Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

This time last year, I received word from my mortgage company that I no longer qualified for New York State's Star program and, consequently, my monthly payments would go up nearly $150. After a year of fighting, arguing, writing letters, getting involved with inner-county politics and a tremendous bureaucratic wasp nest of home assessments, time and rules, I received in the mail that I now re-qualify for the Star program and, as a result, my house payments go back to where I originally budgeted them. Too bad they don't make retro-payments for the error on their part.

Ah, life. There are no classes to prepare you for the reality of our systems. They kick our butts, don't they? Either way, I'm thankful for the karmic return in 2010.