I'm sorry, New York

I feel guilty. This week I officially surrendered my New York State license in exchange for one identifying me with the state of Texas. I feel terrible that I'm this excited about it!

I'd like to formally apologize to you, New York (and to my best friend Liza who was very disappointed with this switch too). Know that I'm not in any way betraying you or giving up my "New Yorker" title. I have been ingrained with the ways of a New Yorker (and yes, some genius did create this list for a facebook group already, it's just that so many are true...this is my own version):

1. I will forever enjoy walking as a mode of transportation
2. Red lights at an intersection mean walk quicker, not stop
3. Jaywalking isn't illegal, it's just how you regularly cross the street
4. I will continue to say "the city" and expect everyone to know I mean Manhattan
5. I will still use my horn whenever I feel like it (even though my husband keeps trying to tell me this is a bad idea in Texas)
6. I will continue to dislike New Jersey
7. Seeing stars at night will always amaze me
8. More than half my closet is still black (and always will be)
9. Bumping into even one person you know at the grocery store is so weird
10. Uptown should actually be up, as in north - not south of everything else in Dallas

I could go on and on! I have not deserted you, New York. I am not a traitor. I proudly claimed you as my place of residence for the past 23 years and do miss you very much.

That being said, it's about time that I finally made the switch! This has been on my to-do list for quite a while now. We've almost officially been here a year and half, which is only a tiny bit longer than the "suggested" amount of time you're supposed to spend in a state as a permanent resident before you switch your license. Whoops. I am normally not a slacker on stuff like this. The process was a little more difficult that I'd been anticipating. About a year ago (so we were living here for about 6 months) I made my first attempt at getting a Texas license. I researched the "DPS" (uhm in New York it's definitely called the DMV. Like Department of Motor Vehicles...which makes sense). I figured out all the paperwork I needed to bring (which was a lot because on top of just moving, I happened to be newly married which meant that just about every legal document I owned had a different last name and address combination!), looked up the nearest location (which was still out of the way since our county at the time was so spread out), and made my first attempt. I walked in and was rejected at the first step because our insurance was expired. Whoops again. Hehe. Oh yea, I do remember thinking I need to carry that new piece of paper out to my car. Okay, totally my fault on that one. Well since the "DPS" office was so out of the way, I successfully managed to put off trying again for another year. Yes, an entire year. Within that year we definitely took two trips to New York to visit family - both times the tickets were booked under my new married name instead of my maiden name (the one on my license). See the problem? It's not as much fun as you might think to travel with your marriage license and have to try to convince the TSA people that yes, I did get married, and yes I promise to get a new ID as soon as we return. Now you might be thinking...why didn't you just book the tickets under your maiden name and save all the trouble? Well that would be smart but since I'm such an organized person, I was incredibly prompt about changing my last name on my frequent flier account. Go figure.

Okay, so we're on to my second and third attempts now (which both happened the same day). An upcoming trip marked on my calendar (booked using my new last name, of course) was extra motivation to get this thing done once and for all. I bring every document I think I could possibly need, and set out on my lunch hour to accomplish this way-more-difficult-than-it-should-be task. I walk in to step one...and boom. Rejected again. This time, since it's been over a year, I need to have proof of registration too. I was confused. Like the sticker on my car? I can just go peel that off right now and show you. No, doing that would void the registration apparently. No, this sweet lady meant the silly piece of paper that the sticker was originally attached to when it came in the mail. Omg. Okay, so I drive home to attempt to find it because surely I saved it if it looked even a little bit important. I dig around and find the previous year's piece of paper, which isn't good enough. So then I just start making a pile with every piece of paper that identifies the car to me as its owner: title, plate receipts, inspection certificate, everything. I was determined to find enough information to allow me to get my license. Finally, at the very bottom of the file, I find the folded piece of paper that my registration sticker came on. And then I noticed the huge blue sticker that was very much stuck directly on top of where my personal info appeared on the page. Yes, when I took off my old sticker, I had stuck it right on this piece of paper. Genius, genius idea.

I was thoroughly frustrated at that point. I gave up and just brought everything with me, hoping that between my zillion documents, someone would have a little mercy and let me become an Texas license holder. As luck would have it, I walked in when "the nice old guy" was on duty, and he just shooed me straight in and didn't even check that all my documents were correct.Well the rest of the process went just fine, and I am officially a Texas resident. Funniest moment? Right when I was walking out I realized I forgot my old ID at the counter. I rush back in and ask for it, only to find out that it's getting shipped to Austin. I later learned that you're supposed to "lose" your ID before you go in, so you can keep it as a souvenir. Wish I had known that one a few hours earlier!

I will be a little sad the first time I have to pull out my ID, and instead of "Oh cool! You're from New York??" I'll just be a normal Texan. But truthfully, being a normal Texan sounds pretty cool to me!