We're heading to Toronto next weekend for Rebecca's wedding, which means with the new rules that Kate needs a passport. It is all a bit tricky since it takes 6 or so weeks to get a birth certificate, and then it takes 3 weeks to get a passport and that is if you expedite it. In other words, if she'd been born on her due date, it wouldn't have worked at all. There is a faster option than the expedite process. It involves going to regional passport office, but you have to be travelling within 14 days. There is an office in Houston - about a 3 hour drive away.
Today we headed for Houston. We had a 1 pm appointment, so I made sure we left in plenty of time in case we had to stop for nursing breaks. I was really expecting the worst - crying the whole way, a long wait at the passport office, parking nightmares, etc. etc. Instead, it was super great. Dad and Donna went with me, which helped a huge amount. We had little traffic, Kate slept the whole way, we had time for lunch before the appointment, there was hardly any wait at all, and then she slept most of the way home again. We could have waited a couple of hours and got the passport today, but I decided not to push our luck and instead they are overnighting it. We'll have it on Monday.
Phew. It seems that the american government can be efficient occasionally. But, apparently you have to be a citizen to have them do anything reasonable. Alas.
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whereas the Canadian government decides to do its utmost to make things difficult for its own citizens - birth certificates, marriage certificates and the like. I should now, I work for them after all.
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