was about a 300 vote difference...which sounds kinda close, until you think about my boss's first race when he won by 29 votes. Or one that we worked on two years ago, where our candidate lost by 21 votes. 21! That's crazy close! I remind people of that all the time, especially when I hear "one vote doesn't make a difference." It really, really does! But 300 votes is more than close enough for me!

The transition these next couple of months is going to be interesting. We're going to have 17 new senators, a new governor and staff, a new auditor (hopefully he'll keep the staff) and a new attorney general and staff...not to mention the "office shuffle" in the Legislature. If my boss wins his bid for Speaker, we will just have to move across the hall...and if he loses, we can just stay where we are, which I'm totally ok with (the staying part, not losing). I'm a big fan of our office, specifically its location...and no one likes having to move.

Those are about the most exciting things going on in my life at the moment. I am desperately trying to be better about money, at which I have been semi-successful...post-dinnerware purchase, anyway. :)  My checking account is pitifully low right now, but I am determined to make it to payday without having to tap into savings. I didn't even go to a $5 movie this week since I would have had to pay for parking too. I know it's sad that this sounds like an accomplishment, but I hate telling myself "no" when I want to do something...especially when it would only cost about $7 total (thank heavens for $5 Tuesdays!). I figure baby steps will help with the bigger things, like buying another pair of boots...ooh, I forgot about that JustFab purchase (though technically that came out of my last paycheck). I would like to point out that I've passed up on two Anthropologie sales and one at Express where a jacket I really want is 50% off. I did however email the link to my mother with the subject line "Christmas idea." So I may end up with it after all. :)

Here's to free fun and Fridays! Have a great weekend and see you back here on Tuesday!


~ Katie