I Think This May Mean I'm Officially a Grown-Up

A while back, I got pulled over for speeding through what turns out is a local speed trap well known to everyone except those who just moved here 5 minutes ago.  I had no idea and didn't notice when the speed limit suddenly changed from 45 to 30.  I got so busted.  The stop became further complicated when I was informed by the nice officer that my registration had expired two months prior.  Oops.  Whenever shit like that happens now, the refrain in my brain is "please don't ask me what I do for a living, please don't ask me what I do for a living, please don't ask me what I do for a living" because when you are an attorney the tolerance level for those things falling in the you should totally know better category falls to nonexistent. 

So I tried to explain: Expired?  What?  Seriously?  I had no idea!  [I really didn't.]  This car is registered in my mom's name and she lives in Texas and she registers it and I didn't know it wasn't registered and I'm so sorry, so very sorry, and I will take care of this right away.  This is unacceptable!  So, so, sooooo sorry. 

My mom bought my car in her name when I graduated college because she had the advantage in the established credit department.  I made the payments for the first two years and then she took it over when I went to law school because she is a saint of a woman.  She's had to continue making those payments a year longer than we had planned because of that whole looking for a job situation.  Saint of a woman, I tell you. 

Apparently, we had a miscommunication over the registration this year.  I thought she had handled it and I'd be getting my new sticker any day and she thought I was taking care of it. 

Long story short, I got a court date for this month and was told that if I appeared and showed that the car was registered the whole thing would go away.  And the speeding ticket was waived.  Saints everywhere! 

Getting the car registered in New York meant transferring the car into my name which meant obtaining the title which meant the car had to be paid off.  So I have been saving the vast majority of every paycheck, scrimping every penny, putting making wedding-related deposits on hold, and finally last week I deposited the balance due on the car loan into my mom's account.

And then I resisted the urge to emit a high-pitched squeal of delight in the middle of the bank.  Because this means that a mere 28 years and 10 months later, my sweet mama is finally done contributing to my support.  I am off her dime.  I no longer have to feel guilty or apologize or be overly sensitive when she asks me how my finances are or any of the above. 

I am so grateful to her for everything she has done for me, for her generosity, and love, and support, and her unconditional commitment to her daughter's happiness.  She loves me enough to want to do anything for me and I love her enough not to let her when I know I can do it on my own.  We're a good team.