It's offically offical now

I registered to vote today.

I've been as registered voter for 10 years now and I take it very seriously. This makes it seem like now I really live here. I don't necessarily like it but I do.

They also made it difficult. I called the county registers office to see where I could register. (Today was the last day to register if you wanted to vote in the November elections.) I wanted to know if I could go to their office and register in person. If so, what do I need to bring with me. If not, where can I go.

Well the lady on the phone told me that I could go to her office but I only had 45 minutes until they were closed. I told her that this wasn't a problem because I was only five minutes away. She then told me that I could download the form from the internet and mail it. All I had to do was make sure that it was postmarked by today. I told her that I do not know where a post office is but I do know where her office is. She said that I could go to a library. Again, I told her that I didn't know where a library was but I did know where her office was. I finally just said, "Thank you." very quickly and hung up. I got the feeling that she really didn't want me to come to the office.

I had gone to yahoo to get directions and they seemed really easy to follow. I started on my way but when I turned onto the one major road that I had to travel on, I learned that it was a tole road. This isn't a major problem but I usually do not have any money. Like, no money at all. I happened to have a ten so I figured OK. It was frustrating that I had to break the ten but I got to go on their fancy road. The tole was $0.75 so I received a five, four ones and a quarter.

I found the road that I needed to be one but not the building. I didn't panic because I knew that I was at the correct block so I found a place to park. I skillfully (meaning only hit the curb once) parked the car on the street and got out to pay the meter. Only to find out that my new shiny quarter would only pay for 10 minutes of parking. A lady walking by could not break one of the ones but she did tell me about the handsome police officer that wears shorts and likes to give parking tickets. I was nervous.

I found the building, made my way up the 16 floor and fill out the paperwork in record time. (You do not have to show any identification to register to vote.) Traffic was working against me and I had to stand at the corner for my walk signal but I made it back before I received a ticket. The meter had ran out so not 10 minutes but at least no ticket. I was glad that I didn't have to try the excuse that I would have paid the meter more but it didn't take credit or break a one.

I made it home safe and alive and now I am a registered voter in a red state.

Although I'm sad that I live here, I'm so excited to use my vote in this state.