Yet another reason I won't be including Michigan on my list of "Places dear to my heart."

My life is entering a new era in its existence. The era of "Court TV" meets Erin and her fiance. That's right. We're taking Michigan (or, rather the leasing company through which we rented our apartment in Michigan) to small claims court. In East Lansing. Because we don't have enough going on, we need to incorporate a six- or seven-hour drive into our lives.

We are owed $1,332.15. I am livid. And I don't get livid often.

When we got our "refund" check back (which wasn't even half of one month's rent), we panicked. When we saw they'd fined us an additional $700 and some odd dollars for a rent they say we didn't pay, we were angry. I'm talking foaming-at-the-mouth angry. The $1,332.15 includes a month's rent, surcharges and late fees, and the rest of our December rent, just because they stink at doing math. We have proof we paid the rent in question, and proof they endorsed and cashed the check.

Being young, paying a rent here, and paying school loans and other bills doesn't leave us with $1,332.15 to just say "Oh, well, let them have it. Michigan was such a great place for us, anyhow. Think of it as a going-away gift."

Wrong.

But, the real problem lies not in the fact that in that particular county in Michigan, you have to be there to file in small claims court, but in the two of us being angry.

We don't deal with anger well. We're young. We don't know how to write an effective "we're suing you" letter. (And this is the company that doesn't even have a Web site.)

We're not even sure we know how to sue someone. We tried friendly reminders, not-so-friendly reminders, and reminders that would make me cry if I were on the receiving end. I don't want someone to hold my hand through this. I want a punching bag. And I don't punch. Really. We don't really know how to effectively deal with the problem. It's not a problem between the two of us; that's not what I mean. It's a case of "We're broke, short money we're owed, and are hungry."

The adult in me says I shouldn't cry. But I can't help it. The kid in me is screaming "It's not fair!" and thinking of them as the big bully. The adult in me doesn't have a grown-up rebuttal to that sentiment.

They don't teach you "what to do when you get screwed out of $1,332.15" in college. Mom never talked about it. The Internet isn't even much help. But we're hungry. That's a lot of money. I like Court TV to stay on Court TV. Not come into my bank account and wreak havoc.

In all honesty, I feel kinda lost. And it's ruining my New Years Eve. This had better not be a predictor of 2006.