Surprising and Pleasant

These two adjectives pretty much sum up my DMV experience today. I've been procrastinating on getting my MN license for too long now, but because some of my school paperwork requires fingerprints, I can only get them done if I'm a resident of the state. As you can imagine, I've been putting this off for over a year now. Thankfully, I only had to take the written examination.

There were no long lines and impatient customers to listen to bitch and whine. The DMV employees were not acting their usual disgruntled selves; in fact, they all seemed to be in a good mood...for a Monday! When I registered in, the Asian dude that helped me happened to be originally from Sacramento...as always, the question as to why I made the move to Minnesota came up. As much as hubby has responded, "...to escape the California winters...", I continue to love watching people's reactions to that statement. On a good day, people will get the joke; other days, it's just silence. (*tapping the mike..."is this thing on?")

Fortunately, I passed the test successfully. And although I'm a tad embarrassed about the fact and because I can laugh about it now, I did NOT pass the written test the first time- aiya! Go ahead, snicker and snort all you want, but hey, ya'll gotta be careful when you're reading tests like that! The tests are computerized so there's no paper test, but going into it the first time, I was too overly confident. I mean, it's all common sense, right? When the results flashed onto the screen, I remember sitting there and staring at it for a second thinking, "You're sh*tting me, right? I didn't pass?!" Hubby took the test on the same day and when I told him, he gave me this look and said, "You're sh*tting me, right?" LOL! Yes, I can laugh about it now, but boy oh boy, if I didn't pass this time around, I would've seriously had to hide under a rock! I DID miss a handful though...they're just trying to trick people, it's a conspiracy, I tell you! HA!

I didn't bother to really "fix myself up" for the license picture today. Not that I was expecting to fail! Part of it was due to the fact that we were rushing in fear that it might be packed, but mostly, I didn't really care. Of course, I'll probably change my mind once I see the actual picture- LOL! For a Monday at the DMV, I got away with a surprisingly pleasant experience. Nice.

Blown Away

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, my newest obsession has been "The DaVinci Code." Almost immediately after I finished that, I had to buy his earlier book "Angels and Demons." TDC is not really a sequel to "Angels and Demons," but it's the first time the main character is introduced and I wanted to get a better feel of what he was all about. In any case, "Angels and Demons" was just as intense and riveting as the first one! Although the premise is fictional, it has succeeded in forcing me to really think about what is true, what is perceived to be true, and what may be altogether false. The author Dan Brown is a great writer- from his style, choice of words, to the way he reels you into the mysterious plot until the very last page- and doesn't make it possible to put the book down. Anyone looking for an intelligent read, Dan Brown can deliver. Go buy it, people!

Unexpected Plan

Hubby and I were scheduled to visit the city by the Bay in a couple of weeks, but due to my mom's surgery, it was decided that I would fly ahead to spend some extra time with my mom. She should be getting out sometime this week and I'll be there to help out with the normal regular things that she's not able to do just yet. Thankfully my sis has been driving into the city every day despite the long commute and the extra hand will definitely be appreciated. When hubby comes, things will go as originally planned, but for now, I've got to prepare for my upcoming trip this week. My mom continues to recover slowly and I'd appreciate all the prayers for an even faster one.

Birthday Shout-Out

Just wanted to send some birthday love to my O.G. Kumare, Wena, on her 33rd birthday! This girl has been with me for as long as I can remember. From the school dances at El Camino High that she dragged me to hooking me up with my first job at Wells Fargo- it's funny to look back and see how my parents thought that she was a bad influence on me! Hahah, that party girl! Together with the other kids, we formed our own dance group, early-generation mind you, Cutting Edge. We weren't anything like the hip-hop crazed groups nowadays, but we did look tight in our matching vests, pegged pants, and shiny black shoes with the chiffon white laces! With our hairs pumped up to the sky, we danced to routines like Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl," Heavy D's "Now That We Found Love," and "At The Playground" by that kid group ABC. Omigosh, that brings back so many memories! I was a part of her cotillion entourage when she turned 18 years old and later, was a part of her wedding as well. Although we don't keep in touch as often as we'd like, we're still not only kumares, we're practically sisters! Happy 33rd Birthday girlfriend!