I really really planned to sit down and do some writing yesterday and today, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. Yesterday? I have no real excuse except that I found it hard to get back in the mood after taking the weekend off. I was having far too much fun playing around on other people’s blogs to stop and do some work of my own.
Today was another matter. You know how it is – you keep putting off all the little chores that you need to do until “later” and then suddenly “later” arrives! My son’s passport will expire in the fall just after his birthday and I suddenly remembered that there are rules about traveling when your passport is within 6 months of expiring. We could have let it go since we will be traveling in and out of the US this summer and apparently that isn’t a problem, but we decided to go ahead and take care of it now. Which meant gathering lots of different paperwork, forms of identification, and a progression of baby pictures proving that this is indeed the same child as the one in the infant photo in his current passport and making a trip down to the embassy.
I don’t know why, but I get unaccountably uptight when I come into contact with bureaucrats. I read instructions and follow them, but I always worry that I’ll have missed *something* and that *something* will cause problems or delays. And because I’m uptight and worried I over-think and hesitate when answering simple questions – which makes me seem suspicious. Which is not something you want to be labeled when in a US embassy (or a border crossing – yes, border patrol officers, customs agents, courthouse clerks – they all affect me the same way)
This morning wasn’t too bad. I had downloaded the application off of the website and had it all ready to go with my other supporting documents in a folder, ready for inspection. Except then we had to wait for about fifteen minutes for our turn and while we were waiting I started to worry that maybe they would give me a hard time because my application form wasn’t actually ORANGE like the ones they had in the rack near the door. What if they turned me away because it wasn’t orange? Would they let me fill out a new one while I stood there or would it have been a wasted trip?
They took my application and I didn’t end up getting frisked or otherwise detained. The new passport should be ready in 10 days, in plenty of time for our vacation travel.
Traveling with two kids under ten – now THAT will be an excuse for not writing!
The flame trees are gorgeous. It sounds like your party is going to be a wonderful time. I also get nervous when dealing with beauracracy. Have really enjoyed both blogs!
by anny cook June 7th, 2007 at 12:31 am