No Thanks To The DMV

I sort of missed my own blog hop last week, but Labor Day Weekend messed me up. I kept thinking I'd write my TToT post on Monday evening, but then I forgot it was Monday and not Sunday (because, you know, three day weekend), and then it was Tuesday and NOT Monday and I missed it. Also missed Six Sentence Story for pretty much the same reason. Sigh. 

How's about some thankfuls?

1. My birthday was over Labor Day weekend, and I got a surprise tray of cupcakes from one of my fave student workers that were BEAUTIFULLY decorated. . . .

Look REALLY CLOSELY at them.

2. I also got my Real ID, but not without difficulty. My husband texted me on Wednesday morning to remind me my driver's license expired on Sunday. Oopsie. I drove to the DMV in the next town over (the one here smells like feet) to get it, but I was told my marriage license wasn't good enough to prove I was the same person as my birth certificate said I was; they had to have a certified true copy, "with the embossed seal on it." I was told I would have to go to the Recorder of Deeds office to get it and it was already closed, so just to go there on Thursday, get the copy "with the embossed seal on it" and I could get my Real ID. 

I was really cutting it close to the ol' deadline, so I had to use my planning time on Thursday to go to the Recorder's office for the true copy, you know, the one with the embossed seal on it, then back to the DMV. I estimated the whole thing to take me about an hour, including drive time, and I'd still have half an hour of planning time, but when I walked into the Recorder's office, they told me they only had access to marriage licenses from Jasper County, and I got married in Vernon County. I said, "The woman at the DMV told me I could get it here," and they said, "Yeah, they keep telling people that. Someone should tell them not to," to which I answered, "I think YOU should be the one that tells them."  I then asked if the Vernon County Recorder could send the recorded license electronically, but the answer was an emphatic no, because (why?) IT HAD TO HAVE THE EMBOSSED SEAL ON IT. 

Quite pissed off about the whole thing, I called school to let them know I wouldn't be back after all, called the Vernon County Recorder's office and told them I was on my way there to get a true copy of my marriage license, and then drove the one hour it takes to get there. The very nice ladies in the Recorder's office had my copy ready for me when I walked in and handed it to me. I looked at it, then turned it over and looked again before asking, "Where's the embossed seal?!"

"Oh, we don't do an embossed seal here. We just use a stamp."

Breathe. Breathe. BREATHE.

There. Was. No. Reason. It. Couldn't. Have. Been. Sent. Electronically.

The DMV SUCKS.

I drove over to the Vernon County DMV, gave them all my paperwork, waited while the clerk checked it, and then she said, "I need your birth certificate." 

The last time I had seen it, I had been at the Jasper County DMV. I frantically began rummaging through my bag where the rest of the papers had been, and as I searched, I said to the clerk, "I just want you to know that if my birth certificate is not in this bag, I am going to ugly cry right here and now." She was all of about 20 years old, and I don't think she had been adequately trained for that scenario, but fortunately, I found the birth certificate tucked way down in the bag, and no tears were shed. 

I had to pass a vision test, WHICH I DID WITHOUT MY GLASSES, so I am no longer restricted, even though I wouldn't trust myself to drive without them even if the DMV does. Besides reading the letters in the top row, the test also includes a check of your peripheral vision which my dad cheats on and they've never caught him at it. I did it without cheating.

Last step was the photo. I popped a pose for the camera, but the clerk told me I had to stand with my shoulders straight, so there went the flattering angle. I tried to get a little head tilt in there, but I got caught at that, too, but the photo isn't too horrid, and I'm sure if the clerk at the  Vernon County DMV keeps her OWN thankful list, the fact that I finally left was right at the top of her list. 

3. Okay, #2 was kind of long. I'll try to be more succinct with the rest of the list. I am thankful for a lovely birthday weekend at the lake house with my husband, daughter, and dad, plus our three cats and my daughters newly adopted cat, and there were no fights from anyone, two legged or four legged.

My Finn keeping an eye on my daughter's
cat as he relaxes in the bathtub.

Harmony: Finn, Nora Pearl, Lewis, and 
Calvin (inside the pride house)

4. I'm thankful that the two legged members of the household don't actually fight. Can't say the same for the four legged ones.

5. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about wanting, and finding, a house dress/muumuu at a thrift store. I was (and continue to be) baffled that you can't walk into a store like JC Penney or Walmart and find a house dress (they are also called house coats or dusters). I see women wearing them sometimes (they don't seem to understand the "house" part of "house dress"). Where do these old ladies find them, then? My husband found out the answer was the internet, and he bought me three, THREE of them for my birthday! They are so comfy and I love them. Don't ask me what made me want one in the first place, but they are THE BOMB.

Searsucker house dress. I'm fancy.

6. This sticker on one of the house dresses made our whole family laugh:

7. If you're from Kansas City, you will understand the significance of this snow globe I got from my daughter. Fun fact: it was printed on a 3D printer, which is something I cannot wrap my head around. 

The Nelson/Atkins Museum shuttlecock

8. Temperatures are still reaching the 90s in the afternoons, but the nights are cooler and the air just feels different. Fall is almost here!

9. The Chiefs won the first game of the season with a nail biter. I'm glad football season is back!

10. I got my post written. 

It's never too late to be thankful. 

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