Would Someone Please Remove the Rock From Which I Live Under

Yesterday was a typical day. I had planned on dropping the kids off at the sitter for a little while so that I could get some errands done.

I needed to get the oil changed, renew the tags, drop off a package, you know the run-of-the-mill.

I dropped the kids off around 11:00 am and planned on being back to pick them up in just a couple of hours.

On my way to Callahan, B calls me (he was at the doctor in Callahan) and wanted to meet for lunch. So we met and grabbed a burger together. I told him I was going to get the tags renewed, he said he would ride over there with me so he could go ahead and put the sticker on his tag. So I follow him over to the tag office and see that the line is OUT THE DOOR HALF WAY THRU THE PARKING LOT!
I pulled up beside him and said, "Forget this, I'll come back after I get the oil changed!"

So B went home and I proceeded to 'The Oil Changing Station' (official name).

Somehow I started talking to the man behind the counter at the 'Station' about the length of the line at the tag office. Because apparently talking to strangers is a new habit I've picked up, and because that's what everyone else does in this town-o-400. You can just call it 'tryin' to fit in'.

Anyways, back to talking to the man behind the counter. As I am sitting, in this very posh 'Oil Changing Station' complete with a floor fan that doubled for me as an end table which held my McDonald's coke just superb, he tells me that the lines are soooo ridiculously loooong because the prices to renew tags is going up in 24 hours, WAY up, some 54%! I thought to myself, ok so I better go get my butt in line today!

I am really teetering on line here: Lucky vs. Unlucky

• Lucky, because I found out about the increase in fees and because if I hadn't found out I probably would've just gone home and ended up paying WAY more.

• Unlucky, because the one day I decide to do something about our soon expiring tags, so does the rest of the state.

Apparently this has been all over the news for months now and the media knew that it was not going to be hard to keep this a secret from me because it was not posted on Yahoo! OMG, People.com or MSN Entertainment. Which is where all the really important news takes place.

This man at the station also informed me that he heard on the radio to expect to wait at least 2 hours anywhere you go. Hello?

You know this guy really was a wealth of information because I also found out that they are turning a used to be gas station into a Walgreens. Humm who knew? I really kind of butted my way into that convo. Which I am sure he appreciated seeing as how he was trying to flirt with a girl WAY TOO young for him! (Seriously, just trust me on this one.)

I walked in the tag office right at 2:00 pm and stood in line.

There were about 15 people in front of me and I really couldn't foresee it taking that long.

At that moment I was really happy to be living in the small town-o-400. Or maybe not, since I had not a drop of makeup on and it didn't look like I had brushed my hair at all.

Seriously, who did I have to impress at the 'Oil Changing Station' and the tag renewal office? Little did I know I would come face to face with the entire town!

And right after I got comfortable being the last one in line, in walks the Minister of Education from our church. And after standing in line together for almost three hours he knows my entire life story! Actually, that really only took about 15 minutes, the rest of the time was me secretly wishing one of the poor individuals in front of me would give up and go home, and deciding that I didn't care about the 27 Easy, Delicious Meals that the Taste of Home Magazine had to offer.

I finally got out of there at 5:00 pm! Feeling Lucky.

Ok, you caught me, I was feeling emotionally, physically, and monetary drained!