Do NOT let your driver's license expire - especially if you were born outside the U.S.!!!

Sorry - but I just had to vent...

Have you heard the warning that you shouldn't let your driver's license expire - even one day - because of the passage of HB 1804? Well, I heard the warning but didn't pay much attention to it until February 1st when I wrote a check and noticed my license had expired the day before! So, on February 2nd, I thought I could just pop down to the tag agency & get a new license with no headaches. Boy, was I wrong! Fortunately, I called the tag agency ahead of time & asked what I needed to bring with me to renew my driver's license. They told me I would have to take my original birth certificate to the Dept. of Transportation in Claremore, Tulsa or Broken Arrow - Owasso was not one of the choices, mind you. After searching our house up and down for my birth certificate and not being able to find it, I called back and asked what I needed to do if I couldn't find my certificate. The tag agency asked me which state I was born in. When I told her I was born in Germany, she said, "Uh - you better just pray you can find your birth certificate!"

Needless to say, I couldn't find it & had to send documented evidence of who I was, where I was born, who my parents are, etc. to Washington D.C. - along with a $30 check. After about 8 weeks of waiting impatiently and driving illegally, I finally received my birth certificate in the mail a few days ago!

Last night, I heard on the news how the police were stopping drivers a few miles up the road from where we live to make sure they had updated driver's licenses and insurance. So...today I drove to Claremore to get my new driver's license. Apparently, the address they listed on the internet is the wrong address because I drove around for about 45 minutes looking for it! I later learned they moved to the other side of town! If you've ever been to Claremore, you know that there is a stop light practically every block & LOTS of trains go through town so you have to sit and wait in traffic quite a bit. By the time I finally found the Dept. of Transportation, I was fuming and should have been praying for patience. All they did was sign a paper and I then had to take that to the tag agency! Why could't I just get my license there?! I don't understand!!!

So, I wanted out of Claremore asap so we (yes, I drug the girls along with me & they were having a blast - kidding, of course, about having a blast) drove to the Owasso Tag Agency and got my driver's license. Of course, this took up our entire afternoon today. So I beg you now - get up out of your seat and go check your driver's license expiration date. Right now - GO!!! Let this be a lesson to you and don't let yours expire!!!