On Thursdays I post from the vault. This post is from September 2009.
I’m feeling a little edgy this week. Could be all the traveling we’ve been doing this month. Could be the impromptu trip to Haiti we are taking next week. Could be the fact that Mark is at a training all weekend in LA. Could be the three kids thing, the nursing thing, the not-sleeping thing . . . could just be a little lingering post-partum crazy. Whatever the reason, I’ve been finding myself a little overwhelmed. Okay, a lot overwhelmed.
This morning I got myself into a little panic that we leave Wednesday morning for Haiti, and Karis still has no passport. The handy-dandy online status check tells me that the passport is now “in process”. Well thank you, government internet portal. How very helpful and specific of you to tell me that.
I decided to actually call the passport office – which is indication #1 that I’m on edge, because I typically do everything in my power to avoid actually using the phone. After sitting through aproximately 341 automated prompts, I finally got to an operator. I explained the situation. He explained the typical wait time is 2-3 weeks. He pointed out that I allowed for less time than that to process this passport, and basically told me that I should cancel our trip.
Cue me, out on the ledge.
Fortunately, I was feeling a little fiesty, and asked if I could speak to someone else within his office that might have a bit more compassion. And yes, that is the exact wording I used. He got a supervisor, who suggested I make an appointment at the LA regional office. The first available is Monday. We leave Wednesday.
He wouldn’t say so outright, but he hinted that perhaps I could leave with a passport that day. I’ve hunted around online and seen that other people have gotten passports in one day. I NEED TO GET A PASSPORT IN ONE DAY.
I do not like adventure. I do not like surprises. I do not liking driving to LA. This situation is not sitting well with me. I am really, really hoping that tomorrow when I check the Supremely Helpful and Specific Online Passport Updater, that it will tell me “already on the way to your house via overnight mail, no need to drive to LA”.
There’s a chance, right? Right?!?
