Last Minute Preparations

Everyone knows that you need to have a valid passport to travel to a foreign country. It's tough news when you pull out your passport 1 week before departure and see that it expired 2 months ago. This is what happened today at approximately 5:01pm, when I opened Dylan's passport to find that it had expired in March. It seemed for a few long minutes as though we wouldn't be leaving for New Zealand next Friday after all.

Hope was restored after a call to the US Passport Agency - we happen to be lucky enough to live within driving distance of one of the few US Passport Offices, located on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. The deal is that you make an appointment with an automated system, and then go in person to apply with your old passport, 2 new passport photos, a completed DS-88 form, proof that you are traveling within the next 14 days, your driver's license and a check for expedited service in the amount of $135. You should then get your new passport anytime from later that day (if you stick around the office and they happen to finish it that day, which is not guaranteed) to 3 business days later. So, the alarm is set for 3:45am tomorrow so that Dylan can get on the road bright and early to make sure not to miss his 8am appointment on Wilshire Blvd. Please cross your fingers, all you blog readers out there, that he comes home with a shiny, new passport!

Photo below (amazing to me how Dylan can still look good, when his expression rivals the DUI mugshots of Lindsey Lohan and Nick Nolte) was taken at 7pm tonight at Kinko's. Stay tuned for the results tomorrow and wish us luck!


Oh, and we had a very yummy dinner tonight, but no photo. Spaghetti with balsamic cream sauce (onions, garlic, bacon, artichoke hearts, cream, balsamic, parm). I was trying to copy a recipe that I had at a local restaurant - La Taverna. It came out pretty well. Then I juiced 8 oranges by hand and we had juice for dessert.