A Day in the Life of the Photo Impaired Blogger - Useless Ramblings on DMV, Shopping Carts, and Paying Rent

I am finding it difficult to blog without pictures. Somehow pictures bring out the words for me and it's just not the same. I walked into the attic the other day with every intention of opening all 30 boxes until I find that blasted charger. The charger was plugged into the same wall as all the craft, canning jars/equipment, holiday decorations, and other miscellaneous attic items were piled up against. Every box is labeled with some sort of combination of those things along with school room, office, and sewing items they mixed in at random. So much for careful organizing and labeling of each section so they would all have their own boxes and be labeled as such. So much for that. Really the only thing to do is go through it all and repack the seasonal and other things that are used on an occasional basis. I am hiding from the job it is true. So until I stop hiding ... useless ramblings with no fun pictures. Enjoy!

Myth#1 - There are no nice people that work at the DMV nor are there any pleasant interactions with said not nice people.

BUSTED - Sam's truck has no rear brakes. "We found something in Grandma's driveway after your visit. You might want to check your truck and see if you are missing parts." A message from Sam's Dad way back from easter weekend. Yes the truck has been good to him/us. Used and abused it's now been deemed the dumptruck as we have no trash pick up and frequent the local dump to rid ourselves of our waste.

With an 80 mile commute, in Milwaukee traffic, driving a truck with no rear brakes was not the best option for us, not to mention all the other drivers out there that would like to remain alive. Fixing the brakes - it would cost more than the truck is worth and there's no saying it would actually work. Welcome the commuter car purchase.

Long long ago in a land far away ... okay, early May in Sheboygan WI, we set out in search of a vehicle. With several trips to the dealership to "finalize your purchase. It should only take about 20 minutes." (if I had a nickel for every time I heard that! each lasted at least an hour and some more than three - with all four children in tow - fun stuff) they finally figure out how to deal with a military member who is a legal resident of AK with an expired drivers license. We are familiar with the process as we went through it in MI with the van. No problem, right? Boy were we wrong. AK is all over it with specific instructions for the exact circumstances we are in. Sam has all the paperwork, we secure the help of the "live person" we will need to "physically appear" at the DMV in AK to get the title and registration done and try to move forward. I will spare you the details because it would take several hours for you to read it. A couple weeks later things are ironed out and we have a temporary tag good through June 26th (how long ago was June 26th? ugh!), 90 days to get the title with lien recorded to our lender ( I wonder when they will come knocking on the door?), and a fabulously fuel efficient and safe vehicle for Sam to drive. Ah bliss.

So here we are, over 2 months later, with a brand new car sitting in our driveway. One vehicle for a family of 6 with a work commute of 80 miles (160 on the days we take him in because we need the van) got old on about June 27th and it's so old now I want to scream! What we thought was the title arrived in AK a while ago but we just had our paperwork returned to us Monday of this week and it in fact it is a letter from WI DMV stating that laws have changed and we owe more money before our request can be processed. I call this morning to hopefully get this wrapped up, so we can send it back to AK and get our registration and license plates, and I brace myself for the inevitable problem that will come and awfulness of the poor, put upon, DMV worker.

Boy was I surprised. Barb was so pleasant. She asked me about my children, their ages and such, mentioned how nicely they sing and play together (I guess people can hear everything in the background when I am on the phone), and asked me how we are enjoying this transfer to WI. My new bff, Barb, gave me all the information I needed to change the AK contact information so that it would be recognized by processing and sent to the correct people in AK. She gave me code words and colors to use for certain things so that it would be processed quickly and we can be "driving that vehicle in no time." I was floored. Utterly unable to process what had just happened. She was genuinely concerned with my saga and understood completely my frustrations. What?! Am I being punked or something? When does that ever happen at the DMV? Well it happened today and I am sure glad it did.

Thank you Darwin and Melissa for being our "live person"! Virtual cookies are on the way :)

Myth #2 - 1 million and 1 is enough times to tell your children that shopping carts are not playgrounds and should not be climbed in and out of. It sinks in for sure.

BUSTED - We lead a charmed life here (. or ?), your call. Music lessons are far enough away that we pack a lunch and have a park day when it's good weather. Today we did not have violin following piano so it was the perfect time to make the copies I needed to and get that DMV money and paperwork mailed in. While I love living in Belgium, it can be inconvenient when you need to accomplish an unplanned task, especially with one vehicle (see above!). Hurray we have the van today because of music, hurray we know what we need to do to get the car business taken care of, hurray Office Max is in the same city as piano, hurray I finally found some much needed storage for school workbooks, hurray we found a printer/scanner/copier on an amazing sale, hurray, hurray, hurray. I love Office Max. I no longer love their carts, or parking lots.

I am unloading the contents of the cart into the van while Addie is safely buckled into the shopping cart and suddenly I hear a big crash and look up to see the cart fallen down on it's side and Addie strapped in the seat with no way to move. It is clear that 'child who shall remain nameless' was trying to climb out and misjudged some physics causing a loss of stability. I run and unbuckle her lifting her up only to see a golf ball sized patch of hamburger where there should be skin on her forehead above her right eye, a big bruise and scrape on her inner thigh from impact with the leg wholes in the seat of the cart, blood coming from her mouth, and who knows what else. She's starting to do the thing where she doesn't breath because she is crying so hard and I can't get her to calm down. Blowing in her face to cause her to catch her breath isn't working, nothing is working. She's turning purpleish blue and I am really trying not to get freaked out. Just when I am starting to panic and call for help, she breaths, and although she is still screaming she is breathing and I can feel her calming a bit. She's terribly upset and in order to assess the situation I need her to calm down. I think of prayer.

I tell Addie I am going to say a prayer, she screams at me "No!" I do anyway and immediately she quiets and is peaceful and calm in my arms. I start to talk with her and assess the situation. I ask specifically, "Are you okay now?" She replies, "Yes, Jesus help Addie." I love my children, they teach me so much about faith. I am so grateful for prayer and that the Lord cares about us all the time, even when we think our two year old stopping a cart with her forehead on the pavement is our problem.

Before you get the idea that I am that lady that sues McDonald's because I get burned by a hot beverage they made or that guy that sues you because your grass is too long and he mysteriously trips and busts his arm "on your property so you are liable" seriously?! I am not that person. Life happens, I get it. Office Max is not to blame, nor am I, or my sweet child who never meant harm to come to Addie with their actions. I am just choosing to be mad at that cart and that parking lot because my stomach turns into knots when I look at my poor baby's head and leg and when I listen to her tell her sad sobbing story of "scary owie" I'd rather be upset with inanimate objects. Eventually I'll embrace the role of the shopping cart and parking lot in my eternal journey and find charity for them, I am certain of it. For right now they are just naughty and need time outs.

One good thing. While sitting and comforting Addie for about 1/2 an hour I was able to remember that I had forgotten to pay for my two copies I made and could go in to do it instead of driving 20 minutes back.

The best thing. Addie is fine and for all the hamburger, blood, and screaming she looks far worse than she feels and if history is any indication she's right back at life, full speed ahead. What a trooper she is.

Myth#3 - Paying your rent is not hazardous to your vehicle.

BUSTED - I am so efficient I should get a tax break for all the energy I save (or maybe, we should get a tax break because Sam works hard (and so do I you just can't see my paycheck :) ) and the government sure doesn't have a clue how to spend money!) - oops different post). With the DMV envelope ready to go but children that are over done running errands, I decide to stop and check the mailbox first. If the mail has been delivered we'll head to the post office so we can get it out today for sure. If it hasn't I'll stick it in, put the flag up, and call it good. But wait, the rent check is sitting on the baker's rack. Check the mail, pick up rent check, pay rent, head to post office (if need be) and be done. Okay good plan.

Mail came, check. Head down to pick up the rent, check. Pay rent, check. Get van stuck on landlord's decorative rocks (mighty sharp and pointy decorative rocks), check. Hey wait a minute, that wasn't on my list. There goes my tax break. Get fabulously equipped and handy landlord, check. Have a good chuckle, check. Wait while landlords and their employee lift the van up by forklift and roll the rock out from underneath, check. Admire that there are no visible scratches or dents on beautiful precious van, check. Pray that there is no damage that will affect any working parts, check. Deliver the DMV envelope to the post office while listening to excited tales about being lifted up by a forklift while "buckled in for safety", check. Blog about one strange and yet fabulous day while husband mows the lawn for the next 4-5 hours (not a joke) instead of opening boxes, check.