So, I alluded to the passport issue in my previous post.
Since I didn't discuss it in my post prior to my previous post, let me tell you the story of my Passport and my journey to renew it.
After finding out I had been accepted on the JWRP trip in October, I was advised that I would need to send a copy of my passport to my city leader, Paula. Okay. No problem. Just got to find the passports we just used in December... easy peasy... right?
WRONG!!
Somehow we have managed to lose the folder with ALL FOUR passports in it. In our house. Now, our house is definitely not clean. It's not Hoarder messy, but it's "we have two kids, a lot of stuff and work full time" messy. But it shouldn't have been so hard to find one little black folder (from "Black's") with four passports in it.
We ransacked the house. We looked in the suitcases. We emptied the safe. We emptied boxes we haven't accessed in the 3 years we've been in the house We turned drawers upside down. Matthew emptied his shelves in the wardrobe. We looked under the TV in our bedroom. I looked in the dresser, our night stands, in the closet. You name it, we looked in it. Even in places we should not have to look because we wouldn't have put our passports there.
No passports. The MOST annoying thing about having to renew my passport? I JUST RENEWED MY PASSPORT LAST YEAR!! I still have 3½ years left on my 5 year passport!!!
So, I had to reapply. Ran down to the passport office with my old passport (yes, I could find an OLD passport!), ID, birth certificate, photos, guarantor (thank you Rhonda) signature, and application. Oh - and the form filled out that said my old passport was "inaccessable".
I stood in a loooong line for about a half an hour, approached the desk and the person (the ONE person working in a government office on a Friday in August) said "oh. You need to get this form signed by a notary public." A WHAT!? WHY!? Well, okay. I could go to the notary publics in the area of the passport office and pay 40 dollars. No. I decided I'd go home, since I wouldn't have time to run back to the office and wait, (we were going away that Friday afternoon) I would do it the following Monday since I was on holiday that week, anyway. I found a Notary Public in my neighbourhood and went over there to have him sign it. This is where the Baloney part of the post comes in.
It cost me $30 cash for the notary public to sign and stamp my form. The whole meeting took about 5 minutes. This guy (very nice lawyer, by the way) looked at my form, said I was supposed to sign it in front of him (I'd already signed it), had me sign a Post-It so he could compare the signatures, asked no questions about my lost passport, took my $30, stamped it with his embossing stamp and wished me a safe trip.
Now - he was friendly and I have no complaints about this gentleman. In fact, if ever I need the services of a notary public again, I will likely call upon him. Just the Baloney (and yes, I do mean another word there, but there might be young children about when people are reading this - and I'm trying to swear less) part is that this guy doesn't know me from Eve and basically took my word for it and signed a form for a complete and total stranger for a cash price. That is the Baloney. The government requires this form to be signed, but to they realize that probably 9 times out of 10, the notary public hasn't a clue on the veracity of the story the person who needs a notary?
Oh well.
The best part of the whole thing? My passport was to be mailed on August 23. I received it on August 21! YAY!!!
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