Trauma

Charlie travels all the time. He travelled so much internationally that he had to get more visa pages in his passport. How crazy is that, right? Imagine my surprise when, after going through the Chinese Visa requirements one last time before submitting our application, I realize that there is not one entirely empty visa page in my passport! The morning that I needed to send it into the consulate too...trauma!!!!!

After some research, phone calls, and a chat with Charlie, I was able to get an emergency appointment at the closest passport agency. So I hopped in the car that evening and drove to Washington DC. Expedia supplied a relatively cheap hotel...I got there so late that night that they upgraded me to the suite. There was a full kitchen, living room, and bedroom - more closets than my house! I headed to the passport agency with all of the required paperwork the next morning for my 9am appointment. Turns out, I had to leave it there and return at 2pm. Since hotel checkout wasn't until noon, I changed into running clothes and took a 90-minute run around the mall. Ran around all of the monuments and caught a glimpse of several politicians. After a quick shower I headed out for Chinese (fitting I thought) and sat next to some senators from the midwest. Very interesting to eavesdrop on!

At 2pm I returned to the agency. Long story short, my passport wasn't ready and I got to enjoy the company of the other hundred or so folks waiting for their paperwork as well. Right before 5pm they called my name...woohoo!!!! I headed straight to FedEx down the street to send in all of our visa applications information. It's actually due back to us tomorrow! Ugh...what a relief it will be to have everything in our hands again! We are still waiting for our TA...that pesky swine flu needs to go away so that we can travel!