Friday, April 10, 2009

It's Official!

I'm sitting here in my gloomy living room, drinking tea out of a mug that my brother gave me on a long ago Hawaiian Christmas (it still makes me think of him every time I see it), while outside the rain has slowed to a kind of fine mist that makes everything drip. I'm learning that this is pretty much what St. Louis spring looks like and I guess it is what is responsible for the green popping out everywhere, the tulips and daffodils and flowering trees that almost hurt the eyes in their beauty. It's quite different than Colorado. It can be gloomy, but as I lay in bed last night and listened to the rain, I found I didn't mind it so much. There's something comforting and soothing about it. At least, when I'm safely dry and inside.

It's Good Friday and the first holiday off of my new job. I spent a large chunk of the day running to and fro trying to get my car registered and my Missouri driver's license. One thing that's not so nice about Missouri...SO MUCH RED TAPE!! Seriously. The list of things I needed (my residency permit - yes...that's right...a permit to live here, my passport or birth certificate, a safety inspection certificate, an emissions inspection certificate, the title and so on and so forth) was quite daunting. Whatever happened to just walking in with the old registration, an i.d. and a checkbook? Anyway, barring one surly woman in the first office I went to, everyone was lovely and helpful and the process went much more smoothly than I feared. And now, it's official, I'm a resident of St. Louis. I mean, I suppose the aforementioned residency permit had already made that official, but somehow, having a Missouri Driver's License in my wallet and Missouri plates on my car make it much more real than a piece of paper that I happen to think is ridiculous anyway. Oh...and I'm registered to vote here too. CRAZY!

It feels strange. I haven't decided if it's a good feeling or not. One guy that helped me with my registration took one look at my Colorado license and told me I was insane to have moved here from Colorado. A part of me kind of had to agree with him. But I guess I'll just have to get used to the new license plates (I miss the green mountains on my old one) and the new picture on my new license (they took it right after I had a coughing fit that made my eyes water. I look like I've been crying...and it's good until 2016).

So, I'm going to finish that tea and go make sure the dog isn't tracking piles of mud through the house from my dripping yard and doing all the things that are part of life here in Missouri.

May you all have a lovely Easter surrounded by the ones you love and the surety that He Lives!

2 comments:

Becky said...

Hey Jen-

I hope you have a wonderful Easter! We miss you here. I'm glad you have this blog, though! I love it!

Becky

Carmen said...

Jen...Happy Easter and Happy Springtime!