Procrastination builds excitement

This summer we are planning on taking a cruise to Alaska. For our trip, one of the things we need to do is get our passports. It seems odd to say we need passports to go to Alaska, but the ship sets sail out of Vancouver, Canada. And in the post 9-11 days, even our friends to the North require you to have a passport.

Back in December we headed on out to the post office, filled in all the paperwork, paid our money and sent off our applications. 3 short weeks later we received 3 passports and one rejection letter. Looks like Chris and the kids are going to Alaska without me. (over dramatic much?)

Why was I rejected you ask? No, I’m not a felon. No, I’m not being hunted by any government agency. The reason is because I changed my name when I turned 18 (long story behind it, don’t ask.) Apparently there are 2 ways to do that; the right way, and the way I did it, naturally.

Since I never changed my name through the courts, they required that I send a bunch of extra documents in order to prove I’ve been using my current last name for over 5 years. No problem, I can get that taken care of in no time. But, I didn’t. December gave way to January. Along came (and went) February and most of March. Then, one day my wife says, “Our trip is in 2 months. If you don’t have your passport, you can’t go.” Can you say wake-up call? Yeah, me too.

I took half a day off work last week and we gathered up a stack of documents proving I am who I say I am and we headed back to the post office. Since I had waited so long to return I had to re-apply from the beginning rather than riding in on the coattails of my previous application. That basically means I had to pay the 100 bucks again. I also paid extra to have the application expedited. Once we got it mailed off all we could do then was wait and hope it got approved quickly. 8 short days later, our answer came in the mail. Chris called me and says, “I can’t wipe the smile off my face. Your passport just arrived in the mail.” Woo hoo, I get to go to Alaska after all.

Such a huge amount of stress has been lifted from my shoulders. I would love to say that I have learned my lesson and next time I have a deadline to do something I will get it taken care of right away instead of waiting until the last minute. But, as you may have guessed, that’s just not in my nature and wouldn’t be nearly as exciting.