No writers were harmed in the creation of this skin, I swear.  The comfort comes from taking two big steps towards acknowledging that this writing gig is a Real, Permanent Thing.1. I got Dawnrigger license plates.Yes, personalized ones. Don't hate. There's a story. Of course there is.A couple of years back, the state decided that it would be rolling out a new license plate style, and that when my turn came, instead of getting a sticker for registration renewal, my old plate would be replaced for free. Huzzah, I said, because the plates I was issued Way Back When had a letter/number combo I always hated.  I never replaced them because  the fee for title transfer was low compared to the exorbitant fee for getting new plates with a new car. The Awful Old Plates went through...four title transfers, I think? Yes, I am a cheapskate.This year, it was my turn to get free new ones! The form arrived with the link for renewing title registration online, so up to the website I went, all excited about finally being rid of my Awful Old Plates.Whereupon the state informed me that once I completed the registration renewal they were going to send me THE SAME AWFUL LETTER/NUMBER COMBO on entirely new plates. WTF, said I, with extra exclamation points. No. Nope. Unacceptable. HELL NO, even. Cussing out the computer screen may have been involved.Then I spotted my salvation in a sidebar on the left. An option for personalizing plates. An extra fee in addition to the renewal, but not as much as new registration.So I did it. What the hell. No, they are not vanity plates. (Seriously. They aren't. Vanity Plate was a whole 'nother  choice on the site. Who knew license plates came in so many different flavors? I didn't.)Now my little car has plates that read DAWNRGR. See? Maybe no one but me will ever know what that means. But I do know, and it makes me happy.2. The other authoring-related thing I did makes me even happier, and was much easier; I listed myself as "author at Dawnrigger Publishing" in an official directory for the first time.It wasn't a government form or anything.  It's just a member directory for a organization at my college.  I'm still working as Registration Staff part-time at the Mount Prospect library and as a volunteer at the Botanic Garden. Putting the word 'author' in thePrimary Employment" slot on this form changes nothing at all officially, but...I felt comfortable doing it. That changes everything.I'm getting there. Slow & unsteady, but I'm getting there.