Expectations

 I love when everything goes even better than I expect, but maybe one day I won't worry ahead of time!

A. and I needed to renew our EU passports and I wanted to do it after he was 18 years old so that he could get a passport that was valid for ten years. We could not get an appointment for the weeks after his birthday before he left for college so we decided to do it this week.

The first step after getting an appointment was to gather our documents. Some were exactly where I expected them to be but one was missing. Glad I checked ahead of time because the next place to look would be our safe deposit box. 

The good news was that it was right near the top so that could be checked off the list. The bad news was that the next day I opened my wallet (not something I do every day so that was lucky!) and my driver's license was missing. I immediately realized it had not been returned by the bank after they took to verify my identification.  All I had to do was ride over to the bank and retrieve it, right? 

Ha ha. The person looked one place and said come back later. I went home, questioned my memory, and looked all over. No luck. Back to the bank, where I could see three different people looking here and looking there. Maybe I left in my box they asked? But I would have to go home and get my passport so they could verify my identity so they could let me get into the box. Aaagh. Time was ticking because I knew I would have to leave town before the bank opened the next day in order to get to LA in time. 

And then, miracle of miracles, it was is the fifth place they looked.
I guess I was the first person to ever leave identification at the bank.

But, wait.  There was another worry to add to the list.

A. wondered about that crack in the tire.

D. said it was fine since I was just going around town. I was relived until I remembered that the next day I would be driving to LA. The tires were going to be replaced over break and for now it would just have to be the fingers-crossed method of repair. I am thrilled to report it worked!

The drive in was uneventful. 

The most exciting thing was seeing the removal of the
Staples sign at the basketball arena. The Crypto sign was
up on by the time we were heading home.

We got there so early we had time to walk over to emili's cafe.
It wasn't the best view but the company was great.

We hustled back to the consulate on Wilshire Blvd., we were escorted to the elevator, and we were immediately helped. We had all the documents requested and even one that had not been on the list. Our pictures turned out ok and it was eight dollars less expensive than expected. What a great experience.

Nothing exciting on the drive home, stopped to get ingredients so A. could make dinner, and home by noon.

Definitely exceeded all expectations!