License to Wait
Tuesday morning, I loaded up the kids & drove 30 minutes down to our closest (& supposedly quietest!) area TX Driver's License office. (It's called the DMV where I grew up, but in TX it's DPS.) While I fed the kids, I somehow forgot to feed myself... (This fact plays into my level of desperation several hours later. :-P)
When we arrived in the sleepy town (that reminded me of south GA) and turned the corner to see the DPS building, my jaw dropped: the line was out the door & wrapped halfway around the outside of the building! (I can imagine what my face looked like; it was surely the exact same expression that everyone who entered the lot was stricken with, and to which we all knowingly nodded sad half-smiles over & over & over during our whole outside wait! :-P) I resisted the strong urge to flee - going to the Driver's License office is up there with the dentist for me - and got in line with the kids.
It began to rain.
PRAISE GOD for the big umbrella we actually had in the van!!!
We stood in line OUTside for 2 hours.
When we got INside, we waited 2 MORE hours.
PRAISE GOD for iPods!!! (Sidebar: our kids don't have DS's or real portable game systems; they have our old (& from JB, cracked screen ;-)) iPhone 3Gs w/ the SIM cards taken out, so no calling - just game playing. They're really just iPod Touches now, so I feel good about upcycling our old electronics, & I'm all about their "game systems" running apps that cost 99¢ or nothing, as opposed to $20-$30 for each new game! :-D)
Considering the four hour wait with no snacks, the kids were AMAZING! Several random people made it a point to come over and compliment their behavior. ♥♥♥ Even when everyone on our row inside was about to lose it, b/c they moved out of our number sequence (how dare they stop the 300's at 312 & move to the 400's?!?! We were 314; 313 shared our righteous indignation :-P) the kids tried to commiserate appropriately. Annelise sighed just loud enough to support our rowmates, "Oh pleeeeease don't stop the 300's!" ...And then she started singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" :-D
Be good for goodness sake, DPS!!!
When 314 was finally called, we sprung up to our booth. Good news: I like my TX pic better than my GA one I just surrendered. ;-) AND I squeaked by on my vision test w/ no restrictions! (I'm not deluded; I know I'm getting nearsighted, but I just wanted one more restriction-free license. :-P) So YAY!
Was it a fun way to spend half a day? Heck no! But it COULD have been worse: it could've rained harder, with lightning or hail; we could've been stuck in line with unsavory characters; it could've been over 100°; and thank God we all have legs strong enough to stand that long!!! :-) It really wasn't the end of the world. Yay for positivity!!!!
So after all that, what did we do?
Ok, OF COURSE we ate! But then we went right over to our new library to get library cards! :-D Disappointed but not surprised that ALL of the suggested summer reading for their rising grade levels are checked out w/ tons of holds; but I added 10 holds for each of them, anyway, so hopefully people will return quickly. :-)
The library has a FANTASTIC summer reading program: for reading either 20 books or 20 hours (parents decide: so for Will, I'll count 20 chapter books; he usually spends ~45 min on each) they get a TROPHY!!! There is no better motivation for my kids! ;-) (They are really nice trophies, too! :-D) The library is gorgeous, and extra bonus: it's right across the street from...drumroll, please...Starbucks! :-D (Not that that means too much here, w/ a Sbux on almost every corner; but it still makes the residual south GA in this girl happy!!! ;-))
When we arrived in the sleepy town (that reminded me of south GA) and turned the corner to see the DPS building, my jaw dropped: the line was out the door & wrapped halfway around the outside of the building! (I can imagine what my face looked like; it was surely the exact same expression that everyone who entered the lot was stricken with, and to which we all knowingly nodded sad half-smiles over & over & over during our whole outside wait! :-P) I resisted the strong urge to flee - going to the Driver's License office is up there with the dentist for me - and got in line with the kids.
It began to rain.
PRAISE GOD for the big umbrella we actually had in the van!!!
We stood in line OUTside for 2 hours.
When we got INside, we waited 2 MORE hours.
PRAISE GOD for iPods!!! (Sidebar: our kids don't have DS's or real portable game systems; they have our old (& from JB, cracked screen ;-)) iPhone 3Gs w/ the SIM cards taken out, so no calling - just game playing. They're really just iPod Touches now, so I feel good about upcycling our old electronics, & I'm all about their "game systems" running apps that cost 99¢ or nothing, as opposed to $20-$30 for each new game! :-D)
Considering the four hour wait with no snacks, the kids were AMAZING! Several random people made it a point to come over and compliment their behavior. ♥♥♥ Even when everyone on our row inside was about to lose it, b/c they moved out of our number sequence (how dare they stop the 300's at 312 & move to the 400's?!?! We were 314; 313 shared our righteous indignation :-P) the kids tried to commiserate appropriately. Annelise sighed just loud enough to support our rowmates, "Oh pleeeeease don't stop the 300's!" ...And then she started singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" :-D
Be good for goodness sake, DPS!!!
When 314 was finally called, we sprung up to our booth. Good news: I like my TX pic better than my GA one I just surrendered. ;-) AND I squeaked by on my vision test w/ no restrictions! (I'm not deluded; I know I'm getting nearsighted, but I just wanted one more restriction-free license. :-P) So YAY!
Was it a fun way to spend half a day? Heck no! But it COULD have been worse: it could've rained harder, with lightning or hail; we could've been stuck in line with unsavory characters; it could've been over 100°; and thank God we all have legs strong enough to stand that long!!! :-) It really wasn't the end of the world. Yay for positivity!!!!
So after all that, what did we do?
Ok, OF COURSE we ate! But then we went right over to our new library to get library cards! :-D Disappointed but not surprised that ALL of the suggested summer reading for their rising grade levels are checked out w/ tons of holds; but I added 10 holds for each of them, anyway, so hopefully people will return quickly. :-)
The library has a FANTASTIC summer reading program: for reading either 20 books or 20 hours (parents decide: so for Will, I'll count 20 chapter books; he usually spends ~45 min on each) they get a TROPHY!!! There is no better motivation for my kids! ;-) (They are really nice trophies, too! :-D) The library is gorgeous, and extra bonus: it's right across the street from...drumroll, please...Starbucks! :-D (Not that that means too much here, w/ a Sbux on almost every corner; but it still makes the residual south GA in this girl happy!!! ;-))
Wow, what a full day!! At least you and the kids put a positive spin on the situation, which reminds me that I need to do the same when faced with some of those long waits! ;)
ReplyDeleteWow! You are really getting things accomplished. I would probably have procrastinated for a year on getting a new license.
ReplyDeleteWe are the same way about the DS and portable gaming systems. My kids don't have any, and I think that is an awesome thing! They get to use the old iPhone in moments of desperation. I think it's good to learn to stand in line, do nothing and think of random songs to sing! That's how we learn to be creative!
I am all about hitting the ground running!!! We have moved around so much that I can't afford to waste time; although I *did* get the 6-year TX driver's license in faith that we will stay here!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't *always* get this part done so fast, though; I never even changed my IL license the last time we were in MI...b/c I just knew in my heart of hearts we wouldn't be stuck there very long. AND I had to take a stinkin' written test for that IL one! That thing was like a trophy! :-D