Bye for now.

Wedding cake baked? Check. Veil made? Check. House cleaned from top to bottom, so that not a mote of dust shall be spotted by in-law eyes? Check.

I may be tied up for a while - if there's radio silence until September, don't be concerned. I shall return with many stories of weddings and Rome.

Surreal scenes - resolved

The answer came to me in the middle of the night! You photo sleuths think you're so clever, but I couldn't figure out where that photo came from. This is the first time I've ever renewed my license in this state, and when they took my picture five years ago, it was a different color. And about five inches shorter.

Now these minor details might escape someone (like my future husband, say) but I know that picture couldn't be from five years ago. So I ruminated long and hard. Do they share pictures with the federal government? I mean, could that be my passport photo? But that seemed pretty unlikely. Could the have taken my photo for any other reason? I mean, there was that mug shot they took after the incident with the...

And then it hit me. Four days earlier, I had attempted to renew my license, but at the last minute, they decided I didn't have the right paperwork. I had already waited an hour in line, and more importantly, they had already taken my picture. Mystery solved. The picture is me a week ago.

I'm sure we can all rest easier now.

Surreal scenes from the Motor Vehicle Department

I went to renew my driver's license this morning. In the process, I uncovered a devious plot in which the MVD plans to make me question my sanity. Their attack was two pronged. (Bear with me here - you'll need a lot of background information to fully appreciate this rant.) I wanted them to change their records to show that my first name is "Renee Michelle." I had brought my birth certificate for this purpose. For the record, while I care that people call me Renee Michelle to my face, I don't actually care what the MVD names me. But they had previously informed me that my license record needed to match my passport and birth certificate.

So I showed them the birth certificate. (Surreal Experience #1) They objected to the fact that my name was merely listed as "Renee Michelle Last Name." To be specific, there was no clear indication whether this was a first and a middle name or two first names. They told me that in order for my first name to actually be recorded "Renee Michelle" I would have to get a court-ordered name change to "Renee-Michelle." When I pointed out (1) that Renee-hyphen-Michelle is not the name I actually use, nor do I wish to change it for their convenience and (2) that previous states and the federal government had no problem with my current name, they just stared at me blankly. I told them that, actually, I no longer cared what they named me, as long as I could get the little plastic card and they gave it to me.

This is when Surreal Experience #2 (SE-2) occurred. Look closely at the pictures below. The one on the left shows me, wearing what I wore to the MVD when I was photographed. The blurry one on the right is what now shows on my license. My hair is the correct length. My glasses (which I did not own last time I was photographed for my license) match. The lipstick color matches. But I am wearing different clothes! How did they do that? And even more intriguingly, why did they do that?

Any conspiracy theorists want to weigh in?

Black and Decker wins the day

The first wedding gifts have arrived, and among them were the router and miter saw that Andrew put on our registry. I think if he had realized that weddings could result in new tools, he would have agreed to marry me a lot sooner...