I never mentioned it here, but I got laid off on June 29. Then on July 5, a job I had applied for in April finally came through. So I was off work for only 2 weeks (1 was our already scheduled vacation). The 6 days between jobs was scary and I hope never to go through that again, but I’ve come out on top and I’m thrilled about the new job. I’ve been there since Monday and I’m very hopeful and excited. It also happens to be with the same (very large) employer that Strawberry works for and we have been able to carpool. It’s not something we’ll be able to do every day unfortunately, because my job has odd hours sometimes. But it is very nice when it works. I feel challenged and appreciated and so far, I like it. I do have less time on the internet during the day, so my blog reading/commenting has suffered.
In the week before I started the new job, Strawberry took a morning off so we could all go apply for Curly’s passport. We’d done the pictures a few weeks ago, had all the paperwork printed and filled out and we arrived at our local post office at the 9:00 am opening time. Only to be told that the passport office didn’t open until 10 and then closed for lunch at 11:30. Well, there went our nice little plan of taking Curly to daycare at 9:30 and enjoying a leisurely brunch before Strawberry headed into work late. Curly napped at home until 11 and then we rushed back to the post office. And were told that the passport processor had a family emergency and was gone until after lunch. There was one other person in the office that could process passports but she was on her way out. So we LITERALLY begged her to take us in, showing her that we had all the paperwork prepared, photos taken, necessary photocopies made and 1 year old in arms. She must have liked kids, because thank goodness she took us back. The whole process took 10 minutes and she gushed about what a good boy he was the whole time.
Oh, and for all you parents out there getting ready to do passport applications? Keep a photocopy of your child’s birth certificate because the original has to go with the passport application. And you just may need a copy of it should you be starting a new job and needing to enroll your child in your health insurance. And certified copies cost money and require either a trip to your local government office or additional payment to a 3rd party processor. Just sayin’.
1 In Vermillion 