Lesson learned and a culinary success

Last week, I started a new part of this journey. I have been reclaiming my life for well over a year. Last week, I finally had the paperwork in hand so I could reclaim the identity that goes along with that life. I do not remember changing my name after getting married being near this difficult.

I first visited the DMV last week. I knew there was no way I could stand to just waste away an afternoon there, so I grabbed the form I needed and headed out to my car where I called to make an appointment. I found that even the DMV automated line can be frustrating. But, I did it. I made an appointment. Carefully following the directions, I never did get the system to repeat my confirmation number. However, I did manage to speak to a human who was able to confirm that my appointment was listed in the system. Ahh....

So, I headed to the bank. This one should be simple enough, right? I just needed to change my name on my account and the accounts I have set up for the kids. 45 minutes later...I finally had my name back on at least one important thing. I signed the new signature cards and was on my way. While at the bank, I ran into an old friend who I hadn't seen since before I left in June of last year. I jumped up, ran over, and gave her a huge hug. I had thought about stopping by her house so many times, but never had taken the time to try to see her. I hoped we would reconnect and there we were. We met down the street for lunch. We got caught up and we enjoyed a nice summer afternoon. Balance. It had been a slightly less than awesome day up to that point. Then it slipped into superbly awesome! Rock on!

Today was my appointment, so I returned to the DMV. First, I stopped by the bank where I found out that I had overlooked a spelling error (my name) on two of the signature cards, so I was going to have to re-do the one thing I had celebrated having done. Then, I headed to the DMV. I had followed directions from their website for changing my name on the title. I had filled out the form for my driver's license. I had my court paperwork, forms, registration, and driver's license in hand. I was even a few minutes early for my appointment. How excited I was! I approached the counter and started talking to the woman there to help me. I didn't get very far.

"Have you been to the Social Security Administration?" she asked.
"Not yet," I replied.

Guess what?! You have to actually follow the order of operations here. Just like an algebra problem, if you do something out of order, you get the wrong answer. So, I rescheduled my appointment and headed to Modesto. Ok, I called my mom and vented first. I was frustrated, to say the least. This name was my name for the firt 21 years of my life. All I want to do is reclaim it. It is mine. It was the name on my driver's license when I first got it at 16. Every step has felt so incredibly complicated. But, I continue on and do what I have to do. This included spending about 45 minutes in the Social Security office. Now, I have to say, that office stinks. Quite literally. There are a lot of smelly people there and the whole place smelled bad. I've been exposed to one person on a regular basis with terrible hygiene and most recently was driven to the point of gagging when near him. (I finally just held my breath.) But this smell was everywhere. At first the numbers were called painfully slowly. Then, they picked up speed. I was releived when my number was called. I was even more relieved when I was called "to the door." I walked through the door into this office area. A nice, organized area primarily inhabited by employees. People with good hygiene. The odor was gone. I breathed a sigh of relief. I breathed a second sigh of relief once the employee looked over my documents and determined they were right for changing my name. I left with a piece of paper...a "receipt" to show that I had taken care of my name change with the Social Security Administration.

I don't know if I will ever get married again. Heck, I have no idea if I'll ever even get the hang of dating. But, my resolve is strong in one thing. IF...IF...I ever do meet a man who meets my needs and IF...IF...I am getting married again...I will NOT EVER change my name again. Never. If for no other reason than to avoid the Social Security office.

Lesson learned.

My culinary success tonight is one a friend suggested I put on Pinterest and I think I will. Yes, I was so excited that I sent a text to a few friends tonight. I was thrilled! I made salmon with a (fresh) peach relish. I cut up three peaches. I cooked them with a little butter. I added a teaspoon of sugar, three or four dashes of Tapatio, and some lemon juice. I cooked them some more. Then I took a potato masher and mashed them up some, but left it a bit chunky and cooked it some more. (Medium-high heat) It turned out SO good! I did the salmon in a frying pan with some olive oil, briefly on each side then I finished in the oven at 350-degrees. It turned out so much better than the last time I made salmon. I was relieved, I was excited, I overjoyed. And the best part of all was that everyone at the table liked it too! Another great experience in the kitchen! I love it!