Friday Fails – Applying For Passports
I promised no more laundry drama, so here’s my awesome pathetic *fail* for the week!
For the last, oh…um, 3 months we’ve been meaning to get to the courthouse to apply for our U.S. Passports. Today was the day.
I gathered our birth certificates, marriage certificate, social security cards and the official Passport photos taken at Office Depot yesterday. At the county courthouse we were stopped at the door and my hubs was interviewed by a local tv station regarding an upcoming election that we didn’t have a clue about. Ha! (fail)
We arrived at the Circut Clerk’s office, waited in line for a few minutes and then told the secretary that we were there to apply for our Passports. She said that she needed our birth certificates, id’s and the applications.
Applications? What applications?
Duh! Of course. I completely forgot FAILED to remember that we each had to fill out 2 page applications. Nice.
After a huge rig-a-ma-roll of…
- juggling Ridley who was fussing in ridiculously embarrassing amounts
- making phone calls because we couldn’t remember where or when our parents were born {blush}
- filling out THREE applications
- finding out that apparently Office Depot’s passport photos are not the 2 x 2 official size required by the federal government
- cutting said pictures down to the correct size {rolls eyes}
- and paying almost $300!!!!!!…
…We finally made it out of the City Clerk’s office.
You have no idea how close I came to saying in a sarcastic voice, “Now I know why people forge such documents.”
But I refrained. That was my one success of the day.
How silly to go apply for passports without an application filled out! Fail!
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Phoey on Office Depot! We got our passports just before we got married, and they were a lot cheaper. $300? Yikes!
Proud of you for not saying what’s on your mind. I would have needed to bite my tongue really hard not to say something, 🙂
.-= Florence @ Just Writing´s last blog ..This Is Serious Business =-.
Ugh. I hate stuff like that!! Mine & dh’s are still good for a few years, but I really need to get the kids theirs … just haven’t felt like going to all the trouble yet!
YIKES! Thanks for the warning – we were thinking about getting ours soon too – good to know that it’s not a task to be taken lightly.
I probably really would have said what was on my mind – kudos to you for holding back!!
And don’t feel bad, you’re not the only one who has done that… *ahem*
We had to apply for military passports (even though we all already have regular ones) in December because we are moving out of the country this summer. There are 5 of us and the applications are completed online and then printed. I went through each one and got them all filled out and saved and then told hubby they were ready for him to review and print – then I went to bed. The next morning we gathered all of our things (pics, birth certs, regular passports, etc.) and the kids and headed over to the base for our appointment. Imagine my surprise and his embarrassment when he realized he had never printed the applications and they were only saved on our computer AT HOME… Anyway, he ended up just logging me into a base computer where I had to REDO every single one of them. By the time we finally got done, the kids had melted down and I was ready to do the same thing. What an ordeal.
.-= Laura @Homemaking Joyfully´s last blog ..Rub away! =-.
I think applying for passports is one of those things that very rarely goes smoothly. When we got our kids passports, we had to go to a post office 2 hours from our house. First we went to the wrong post office, and then the right post office was closed for lunch. We went back at the time they were supposed to open, only to stand in line outside for 30-45 minutes until they opened. At some point we realized that we didn’t have our youngest’s birth certificate with us. We were able to go to the court house close by to get a copy, but we didn’t have his social security # with us. After a phone call, we had the birth certificate, and were back in line. Everything else went smoothly except that the passport pictures from walmart were not right and had to be redone.
I think you can count it a successful trip if you get everything submitted in one day.
.-= Anna´s last blog ..Update =-.
Wow, definitely a rig-a-ma-roll!!! We will make sure to fill the applications out at home 🙂
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..In Which I Burn The Cookies =-.
When we got ours for a cruise we had to do it all at the post office…such a pain. We got our pictures taken at our local CVS though and I have to give them credit for being the right size. Glad you got everything straightened out.
.-= Melissa Multitasking Mama´s last blog ..Cheap Date Night Ideas =-.
yikes!! I have to apply for my passport next week … now I’m REALLY not looking forward to it!! : /
.-= Lauren´s last blog ..Caffeinated Randomness: Hair… to cut, or not to cut? =-.
New follower. Found you through another blog that participates in Friday Fail. Do you have a button for that meme? I looked around but didn’t find one. Nice to meet you!
I keep meaning to go get passports just in case but it is one of those things that has stayed on the “to do list” for almost forever. My son does international mission trips every summer so I want to have one just in case I have to make a quick trip across the world to “rescue my baby.” Maybe I’ll actually get that crossed off the never ending to do list someday soon!
Have an awesome day!
.-= Beth´s last blog ..Alphabe-Thursday "J" =-.
@Beth, Hey Beth! I’m so thrilled that you found my blog through Friday Fails!!!
Up until now, participants have just clicked and saved the Friday Fails image and then uploaded it to their blogs, but your question pushed me to do what I’ve been needing to do for a while. I created a “button” code for the Friday Fails image!
You can find it here: https://myblessedlife.net/friday-fails-a-blog-carnival
I hope that helps! 🙂
@Myra, Thanks so much for the button! I keep a collection of buttons linking to memes, and another collection linking to blogs, that I enjoy. Makes them easier to find when I have a moment or two to participate. 🙂
.-= Beth´s last blog ..Alphabe-Thursday "J" =-.
My. What a day! Why so expensive? Did you pay the extra to get them expedited??
We kind of have a fail from when we got ours. It was about 5 summers ago. We jumped through all the hoops, got the forms mailed, and a few weeks later Katrina hit the gulf. Don’t know whether they told you or not, but passport apps from here are processed thru NEW ORLEANS! I could just envision our papers and/or passports floating out to sea! They were delayed a while, but finally came!
@Sondra, Thanks for your comment, friend!
Mine and Ernie’s cost $100 each (application fee and execution fee – to the city of course). Ridley’s was $85. I think a $25 “execution fee” per person is rather ridiculous, but whatever. LOL
LOL Now THAT is funny, you poor thing! Don’t feel too bad, it’s such a confusing process. Ours were done at a post office two towns over, we just opted to pay a little extra to have them do the photos because I was afraid I would do them wrong 🙂
Both times, when we originally applied and again when we renewed I forgot that we needed to make an appointment. So I showed up with the whole fam damily and all documents only to be told Sorry, you’ll have to make an appointment. Ugh!
.-= Cheryl@SomewhatCrunchy´s last blog ..31 Days to a Somewhat Crunchy YOU – Participate, Participate =-.
So why do you need passports? Are you planning a trip? 🙂
.-= Cheryl@SomewhatCrunchy´s last blog ..31 Days to a Somewhat Crunchy YOU – Participate, Participate =-.
@Cheryl@SomewhatCrunchy, Yes! We’re headed to Toronto, Ontario in July! 🙂
That is so something I would do. How long did the whole ordeal take?
@Allison @ Alli ‘n Son, We were at the courthouse for probably 1 hour…one very. long. hour. 🙂
Great post…I know applying for passports can be a pain!
Still, anyone who’s thinking about applying for a passport should do it soon. You may think the current passport fees are high, but they’re about to go up by around $35 each!
Here’s a list of common mistakes people make that can hold up passport applications-hope it helps!
http://www.rushmypassport.com/blog/2008/12/the-top-10-reasons-for-delays-in-getting-your-passport/