You missed a spot.

It’s pretty much all melted by now, but it’s still kinda cold out there.

It’s supposed to be spring!

I’m wearing a somewhat nice pair of slacks today. Black, fully-lined, with pin stripes. They would have been quite a bit above my (very cheap) price range had they not been moved to the sale rack.

This afternoon I noticed the button was falling off. I was a little surprised, since these are a decent pair of pants that I have only worn a few times.

But, I figured, these things happen. I’d just be careful with that button for the rest of the day. The button’s on the inside of the waistband; there’s also a tab with a hook so I was in no danger of losing my pants!

Later on, I had an appointment with my friend/physical therapist to help straighten out my imbalances that will hopefully fix my knee problems. When I was changing into shorts for our appointment, I noticed a string hanging from my pants. The left hem had come undone.

So now, they needed repair. Since her office wasn’t far from my house, I stopped home before heading back to work.

Just as I’m finishing up a quick repair job, I noticed another string. The right hem had also come undone.

Do pants have an expiration date?

I had read about Superhero necklaces on several blogs months ago, and decided I needed to have one. But the shop had been closed due to the artist (Andrea Scher) being on maternity leave.

I’ve been kind of stalking the store, anxiously awaiting her return. She’s got a blog, too, so I had something to read while I was stalking.

And when I visited today, she announced a temporary re-opening! Hooray!

I did hesitate for a moment, because usually the jewelry I buy for myself is a lot cheaper. But this is a one-of-a-kind necklace; wearable art. And really, they’re not that expensive. I’m just cheap when spending money on myself!

And now that her priorities have shifted to her adorable little boy (check out her recent blog archive for photos, I especially like this one), they may be in limited supply.

Besides, it was just my birthday. I have birthday money to spend! It usually just gets absorbed by my bank account!

I have mentioned before that I am a rule-follower.

That typically means law-abiding as well.

So you can imagine my horror when last week, on my birthday, my new driver’s license had not yet arrived. The old one expired on my birthday.

I had mailed in the “renew by mail” form, but I suspected I probably didn’t give it enough time. The paper form didn’t specify a time frame, but their Web site said to allow 15 days. Of course, I didn’t check the Web site until I started to get concerned. I think I mailed it 11 days before I needed it, counting the weekends.

I worked from home on my birthday since I had a few appointments during the day, and stopped by the MVA* to check on the license situation.

They told me it had been mailed on March 26. Usually, in-state mail gets delivered in a day, two at the most. It had only been three days, and the woman who looked up my record convinced me I should hold out for a few more days.

She saw I had a clean driving record, and doubted a cop would give me a ticket for a barely-expired license.

Since I have only ever been pulled over twice, both times over ten years ago when I was a college student, I figured I’d probably be OK. Had I decided to get a duplicate license, I’d have to pay another $30, and I figured it’d likely come the next day anyway.

Friday on the way to and from work, I was well aware that my license was no longer valid. And in the mailbox that evening?

No license.

Over the weekend, I was only driving around town so I wasn’t too concerned. Still, nothing came on Saturday.

During Monday’s commute (despite being on autopilot), I was still well aware of my odometer. I was beginning to ponder how long I should hold out before returning to the MVA, and how I would fit it into my schedule.

Thankfully, a trip to the MVA is not necessary. I am now a legal driver again.

Phew!

*MVA = Motor Vehicle Administration, which is Maryland’s version of every other state’s DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). Not sure how long I have to live in this state for this to seem normal!