Name Change Blues

I had been told that changing my name would be a hassle, but did I listen? Of course not. I impatiently waited for the marriage license to arrive in the mail and when it did I was off and running. Who wants to wait up to a month to get appointments at places like the Social Security Administration and the DMV? Not me. I had to start with the Social Security Administration (DMV checks with them), so I decided that if I got there 30 minutes before they opened I’d be all set. I arrived only to discover that there were already 30 people in line ahead of me. I sat in the waiting room for close to an hour and it was miserable (mostly due to a few people who hadn’t showered in a very long time and a woman who was watching a video on her phone trying to learn English).

That was Monday. On Thursday I went to the DMV. I randomly woke up at 5 a.m. and decided that I should have breakfast and then make myself look pretty for my picture (they make you get a new license picture, which I was annoyed about because I love my old picture). Based on my experience at the SSA, I decided I should arrive at the DMV an hour early. I got there and there were already six people in line. It was pretty cold out so I was wearing my puffy and UGGs. The guy in front of me (who was just there to be with his girlfriend) was in a t-shirt. I thought his goosebumps were going to pop off his arms and start attacking people. Poor guy. But the second guy in line had clearly been in line at the DMV before. He had brought a pool chair that fully reclined and he was ensconced in blankets. Aside from standing for an hour and a half it wasn’t nearly as bad as the SSA.

The good thing about all that waiting in line was that I got to catch up on some reading (I also got to wait in line and read for 40 minutes at the post office so that I could mail off my passport). I spent the rest of the week making phone calls to various places, writing emails, typing letters, copying my marriage license (the bank that holds my retirement account told me that I’d have to send them my original marriage certificate and that I should put a post-it on it that says I want it returned because otherwise they won’t return it), and filling out forms online. It’s amazing how many accounts I have. This is the problem with getting married in one’s mid-30s—one’s life is fully established already. I would advocate that women get married at 18 (before they have too many accounts to keep track of) in order to minimize the name change blues.

I registered for the SCBWI conference in L.A. that’s at the end of the summer. I had such a great time there last year that I’m really looking forward to going again. This time I also signed up for a manuscript consultation. I’ll get to meet with someone (agent, editor, or maybe author) for 15 minutes to discuss a manuscript. Now I just have to figure out which manuscript to share. I have to decide by the end of May when submissions are due.

What I’m reading: I’m currently only reading The Emperor of All Maladies (I know, so unlike me to only be reading one book). Ken Burns made a documentary based on this book that aired on PBS so I’ve been watching it too.