virginia is for lovers

today i put virginia license plates on my car.

and just like that, with the swift turn of a well-placed screw driver, the last vestige of my formal life was replaced. the transformation is complete.

(except that it wasn't really a swift turn at all because, man alive, those screws holding my utah plates on were rusted on there pretty tight. in all honesty, it was sort of a battle to get them off. but that is not as poetic as a "swift turn." though, on the other hand, i guess it could serve as a nifty analogy for my own final, emotional resistance to letting go.)

really though (and you know this is true because it is out of the parentheses), i am feeling really good about taking the last step and putting both feet firmly into my new life. i've had those plates for a little more than a week now, but today i was ready.

(also, my utah registration expired yesterday and i do not think an arrest would help engender any good feelings towards my new home.)

i hope you're ready too, virginia, because i am here to stay.

also, on a completely unrelated note (except for generally being about virginia and love), today as i was running down the stairs so as to only be five minutes late for work, i passed uncle bob and aunt joyce's room. and there they were, curled up in bed, him reading aloud to her from a book about the history of the constitution. it was straight up darling.