Thursday
After meeting up with a woman about a new job I’m taking on (reviewing family movies), I headed off to school, then work at OLI to make some copies, then back to get the kids out of school early so we could get to the passport office and in line before 3:30pm. We made it, waited our turn and finally made our way to counter. I was pretty sure I had everything in order, but was a bit concerned that I’d never changed the address on my driver’s license. As a precautionary measure, I had earlier visited the Dept. of Motor Vehicles to get the sticker with new address mailed to me. If worse came to worst, I figured, I’d get the kids’ apps turned in and wait for my address sticker so that my license would match my passport application.
Turns out that mine was the only one she could accept. Come to find out, birth certificates are not all created equally. I had the kids’ certificates from their births, hospital records, with their cute little footprints on them. As adorable as they were, it wasn’t what was required. They need state-certified copies, something that (of course) requires me to spend more money. -sigh-
We turned in my application, got the form to pay for the fees and money order, stood in line at the PO, got the money order, gave it to the passport office, did my swearing and we were done with my part. So we headed off to the State office where I could buy the certified copies of their birth certificates, at $20 each. We planned to head back on Friday to get their applications (finally) turned in. I went off to Vietnamese class and the kids hung out with a friend.
Friday
I dropped the kids off at school and arranged with another parent for them to be dropped off at OLI because I had a meeting conflict and couldn’t come back in time to get them. Then I head off to the fabric store to buy some fabric and notions for two different clients, but luck wasn’t with me and my car (which I’ve only had for two weeks) decided to freak and the clutch went out in the fast lane of I-5. Luckily I made me way off the highway and was able to eek it onto a side street, where I promptly ditched it to run toward MAX (light-rail train). I was able to get the fabric shopping done and was only slightly late to my meeting, even on public transit.
After the kids arrived, we had lunch and headed back to my new home-away-from-home, the passport office. This time with photos, application, certified copies of divorce papers (highlighted and tabbed) and certified birth certificates in hand. The kids stood in line while I mailed off my fingerprints to the Oregon State Police and caramels to a friend’s dad. The wait was long, but in the end, successful. We were able to finally turn them in, I signed and swore for the kids. We were all ecstatic to finally leave the passport/post office with no plans to return.
Meanwhile, the car is completely dead again. I’ve got 4 in-their-home sewing lessons that I am supposed to teach this week, not sure how that will happen without a vehicle though. The good news is that we are finished with paperwork except for the visas (which I’ll take care of once we get the actual passports), so it’s on to working harder and saving up some cash for this adventure, rather than spending it.
