Happy(?) New Year

I had a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream (my all time favorite) on hand for a while, and figured it would have expired because it's cream, after all, and I didn't refrigerate it after opening like everyone says you should. So I decided, "New Year... I'll toss stuff I don't need!" and dumped it. As I'm pouring it down the drain, I'm reading the back label, which tells you to keep it at room temperature and drink it by June '07. By the time I had finished reading this and understanding that, based on those two things, this was a perfectly drinkable container of my favorite poison, I had emptied the entire contents of the nearly full bottle down my lucky, lucky drain.

Yesterday, we went to Rob's parents, where they gave me the evil eye over the fact that I'm having my maid of honor, who is NOT a Jew, sign my ketubah, which is the Jewish marriage contract. In Israel, it's iron-clad by law. Everywhere else, it's a nice tradition and by no means necessary, especially for inter-faith marriages. I really want one though; the point is that you have it decorated beautifully (I'm making my own, so we'll see how "beautiful" it turns out) and you hang it on your wall to remind you of your vows. The bride and the groom each pick a non-relative to sign it as their witness. Nice, right?

"Is Jen Jewish?" Rob's mom asked.

My blond WASPy Jen is not even close.

"It has to be signed by a JEW to be valid!" cried my mother-in-law.

I kind of paused for a moment, figuring out where to go with that one. There are a million reasons why it doesn't matter. I'm not Jewish. I never will be. This is the United States, so there's nothing legal about it. It's my wedding. It has to do with my vows. The other person signing for Rob is an atheist. I don't care. Rob doesn't care. It will be more meaningful to me if Jen signs it. It makes sense to have my maid of honor sign it. Etc.

I went with the first. "I'm not Jewish."

I know they know, it's just a point I enjoy brining up a lot. Along with, "I'm black!" and "I have sex with your son!"

Ok, so I don't point out that last one. But the other two seem to cause a mild level of distress when they get brought up, and it amuses me. Which is probably really mean, but come on. Racism? From Jews? The most historically persecuted group in human history? Really????

Anyway, all of that to say, '07? Not so much with the great start. Keep your fingers crossed for me.