Titled

Not that you asked, but...

We have been engaged in a battle of wills with the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles for over a decade now, trying to get the title to our Subaru. Well, had been. Today, finally, the Subaru is truly ours.

This would be the car we've driven for almost 13 years. The one that has been registered to us in four states (counting CA twice). The car that has taken us across the country three times, accumulating more than 175,000 miles along the way. The car we paid off a decade ago. The car which I thought of as the first car I'd ever owned, but that was never legally mine because of inexplicable, bureaucratic confusion (mostly on DMV's end).

Right before we left for Oregon, we received the long-anticipated title from Virginia. I had thoughts of photographing it as a keepsake before turning it in to CA DMV, but when the moment came I was too excited and forgot to get the pic. Instead I rushed over to trade in my massive pile of stapled forms for one receipt and two license plates (which were being held hostage until said title arrived). The woman who helped me laughed at my enhusiasm (she probably doesn't see many people truly excited to be at DMV). But I don't care, because now the "Bubaru" is a recognized member of our family (yes, along with Pavel and Chester and Triple G and all the other non-sentient beings who inhabit our world).