And, I can vote now.

A little less than a year ago, I gave up my rad blue, yellow and white Ohio driver's license for a pink Wisconsin ID with a barn, an American flag, some green cloud thingys and a sailboat on it.

Aside from the obviously downgrade in design ... it was pretty cool to be a card-holding member of the Badger State, seeing as I live here now. Now, I'm even cooler.

I have my new name, my new address, my new haircut and my "married" face on it. Not a big deal to like, world peace or anything. But when I slid my gold-seal adorned piece of parchment from the State of Ohio that declared that I was married and the woman behind the counter said "Oh, congratulations," it felt more real than my entire wedding day.

And I audibly giggled when I walked out of the crowded DMV, pushing past the teenager who was on a cell phone with her mom, saying "They won't let me get my permit because I don't have my birth certificate, and Dad won't go home to get it because HE'S STUPID."

I didn't giggle really at her, though I remember that deep-hearted feeling of injustice at the sheer idiocy of a parent through a 15 1/2-year-old's eyes, but because my new ID says I'm Erin Wasinger. Yeah, that's a good feeling.