Passport Renewal

The time has come to renew my passport. Unfortunately, I don't think M and I will be taking that last-minute trip to the Canadian border to fulfil my passport stamp obsession. I still have a few blank pages left, but given all the places I've gone to - the 6 continents and 30+ countries, I can't say I'm all too disappointed.

I printed out the passport renewal forms earlier in the year, before our trip to Costa Rica, and had put it aside since my passport was still valid for the trip last month. Well, now that I only have two weeks left before it expires, I don't think there's any chance of me leaving the country, so I figured I should probably get the process going and mail everything in so that I have an updated passport just in case we do decide to go anywhere this summer. I dug up the paperwork this morning, and to be on the safe side, also looked on the US Department of State website. Of course, with my luck, the fee had gone up in a span of two months. What thieves! I guess that's incentive for me to submit everything soon before they raise the price again.

Since my old passport had my maiden name on it, I also need to send in our original marriage license with the application so that they can verify the new name. I don't understand why they won't accept copies - it's not as if they wouldn't be able to verify my identity through other governmental agencies. But I suppose it's the government; we just can't expect them to work all that efficiently. I'm always weary about sending original documents through the mail, but guess I really don't have a choice in this matter.

Oh, and the last piece is providing the dreaded 2x2 picture that always looks terrible no matter how well you prep yourself for it. I just have to get myself to developing that awful mug shot. M took a picture of me with the white background last week. We're going to develop it as a 4x6 and cut it to size. It's $0.19 vs. $5.00 (or however much they charge to take passport photos) - the savings is worth the time and effort it takes to transform the photo into a 2x2 yourself. I admit, it's ghetto, but the way I see it - you're already paying enough to get the darn passport. Why incur the extra expense of paying for a passport photo that's going to look horrible anyway?