Wrap up life and things will break.

Wrapping up one's life at 'home' for at least two years is actually more daunting than I thought it would be. I knew I'd have mountains of bills to take care of (car registration and insurance - yes, I'm keeping it, my website, Sallie Mae loan, personal loan for dental work, etc. etc. etc.), so I'm trying to take this one thing at a time. I tried calling my undergrad college for information on Perkins Loan deferral, but my phone was pretty much dead. See, it no longer takes a charge because of some severely bent metal pegs. It's been sketchy the past three months, but finally it's given up. So borrowed my mom's phone, endured a little confusion on the other end about how she'd never dealt with anyone going into PC, and am waiting on paperwork.

So today was actually car registration day instead of loan day. By the time I got work done at home, it was mid-afternoon and starting to snow. The DMV is located in Woodstock, a ways through the suburban countryside northwest of where I live. Packed up all my stuff for errands and pulled out of the driveway at the same time I heard a quick thud-thud-crash. What now?! I looked in my right rearview mirror... or tried to, it was gone. I pulled around back to my driveway, but not before another car *ran over my mirror*. Seriously. Shattered into a million billion pieces. I cleaned up the big shards and went back inside to research where and how to get it replaced. Fun fun.

The snow was really picking up when I really left, but it was a nice & peaceful drive on Route 14. The DMV was easy to find, and there were no waits inside to get my registration. I explained my situation briefly to the clerk, who seemed also to not have ever encountered my dilemma. But then she offered me an extended registration through February 2011 for $16 (instead of 1 January 2010-31 December 2011 for $99). The catch is I'll never get to do that again, and I'll need to get new plates when I get back... probably not a problem because I'm hoping to move right on back to Alaska.

Not nearly as much work done as I'd hoped to finish, but that's how it goes. Too much to do but I really can't wait to get out of here. Definitely overstayed my personal limit at my parents' place. Things are changing!