Kelsey and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

It has a happy ending though....

When I was in elementary school we read this book called "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day."
Ever had one of those? I did, last Friday. Now, before I rant, let me tell you that today, three days removed, I am in much better spirits and I fully recognize how petty and superficially "bad" last Friday was (I mean, no one died)....but nonetheless it was one of THOSE days.
Since I got married I have changed my name on all my bank cards, social security card, etc etc.....except my license. Now, I DID make one attempt around August to try to get a new license in Alabama with my new name on it. Currently, I have a Tennessee-issued license with my old name on it. Since my first attempt to get a new one sent me on a wild-goose-chase to three DMV's in the greater Birmingham area I was in no rush to try again. But, with a new year comes new resolutions and I had resolved to try once again for an AL license.
So, I woke up at 7AM on Friday morning (we all know it's best to be early to the DMV....at least that's what I learned on the first attempt) and my sweet husband even offered to go along with me to keep me company during the expected long wait. When we got there I went to the appropriate door, showed the lady my passport, old TN ID, and new social security card, I explained that the name-change thing and she gave me a number and told me to have a seat. So we did. We waited....

........and waited



..................and waited

And finally, 1 hour and 45 minutes later, my number was called. I walked in, handed another lady my stuff, and she asked if I had my marriage license with me. I said "no, I was told last time that I didn't need that." She rolled her eyes, pushed herself up from her seat and dragged into the office next door. When she came back she said "we have to have your marriage license. How are we supposed to know you didn't just change your name on your card wah wah wah wah...." To which I replied "ok, i have my OLD social security card, I have MR. JONES sitting outside, AND this is the SECOND time I have tried to do this! If I need to have FOUR forms of ID put it on your website!"
"well maaam, I've never even pulled up our website, people get a lot of conflicting info from it I think" she replied.
"then get the administrator to FIX IT!! OR put it on one of the 15 hand-written signs you have up on the door!!! This is ridiculous."
I grabbed my ID's out of her hands and stomped out.
Nick and I walked to the car....i was shaking....I let out a couple of words I wouldn't want Jesus to hear me say and then I started crying.
Now, I usually don't get THAT mad....or say the words I said that morning but I think my anger was really the tip of the iceberg of dealing with a few things like frustrations from getting my name changed, living in Alabama, living in Alabama, dealing with stupid people, dealing with stupid people in Alabama, seeing our US government be the most poorly run operation in the country.....you know....
SO...I will be keeping my TN ID until I move out of this state or until 2011 when it expires.
But this is not the end of the story.
To make myself feel better I thought I would go shopping. I grabbed a Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card and headed out the door. As soon as I pulled in to park I realized I had left the 20% off coupon at home....not a big deal to you maybe, but to me, yes. So I turned around and went back home.
It gets worse, when I got out of the car, I hit my head. Hard.
This began another crying fit and the feeling of "I give up, this day is trashed, I am going to go plant myself on the couch."
Enter Nick.
"It's only noon! You still have half of the day left! Let's hang out and do something fun!"
After some more convincing, we went on shopping attempt number two. The day got better. Nick bought me some new wine glasses and offered to make me dinner. When we got home he made me a bath and filled the bathroom with candles! He made pecan encrusted chicken for dinner, got a bottle of my favorite red wine, and then rented "Once" and brought me some milkduds from the movie store (my favorite!). ("Once" is awesome too, btw, if you haven't already seen it)
All was not lost. The day got better. And I am still Kelsey Lynn Howard in TN at least :-)