Hey everybody! Serious talk today! We are getting closer and closer to election day. And if you are like me, you have had just about enough of all of this mess. And what a mess it is! But, while burying your head in the sand and tuning it out is a welcome relief at this point, I want to caution you to get your ducks in a row before you do it.

By that I mean, make sure not only that you exercise your right to vote,  but also take the time now to make sure you are registered and your papers are in order. There is going to be a lot of mess going on at the polls, I believe, so do everything to make sure you are ready. This is not a blog to tell you who to vote for, but rather to encourage you to just do it.

I plan on voting early, as soon as the option is open. Let me share with you why this is so important to me to early vote.

In October 2012, I took a 10 day trip to Israel. It was amazing and wonderful. The day I left was the first day of early voting and as you remember it was a big election year.  Our President was up for reelection, among other things.  I decided to vote that morning before my ride came for the airport, even though I planned to be back in the States on election day. Well you know how it goes with the best laid plans…Hurricane Sandy happened while we were in Israel. While we suffered no direct effects of it, we did suffer because flights were cancelled because the East Coast of the U.S. was shut down for days. We could not fly into Philadelphia or any other city because of backed up flights.  Our trip was delayed,  and a 10 day trip ended up being a 17 day trip.  Now don’t get me wrong, I loved having an additional seven days in Jerusalem.

No one in our group had voted early and were heartbroken because they would miss the opportunity to do so. Because I felt bad for them, I contacted the U.S. Consulate in Israel via email and was told they could do an absentee ballot but would have to assume responsibility for sending their ballots by courier to the U.S. at their own expense. Well, no one chose to do so at that point. They felt there were no guarantees of their votes getting there in time.

When we arrived home the day after the election, many of their hearts were broken because they missed their opportunity to exercise their voting right, but I was exuberant because I covered myself. That experience taught me that you never know what the future holds, so prepare yourself for any possibility.

My encouragement to you is to contact your local government and check on when the early voting starts or when absentee ballots will be available. Check to make sure you are registered. Make sure your I.D. is acceptable. Know where your polling place is. Don’t be caught!

This is an important election! We need everyone to put their vote where their opinions have been and believe me, we have certainly heard enough opinions, right?