I have finally received, and have in a very safe place, the notarized letter from DHS saying that I can apply for a passport for JJ. I called the Passport hotline on June 30th, as my buddy Justin from Arlen Specter's office told me to do, and the first available appointment was for July 10th at 10:30. We leave on the 13th! But, I took it. I called Justin back, and he said that that shouldn't be a problem because I will get the passport the same day. We were all on cloud nine. JJ was finally getting excited about the vacation (he's amazed that everything is included, and that he won't have to make his bed for a whole week!).

The plumbers came back, and the electricians did their thing. The drywall guys were here for a few days and it's ready to be primed and painted.

Yesterday, Justin called me again. He said he wanted to give me a REALITY CHECK. The past few days he hadn't been able to get through on the "congressional hotline" at the passport office, he thinks they have the phone off the hook. He heard they were turning people away, even if they had appointments. He said that just because my appointment was for 10:30, I should plan on going early. I told him that I thought I'd get there about an hour early, and he said I should go even earlier than that. He told me he'd just received a call from a guy who got in Philly about 5:am for his appointment that was supposed to be sometime in the morning. The guy said when he got there, there was already a line formed all the way down the sidewalk. He was able to get his passport, but he'd already applied, and was only going to pick it up in person.

Now I'm worried again. I planned to leave around 8:am, but now I think I'll have to leave hours earlier than that. The kids want to go down the night before, and sleep in line like we're going to a concert or waiting for a new video game. I don't even know if you're allowed to do that. Plus, it's in downtown Philadelphia...is it safe to do that? They think it's an adventure. I think it's going to be dangerous. Plus, as fun as they think it might be, at three in the morning, when they can't sleep and they're tired and hungry, they're not going to think it's fun anymore, and I especially know how Braden gets. I wish I was familiar with the area. JJ said it's not a bad area, so we'd be safe. Don't get me wrong, I'd do anything to get him his passport, I'd camp out all night...but I don't know if having the kids do that is such a smart idea. Although, if we did it, and got his passport, wouldn't that be a great story for them to tell?!

Today I have to wipe down all the newly spackled drywall, then paint primer on it, and the old kitchen walls. But first I have to move all of my old kitchen stuff that I have in boxes and piles out of the attached dining area and into the living room because the dining area has to be painted too. Tomorrow I'm painting the actual color on the walls (whisper yellow). But, as things naturally go for me, I've run into a problem. I planned on painting the ceiling the same as the walls, since the color is so light, that way I won't have to cut in....I HATE CUTTING IN! But, the way my house is designed, it's one celing through the whole downstairs. Where do I stop the yellow? Would it look strange to have a straight line down the entrance, where the eye thinks the dining area ends and the living room begins? Even if I do paint it white, the white paint that's on the ceiling now is five years old, and I don't even know what it was called. New white paint is never going to match. I still don't know what I'm going to do. And, I'm painting it tomorrow!

Why is everything so complicated? Family vacation....not so fast Miss Smarty Pants! Paint the kitchen, will you? We'll see how that goes! It's truly a miracle that I don't drink.