Settling down

It has been a hectic couple of weeks. Hectic, yet laziness personified. Still trying to get paperwork sorted out. D, Dylan's and Sasha's passports sent off in the mail for the passport exchange. They were initially given temporary passports to be exchanged via mail, and they will receive their new ones in the mail. After a 1 week wait, I finally received my forms to apply for a new passport. Filled them out yesterday, but needed to get a money order and passport photos. Unfortunately, although we use the new fangled chip, photos need to be taken against a blue background. I went to a few shops on the main strip here but they only did white biometric backgrounds. I was told I needed to go to the Philippine Embassy to get blue background ones taken as they still use the "old" technology. Luckily for me, the embassy is only 4 blocks away so I headed straight there. Found a shop that took Filipino passport photos and even they were surprised that Malaysia still used the blue background. The photographer seemed dammed proud that for once the Philippines were on par with Malaysia.

I still cant send the forms off because the photos and signatures need to be certified by either a notary public or the Honorary Consul in Toronto. I had no idea we used Honorary Consuls and I have no idea what they are or do, so of course I am trying to get hold of him to get documents certified and to ask what the hell he does. It has been 2 days, still no success. If he doesnt get back to me by tomorrow I am officially of the opinion that consuls are an absolute waste of taxpayer money and heading to the closest notary public. I just want to get the forms sent off because apparently it will take 3 months to get a new passport...3 months of no travelling and no picture ID. How ridiculous is that?? Even then they cannot guarantee that the process will be glitch free and it may even take longer than that. We are supposed to get back to KL in November but are now seriously reconsidering it because it will be pricey to book tickets so close to the proposed date of departure and we were planning to fly out via the US, and it is unlikely that I will be able to get my replacement US visa attached in time. Funny how I may not even be able to fly back to Malaysia because I may not be able to get my Malaysian passport in time.

Every other day I recall another card that I had in my wallet that needs replacing. Just today we thought of going to the ROM but then I remembered that I needed to replace our membership cards. I cannot take Dylan to his pediatrician as we are still waiting for the replacement health cards. I swear if given the choice I would just offer the thieves 3000 bucks cash...just give us our documents back. That's how much it has cost us to get our lives in order. I was just telling a friend that the thief's karma is so shot to hell after both D and I cursing seven generations with every venereal disease possible.

While the administrative side of my life has been a mess, my home life is generally summer lazy. Sasha is thrilled to be back with J and her little buddies, we go to the park on her off days, we put out the little splash pool of hot days, we play in the yard, we BBQ alot. Dylan is cruising like a demon and trying to stand up on his own. He is usually successful, but then we get excited and our clapping throws him off. He is demanding to eat everything we eat so he has had spag bol, sushi, sashimi, and burgers. We are happy to be home.