Oh, do pay attention to the highway signs if you possibly can.

Hey all. I have been rather silent on this space lately because I have moved my entire life 190 miles south and my bedroom closet is still filled with unpacked boxes. I haven't seen my hairdryer in weeks.

I'm still adjusting to life in our nation's capital. Currently the temperature is set to "surface of the sun" and I am hiding inside with the air conditioning and ice. Yesterday I accidentally got on the HOV-3 lane of 395. The fine for such behavior is $1000 (and I can see why, for my commute was cut down to, like, 5 minutes and if the fine was 20 bucks, I'd be on that thing every day.) Anyway, as soon as I realized what I'd done, I went into full-on panic mode and desperately looked for an exit, any exit, that would put me back onto the parking lot that is 395. Alas, the first exit wasn't until Pentagon City, which was my destination.

I passed other vehicles and felt the shame of their red-hot stares of anger as they saw I did not have the requisite three people in my car. I hyperventilated as I prayed not to get pulled over by the long arm of the Virginia law. I nearly passed out when a police car pulled onto the highway right next to me. I had to move over into the passing lane to make room for him! It was surely curtains for me. I rehearsed the pleas for mercy I would soon be delivering, begging him to take into account my Pennsylvania plates and just general ignorance. Miraculously, he drove on ahead of me, taking no notice of the glaring emptiness of my passenger seat, and I made it the whole way to work unnoticed. Well, at least unnoticed by anyone with the authority to fine me $1000.

Hopefully things will go more smoothly from here on out. Amanda sent me cookies, so that's a start.