vacation: all I ever wanted

The hubs and I are back from an extended long weekend in sunny San Francisco. Well, the sun was intermittent, but the fun was NON-STOP. I laid in the sun. I laughed until I couldn't breathe. I smelled the salt air. I wore a sweater and a scarf on the Fourth of July and was still cold. I ate some seriously amazing food and hung out with some seriously amazing people. All in all, it was a super-fun couple of days.

in the spirit

I'm currently listening to some Christmas music (did you hear about the free! Holiday Sampler on iTunes? If not, now you have: go download it immediately.) and baking Christmas cookies, getting ready to wrap Christmas presents. I can't believe Christmas is next week. NEXT. WEEK. Where did 2009 go? So much happened and yet I still feel like it all just rushed past me like the streets rush past the window of the el. (See what I did there? CHICAGO REFERENCE!)

The hubs and I are doing the Christmas gauntlet yet again (7 days, 5 cities, 3 Christmases) despite swearing up and down last year was the last time. I don't know what to say about it except that, while I'm annoyed about driving all over God's creation, I'm also glad to have so many people worth going to see and who will be happy to have me. It's cases like this where I'm tempted to say "it is what it is" but when other people say that, I get irritated because, seriously, what does that even MEAN? In what way is that ever a valuable thing to say? So anyway, I will refrain from saying it myself.

It's been cold in Chicago, but not cold-cold, so I feel pretty lucky there. I'm just bracing myself for the onslaught of inhuman, unbelievable cold-cold. The city is still a bit overwhelming, but every time I start to feel like maybe we made a big mistake and I ought to just run back to mid-size cities for the rest of my life, something happens to make me really glad we're here.

I mean, really, what's not to love?

reasons I hate the state where I live nos. 45682 and 45683

I went to get a new driver's license this week, with my new married name. I walk into the state DMV and wait patiently in line to get a number so that I can wait to be called up to the desk to actually do the transaction. I get up there, they figure it all out, charge me $25, take my picture and....

they'll mail me my new ID in 7-10 days.

WTF? I have never been to a DMV where they didn't just print out the ID right there. AND it's not as though these IDs are fancy or anything--they're laminated print-outs. Prime fakers material. My old ID had a hologram on it and they still were able to print it on the spot!

To make matters more annoying, they took my old hologrammed ID and STAPLED IT to the print out showing that I had a new ID coming and CUT THE CORNER OFF OF IT. It's the most ridiculous, backwater bullshit I have ever seen. I have to fly today...thank god I have my passport.

Speaking of my passport, did you know that when you change your name you have to pay the passport fee all over again? And since the hubs and I are traveling in August--less than 10 weeks--I'll have to pay the additional $60 to have it expedited! Ugh! If I knew that getting my name changed was such a pain in the ass, I wouldn't have done it. Seriously.

Okay, but on to reason 45,683: I'm being audited. Keep in mind that, before this year, the state had never heard of me. I had never worked here, never had a driver's license here, never voted here...nothing. (And that's on purpose.) Anyway, so even though I didn't work here last year either, I had to file taxes here as my state of residence. I sent them $1,800 they were not expecting. $1,800 from a person they've never heard of. What do they do? MAKE SURE SHE'S LEGIT. Definitely going to need to double-check, make sure she doesn't owe us like $1,950 or something. Assholes.

Anyway, two more months here and then I'm FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, and I'll get to experience yet another state's DMV quirks. Awesome.