Hi folks! Let’s catch up, ok?

Last week I was stressed to the max about getting our Canadian driver’s licenses switched over to Massachusetts licenses.  We managed to get that done without too much trouble. If you don’t count the two hours spent waiting in the RMV with two small kids as trouble, which I do. Eh hem.  

They were initially reluctant to accept the documentation we produced as proof of our residence in this state.  But I must have looked like I was ready to do something desperate because after a few minutes an hour of conferring with her supervisor, the woman instructed me to stand in front of the blue screen for my picture.  At this point she hadn’t officially told me that they were going to accept my documentation and I was completely frazzled from wrangling my kids for so long and trying to keep them close to me while I stood in front of the counter. (The hubby had to go back to work so I was on my own for the majority of the wait. And I cleverly brought along some lollipops to entertain the kids. Entertainment? Check. Sticky children? Double check.) 

So I threw myself in position for my license photo while trying to keep Kieran from running away and annoying people and touching things with his sticky fingers and the (not surprising) result is that I look crazed and harried and my hair is a mess and I wasn’t allowed to wear my glasses so my eyes are all funky, too.  The picture showed up on the screen and the teller raised a single eyebrow at me and asked if that was ok or would I like to take another one? The kids were trying to out-shriek each other and I looked at her with that stressed-out-mom-face that many of us make.  Lady? Bottom line? I don’t have the luxury of posing multiple times to take a glamorous license photo. Aren’t these things supposed to look shitty anyway? If so? Score!

So I am the happy owner of a new driver’s license.  The hubby wondered why they don’t hire more staff when people will certainly have to wait for so long EVERY. TIME. THEY. COME. I believe I have discerned the reason. It is so that they will come to the RMV AS INFREQUENTLY AS POSSIBLE. I’m telling you that I will NEVER go back there again, if I can help it.  Their strategy? It’s working!

We enjoyed a weekend of sightseeing including The Children’s Museum of Boston…

  
It’s a kid-trap! Remarkably reliable. I don’t think a single kid who climbed in was able to get out without help.

…as well as a lovely walk along Fan Pier…

 
This is all that’s left of the Boston Tea Party Museum that burned down.

…and our first attempt at eating actual seafood in Boston.  Also?

It was a fun weekend.

And one more thing! I discovered meetup.com which I am really excited about! If you haven’t heard of it before, Meetup is a place to find other people who are interested in the same kinds of things you are and to organize events with these people.  I did some quick searching and found a number of parent/mom groups in my area and within 24 hours I was at my first event! It doesn’t cost anything and there are groups in every kind of hobby and interest you can think of from nudists to religious groups to sports to board games to motherless daughters or singles in their 30′s and much more. I was really impressed with the diversity of groups and I highly recommend this site to people who are looking for ways to connect with people who share the shame interests or just to make new friends.  

The drawback with Meetup is that there are many more groups available in bigger centres. It appears to me much more popular in the United States. My home town of Saskatoon, SK has only two groups for a city of over 200 000 people. So for my Canadian friends, there may not be as much available in smaller cities. But the good news is, you can start up your own group, if you are willing to do the work of organization!  

Wow. That read like a paid advertisement. But I was just so happy to discover a way to meet people where I didn’t feel like a giant loseWeight Exerciser. We’ll see where it leads. At the very least, I’m getting out and seeing and trying new things and I’m hoping that it will lead to a friend or two, as well!