Double Whammy

Two things happened today.

The first - I wore real (long) pants for the first time since early May. It was a bit of a shock to the system after so much time. My calves were a bit confused to be out of the fresh air but I think they'll survive. I actually brought a pair of pants with me to Israel this summer, but put them on once, decided I was crazy, and immediately changed back into capris. That presented a different problem because I hate having packed something I wasn't going to wear. I also wore dark socks today, which I also haven't done in many, many months. I'm not ready for fall.

The other was that it became official that we've been here in DC for five years. It's really been five years and 2.5 months, but it was getting my driver's license renewed that made it hit home. You would have thought it was all the 9/11 anniversary stuff, but it wasn't. And there hasn't been much about the 5th anniversary of the anthrax problem the Hurricane that cut out our power for a week or the sniper. So it was the license that made things real.

A few observations: First, my new license has a picture of a crab on it. I realize that we're living in Maryland, but it's not right for a nice Jewish girl to have a crab on her primary state identification. Or maybe they were commenting on my personality? But I digress....

Thankfully, Ronnie stopped by the eye doctor's office yesterday and got her to sign a form of some sort that allowed me to avoid the eye test at the DMV (actually the MVA, but whatever). I barely pass those tests as it is (but I do), and the eye doctor specifically told me to have her sign the form since if I didn't pass, glasses weren't going to improve my driving.

So I didn't have to take the eye test, but I was sitting in front of the little machine. And there's a small pad of paper, maybe 1" x 2" in between the two lenses. It's actually where your forehead rests when you take the test, and presumably when you're done, you take your little piece of paper and it's ready for the next person to put their forehead against. But how do you know if the last person took their piece of paper? And really, if I had to take the eye test, I'd rather have something protecting my eyes from whatever is in other people's eyes than worry about getting someone else's makeup on my forehead - although that is really gross too.

I'm going through the information the DMV guy, yes, the address is correct, yes, I'm an organ donor, yes, I'm registered to vote. And then he asks if my height and weight are correct or if they need to be changed. So I asked if he could add 2 or 3 inches to my height. He was not as amused as he should have been. Really, did he expect me to change my height? Does anyone? Seriously - do you think that anyone over the age of 25 has ever walked in and changed their height on their driver's license? Ridiculous!

There was a woman in front of me in line who had long blond (peroxided, and not well) hair and was wearing a baby blue track suit. She had purple eye shadow and purple mascara. I'm pretty sure that the pictures are too small to pick any of that up, but I give her credit for trying....