Then, this morning, I knew success was at our fingertips! We got there at 9am, with all appropriate paperwork, armed with library books (yeah, library card before driver’s license, that’s how I roll). Unfortunately, fifty-three other people had arrived before it even opened and only two people were working. Since there was no room to wait inside, Steven and I spent the majority of the three hours sitting on the concrete curb outside. Luckily, lots of people gave up! And, finally, our perseverance was rewarded:

Yay!!!! It's like a Biblical fable, really. If you just wait long enough in the smell of cigarettes and desperation, you too can have a piece of plastic with your picture and organ donor status.

Steven tells me that this is actually MORE efficient than DMVs in Texas, which are smaller, more crowded, and make you wait to receive your license in the mail. As a frequenter of Largo, Florida’s new, gigantic, and automated DMV, where the longest I’ve ever had to wait is 30 minutes, I’m already a little homesick.

On the plus side, Steven’s bookcases finally came yesterday, so I got to spend last night happily organizing by subject and last name:

Alphabetization: my favorite thing!

We’re planning on taking the shelves out of the middle section and putting in something dramatic, but we’re not sure what. Also, notice the Rice-pride throw rug I inherited and the couch that’s apparently made of down. I may or may not be allergic to it.

Also, here’s what I decided to do with all my hats:

My favorite is the viking hat with the horns sticking out

Now they are always within easy reach in case of a silly hat emergency.

Also, STAIRS

I haven't been able to hang any pictures yet, but I have managed to decorate with every scarf I own plus some Christmas lights

And, in a stroke of Mom Ladd-genius, we got a coffee table dining room table!! You sit on giant cushions to eat, just like what I imagine hippies do! In Japan! In the future!

Mom Ladd is probably annoyed that I didn't clean off the library books and paperwork before taking this picture

Not only are their stairs IN our apartment, but you have to climb stairs to get to it as well! Outside, we have this little deck thing:

Just like at Wiess! But with a parking lot instead of an acabowl!

I’ve already decided to buy bar stools to take advantage of the railing and the view into the pool of the apartment complex across the street a la Wiess. It would also give you a commanding view of Trixie, who’s slightly apprehensive about next Monday’s errand of getting her new license plates. She seems to think that a North Carolina license plate will look much less flirty than a Florida license plate. One implies bikinis and beaches, the other Tomato Festival and tobacco.

Speaking of Tomato Festival, it’s tomorrow! Get psyched!

Here are the deets of the past few days. Sorry I don’t have pictures yet:

Trixie and I had a pretty uneventful drive up here (apart from my exciting appearance on the fabled NASCAR News). For some reason, she kept insisting that I only listen to Britney Spears, which I think was some form of psychological warfare. Unfortunately for her, the book tape I brought, I’d Tell You I Love You, But then I’d Have to Kill You was more than enough retaliation. The reader seemed to be under the impression that teen girls all sound like My Little Pony: The Animated Series characters, with a variety of bad accents. Seriously, just like this:

Seriously, right down to the oddly Southern pony who is obsessed with sun hats. I only got halfway through the story, but it’s pretty much exactly what you would expect from a book whose premise is “teen girls who are also spies!” They use their spy powers to snoop around boys’ houses, mostly.

Due to my own laziness, Trixie won Roadtrip: The Lightning Round. As she claimed her medal (pictures later), she graciously said that it was only fair, since she was the only one literally pulling her own weight this summer. I was forced to concede. Anyway, at least I got second, arriving a mere six hours before Steven Wiggins.

Top Three Best Things About Our New Apartment
1. Stairs
2. Giant kitchen
3. LIGHTNING BUGS

Hopefully the shipping company/scam artists that Steven hired to take his/my Houston stuff here will arrive on Monday. Personally, I fear that I will never see my fashionable red microwave again.