I am off work today. Not because I want to be and not because I am sick but because of bureacratic red tape. I am a RN and I have an active license in Maryland. Maryland is a compact state and so is Texas...that means that our licenses are reciprocal. But....they have now changed the laws to say that it is only reciprocal for the first year. If you have changed your primary state of residence, then you have to get a license in that state. So, I did all the steps they asked me to and waited for them to send me a new license. It never came and I called the state board of nursing and they said I had one more step to do. I asked if they had told me about it before and they said no. Doesn't it remind you of the Motor Vehicle Administration in almost every state? This one more step was ridiculous and I had to pay them $30 dollars so that they could verify my license in Maryland. All you have to do is type in my license number and name on the Maryland website and it will tell you all that you need to know but no, we have to go through a third party in order for them to verify. Can you tell I am a little ticked?

On a better note today or maybe a sadder note but also better... I am going to spend some time writing a blessing to my daughter, Mary Kate, who graduates from high school in just a little over a month. So hard to put into words what she means to me and what I hope for her future. She has always carried herself with quiet elegance. She is shy and beautiful and a thinker. If she loves you, she loves you intensely. She is a loyal friend but chooses those friends very carefully. I think that those she has chosen should feel honored. Social justice is always close to the forefront of her mind. Don't ever say anything prejudicial in front of her because she will not forget that you have said that for a very long time. You will have to work very hard to get back in her good graces. She is affectionate and she is my friend. I know they say that your children should not be your friends but we didn't start out that way....I was definitely the mom and she was the daughter. No one who knows her now would ever guess that she could be difficult but the first five years of her life were the hardest...just ask her preschool teachers. She wasn't mean or angry....just determined to do things her own way but she was shy even then. When she was born we were so surprised that she was a girl. I was the one who said it's a girl and then Tim and I started to cry. We had two boys and had thought that maybe this was a boy too. She stole our hearts from the moment we saw her. She still has my heart and it will be hard for me for her to go away to college. Any advice from all you moms out there?