Not At All What I Expected
This was my Friday:
4:55 a.m. Alarm rings. I groan and hit the snooze button.
5:04 a.m. The alarm rings again. I groan again, but turn it off and drag myself into the shower. Jason got to sleep later than I did on a work day, for once. (Don't get used to it, honey!)
7:34 a.m. All the kids and stuff are in the van, and we are backing out of our driveway--only one hour later than planned! Destination: Edmonton
7:36 a.m. My "to-go" mug tips over in the cup holder on the way around the exit onto the highway, spilling at least half of my peppermint tea all over the floor of the van and into my box of facial tissues. Yuck. Not an auspicious start. When I finally took a sip, I realized that the peppermint tea had overtones of the usual orange pekoe tea that the cup contained, and it was not a good flavour combination. After two more sips, I gave up. The rest of the tea was destined to be poured down a drain the following morning.
9:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Various and sundry stops for potty breaks, food-buying breaks, map checks and direction changes.
1:00 p.m. Arrive in Edmonton and start making my way toward Canada Place, the government building where the Passport Office is to be found. I had a laugh when Jude pointed out life-size statues of a horse and a bull outside Joey Tomato's restaurant on Jasper Avenue. I laughed because I had been thinking just moments before that you couldn't even tell a difference between summer--the last time I was here--and late autumn, there was so much cement and asphalt around there. The statues seemed like a peremptory attempt at connecting the residents of this concrete jungle with the agriculture that surrounded them only a few miles away. (I tried taking a photo, but only caught a part of the bull on the way by--which is about how much most residents see of it, too, I'm guessing!)
1:30 p.m. Trying to get back around the stupid block to the stupid parking lot that I saw and--AAUGH! No, I don't want to go down here! Now I'm crossing a bridge?! What?!!
I hate driving in this stupid city.
2:00 p.m. Finally pull into a spot in a pay parking lot only one block away from our destination. The kids are going snaky. However, I have no time to let them run some of their energy off, knowing that the wait could well take the rest of the afternoon, and not wanting to risk not getting in before they closed at 4:30.
2:45 p.m. I find myself standing in front of the passport officer (what is their title, anyway?), somewhat shocked at how quickly the line moved--and we had a bathroom break first! The shocked feeling was tempered by the sickened blob that used to be my stomach, as I had just realized while standing in line that Jason's birth certificate was not in the passport package I had put together like I thought it was. That meant that, although it would have been fine to apply for him, I now no longer could. Not something that makes you feel good, knowing the time and money it would take to go home and get it! Then, while going through the other applications with the officer, I realized that Jason hadn't signed the application, either! No good all around. The officer confirmed that we would not have time to get his passport back before we travelled if we mailed it in. What to do now?
4:00 p.m. Find a park for the kids to play in while I talk over the options with Jason. Unfortunately, he can't find the birth certificate, either.
5:45 p.m. Several frantic phone calls back and forth with Jason later, after he has (literally) searched the town of Peace River, he calls me with the good news that he has found the birth certificate. The decision is made that we will drive to Sylvan Lake for the weekend, and he will send down the appropriate documents on the bus, which I will then take and complete his passport application on Monday on my way home.
8:00 p.m. After eating, hitting the organic food store , and about a million more potty breaks, (and grabbing a little caffeine--starting to feel that 5 a.m. start by now) we are finally on our way out of the city--south instead of north, Sylvan Lake-bound. We are crashing at Dad's for the weekend, with little more than the clothes on our back--what an adventure! Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring my contact solution and our toothbrushes, "Just in case." Jason laughed at me and told me I worry too much when I told him I was going to do that.
Now I wish I would have followed my instinct and brought some pajamas, too...
Happy Saturday, friends! See you next week!
4:55 a.m. Alarm rings. I groan and hit the snooze button.
5:04 a.m. The alarm rings again. I groan again, but turn it off and drag myself into the shower. Jason got to sleep later than I did on a work day, for once. (Don't get used to it, honey!)
7:34 a.m. All the kids and stuff are in the van, and we are backing out of our driveway--only one hour later than planned! Destination: Edmonton
7:36 a.m. My "to-go" mug tips over in the cup holder on the way around the exit onto the highway, spilling at least half of my peppermint tea all over the floor of the van and into my box of facial tissues. Yuck. Not an auspicious start. When I finally took a sip, I realized that the peppermint tea had overtones of the usual orange pekoe tea that the cup contained, and it was not a good flavour combination. After two more sips, I gave up. The rest of the tea was destined to be poured down a drain the following morning.
9:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Various and sundry stops for potty breaks, food-buying breaks, map checks and direction changes.
1:00 p.m. Arrive in Edmonton and start making my way toward Canada Place, the government building where the Passport Office is to be found. I had a laugh when Jude pointed out life-size statues of a horse and a bull outside Joey Tomato's restaurant on Jasper Avenue. I laughed because I had been thinking just moments before that you couldn't even tell a difference between summer--the last time I was here--and late autumn, there was so much cement and asphalt around there. The statues seemed like a peremptory attempt at connecting the residents of this concrete jungle with the agriculture that surrounded them only a few miles away. (I tried taking a photo, but only caught a part of the bull on the way by--which is about how much most residents see of it, too, I'm guessing!)
1:30 p.m. Trying to get back around the stupid block to the stupid parking lot that I saw and--AAUGH! No, I don't want to go down here! Now I'm crossing a bridge?! What?!!
I hate driving in this stupid city.
2:00 p.m. Finally pull into a spot in a pay parking lot only one block away from our destination. The kids are going snaky. However, I have no time to let them run some of their energy off, knowing that the wait could well take the rest of the afternoon, and not wanting to risk not getting in before they closed at 4:30.
2:45 p.m. I find myself standing in front of the passport officer (what is their title, anyway?), somewhat shocked at how quickly the line moved--and we had a bathroom break first! The shocked feeling was tempered by the sickened blob that used to be my stomach, as I had just realized while standing in line that Jason's birth certificate was not in the passport package I had put together like I thought it was. That meant that, although it would have been fine to apply for him, I now no longer could. Not something that makes you feel good, knowing the time and money it would take to go home and get it! Then, while going through the other applications with the officer, I realized that Jason hadn't signed the application, either! No good all around. The officer confirmed that we would not have time to get his passport back before we travelled if we mailed it in. What to do now?
4:00 p.m. Find a park for the kids to play in while I talk over the options with Jason. Unfortunately, he can't find the birth certificate, either.
5:45 p.m. Several frantic phone calls back and forth with Jason later, after he has (literally) searched the town of Peace River, he calls me with the good news that he has found the birth certificate. The decision is made that we will drive to Sylvan Lake for the weekend, and he will send down the appropriate documents on the bus, which I will then take and complete his passport application on Monday on my way home.
8:00 p.m. After eating, hitting the organic food store , and about a million more potty breaks, (and grabbing a little caffeine--starting to feel that 5 a.m. start by now) we are finally on our way out of the city--south instead of north, Sylvan Lake-bound. We are crashing at Dad's for the weekend, with little more than the clothes on our back--what an adventure! Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring my contact solution and our toothbrushes, "Just in case." Jason laughed at me and told me I worry too much when I told him I was going to do that.
Now I wish I would have followed my instinct and brought some pajamas, too...
Happy Saturday, friends! See you next week!
