Mama Needs a Vacation

I haven't wrote in a while. Mostly because I've been really busy and not getting enough sleep. Let's see...where to begin. My bitches. Since we took our fur babies to the vet and had all their shots and vet records taken care of, I submitted them to the Department of Agriculture in Guam. I spoke with the lady Jacqueline a few days after I submitted everything and I must have caught her at the perfect time! Even though there were several files she'd received before mine and was yet to review, she had no one in front of her and she let me stay on the line while she went through our paperwork. I get paid tomorrow (HURRAY!) so I need to get a cashier's check or money order for $130 ($65 each) and send that to them to pay for their entry permits and registration. On the 31st, I'm taking these broads back to the vet to have their blood work drawn up and then I'm overnighting it via Fed Ex to the Kansas State University Veterinary Clinical Sciences Building. They will then send the results to Guam. So the girls are pretty much taken care of. They'll just need a wellness check about 10 days before we leave on that jet plane.

I received my title to my vehicle in the mail and Matty Boo is supposed to take it to [someplace] to start scheduling a date to ship our Explorer. Well, that's been sitting on my dining room table for just over a week now and he hasn't done shit with it. Go figure.

We still need to get online and schedule our pack out date. I was thinking we'd have to ship everything in mid November, but it looks like we should be okay shipping it mid-December. Just need to make time to sit down and fill out all of that paperwork....which seems impossible these days. I work 40+ hours a week. I'm doing PTA. My days off consist of constant house work, cooking, and entertaining &/or doing stuff with our friends (which I don't mind, but it's a lot of work).

This past weekend, I made two crock pots full of chilli, corn bread, and a fruit pizza. We had our friends over to carve pumpkins, eat chili, and play a harsh game of spades. It was fun and totally worth it. Mid-day, before every one arrived, I cleaned my house, went and got my eyebrows threaded, and had a 1 1/2 hour pedicure. Sunday, I took my kids to get their Halloween costumes (I'll surprise you with pics later I promise!) and did a week's worth of laundry and got my house back in order again (that's a never ending process). Saturday I'm going to help set up with the Fall Festival at my daughter's school and I'm going to work our "Sandy Playground" Sand Art booth for most of the day. Then we're heading out to Jamul for my father's neighborhood's Haunted Hayride! Sunday, more laundry and pumpkin carving and hopefully some relaxing.

At work, I'm trying to encourage people to participate in Toys for Tots...in addition to getting their rents in on time and cleaning out the lint from the driers after they use them...wish me luck!

On a side note, I'm planning a mini-trip to Vegas!! The kids and I are driving up after I get off of work the Wednesday before Veterans Day. My little cousin Justice is turning 6 and having a Princess Slumber Party Thursday night. I'll help my Aunt Nikki get ready for a house full of Divas and hang out for the night. Matty and Ricky are flying in Friday night and we're getting a sitter so we can enjoy a night on the town! (Go ahead and translate that to blowing money at the casinos and on strippers, since that's what's gonna happen...just sayin'.) Mama needs a vacation.

Shipping My Bitches

So it looks like I waited a little too long to get started on all the BS for these dogs....Just a tad any way. I now have a better understanding of how this 120-Day Quarantine works so I want to share... 

Because the island of Guam is Rabies-Free and they want to keep it that way, anyone bringing pets to the island is required to quarantine said pet for a period of 120 days. If you get all the pre-qualification things taken care of prior to arrival, then it is possible to have your pet in commercial quarantine for a shorter period of time, but you have to be on top of your shit...and I'm slipping a little bit. 

A lot of the websites I came across recommend contacting the Department of Agriculture about 90 days prior to your move to get started on your check-list. Personally, I would like to have my dog in quarantine for 5 days or less...in which I should have had my blood work to Guam approximately 120 days prior to arrival. What I didn't know until today, is that when I take my bitches to the vet to have their FAVN (rabies) blood work drawn, the sample will have to be sent to some Kansas State University. That University will do the testing and then mail the results directly to Guam...but that takes 2-3 weeks to get there! The FAVN results must have 1.0 I.U. of rabies antibodies. With the Home Quarantine, if we get all of our pre-qualifying things done, our dogs will get to stay with us for the remaining days (until 120 days past the date that Guam receives the results) rather than in a kennel. It's going to save us lots of money!  

Earlier this summer, we took the dogs to make sure they were current on all of their vaccines: distemper, hepatitis/adenovirus, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, parvovirus, and bordatella. Tomorrow Matty is going to take the girls to get microchipped, Buttercup will get her second Rabies vaccine, have them checked for internal & external parasites & treated if needed; and he'll request the vet to type up a letter with some very specific information in it: 

• Name, Breed, Age, Sex, Weight, Color, and Markings of each dog
• Microchip Numbers for each doggie
• Dates of Vaccinations
• Rabies Certificates which Must Include: Manufacturer, Serial/Lot Number, Expiration Date of Vaccine (separate from the rest)
• Legible Signature and Address of the Veterinarian 
• 
  

We'll go back in 10 days to have their blood work drawn and the vet will send it off to Kansas State. FYI: you don't want to do blood work any sooner than 10 days after vaccination so you can allow time for the blood to build up anti-bodies and the Department of Agriculture for Guam does not want you to administer any vaccines after you've done the blood work. 

After Buttercup has received her second rabies vaccination though, we'll want to get our paperwork together to send off to the Department of Agriculture.  They want us to send the following for review: 

• Rabies Certificates (two for each dog)
• Current Immunizations
• Parasitic Information

Once we get clearance, we can make our flight and kennel reservations and mail off for our entry permits. They will email us our entry permit after we scan and email to them our health certificate (which needs to be done no sooner than 10 days prior to their arrival in Guam.  It's going to cost us $60.00 for each permit and $5-15 for each license. 

Tomorrow, we are also going to sit down and finish doing the paperwork required to schedule our pack-out. It feels nice to finally be making some progress on this move. 

On a completely different note, here's another piece of Subway Art that I attempted today:

Two [Long] Years: Our Second Anniversary

Yesterday

All my troubles seemed so far away

Now it seems as though they're here to stay

Oh I believe in Yesterday

Yesterday was our two year anniversay! Oh how time has flown by. Here is what I looked like on our wedding day:

That's right, I wore black on our wedding day! My flowers were beautiful.

We had a courthouse wedding. The ceremony was small but nice. It was outdoors under a gazebo. My friend Melanie was our witness. My father and Lisa were there. Look how small Catalina was!

For our one year anniversay and our two year anniversary we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse! It is amazing.  For the first anniversary the traditional gift is PAPER and the modern gift is a CLOCK. Last year, I got Matty a penholder for his desk at work that had a clock on it and a picture of us with our anniversary date engraved into it. Matty took me to get our pictures taken together.

For the second anniversary, the traditional gift is COTTON or STRAW and the modern gift is CHINA. Matty talked all week about getting me a bail of straw! I told him if he did, I'd divorce him. Lucky for him the closest place to get a bail of straw was Alpine (the place in Jamul was getting a shipment in at 5 pm yesterday...too late for his plan). So he showed up at my work with these:

Way better than a bail of straw. Two little scarecrows for my desk. I LOVE them! Here's his gift all wrapped up:

I know what you're thinking: B-U-T-Ful! But a tad bit girly. I got it at World Market on my lunch break. I wish you could feel this packaging. It's thick and has texture and that's actually gold-looking details (not tan). The paper has threads of cotton through it. It's really some nice packaging! Grade A shit! So this year, as I do with all things in life, I waited until nearly the last minute to get Matty's gift. I was clueless about what I wanted to get him. Monday night I walked around the mall with Catalina for two hours! We got her a new pair of grey Jordans (sorry, no pic, but they're SUPER cute). I went into a few stores and I was going to buy him this T-Shirt that has a sexy bitch in a sexy stripper pose surrounded by money and on the back it said Blowing Cash...but they didn't have his size. So instead I got something for myself...

 A septum piercing! Bahahaha! Matty doesn't really like it. I'm still getting used to it. It felt like someone punched me in the nose, but overall not a bad experience. Bled a little. It'll take 8-10 weeks to fully heal. And I can flip it up in my nostrils to conceal it while I'm at work. I used to have my lip pierced. After I'm done working and before we move, I plan on getting it repierced...but doing snake bites...one on each side...but enough about piercings. I ended up getting Matty two pictures printed on canvas...

This picture is very special to the both of us. We took a trip to New York last October to visit with Matty's dad. He doesn't let people take his picture very often, but this opportunity was just perfect! Matty looked a little teary eyed as he opened it. :) :::patting myself on the back::: The other is a picture from our wedding day...

Lisa took this picture. It's beautiful and Matty's ring is blinging in it! Matty got me four new very large and comfy grey towels and grey Egyptian cotton sheets! (Grey is my favorite color...I felt so symbolic yesterday~"Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows)

I looked aiight...but Matty didn't want me to wear my septum piercing out. Ruth's Chris is a very fancy place. It's downtown and pretty much every seat in the house has bay views! The items on the menu are served a la carte. Here's what a $49 steak looks like with the most amazing sweet potatoe cassserole I've ever tasted in my life and asparagus with hollandaise sauce...

That porcelain plate is scortching hot! The cowboy ribeye is sizzling and still cooking on the plate. DELICIOUS!! And here is what a [mostly] happy couple of two years looks like pre-food-coma...

"The truth is that life is delicious, horrible, charming, frightful, sweet, bitter, and that is everything." ~Anatole France

My 1st Attempt at Subway Art

Okay...so I haven't had much to talk about lately, but I've been artistically inspired by some of the Subway Art that this chick does at Grunged, Glittered n' Branded. So Saturday morning, as I laid in bed, I attempted my own bit of subway art using the quote I mentioned in my previous post. I haven't had time to print it and frame it yet...but it's definitely going up in my bedroom sometime this weekend. Have you attempted anything artistic lately? I wish I was more creative. I'm a retard when it comes to the arts. Did you know they're pretty much sucking the arts out of schools in San Diego!? It's a damn shame. My kid has two weeks off in the middle of October, a week off in November for Thanksgiving, and two weeks off in December/January for Winter Break for furlough days! It's fucking ridiculous. I'm a little nervous about how the DOD education system in Guam is going to be. If you're there and you have school aged kids, please enlighten me!

L - O - V - E

 I'm shy to speak about love,

but I just want to tell you 
to be loved by you 

is my joy
your dream 

is my life 
my dream 

is to be with you 

eternally.

I found this quote when I was in middle school.  It was on a pair of designer jeans in some fashion magazine. I rewrote it on green sheet of paper and posted it on my bulletin board FOREVER! I claimed to have have written that once for someone special...guess this is a confession...those are not my own words...but I wish I could have written something so great and so heartfelt.

I've had this song on my mind all day today, so I have to share it... My husband doesn't share my taste in music... How I married someone that doesn't love Sublime, Bob Marley, and the Deftones just blows my mind. Anyway, this song was originally by Sade, but I LOVE how it sounds by the Deftones. It sounds dark... deep... real... sexy...

Julian Road Trip

I haven't wrote in a few days...mostly because I haven't had much of anything positive to say. If you've read my last two posts, you can tell I've been pretty peeved at the world. I wish I could say that I've had some progress with this move...naw, haven't done anything related to the move in a few days. BUT we've been getting in some memorable times...and some more to come!

We went to Julian this past Sunday! I have some really great pics to share! I just realized that I took a lot of pictures of the kids and didn't get any of the other great things about Julian like fresh raw apple cider, candied apples, fresh apple pies, old country houses, cute little shops, and more! That's okay...maybe next time. We brought Matty's friend Ricky and my friend's son Jay along for the day and had a blast walking around the small town, looking at all the vendors at the Apple Fest, and then hit a pumpkin patch.

My Friend's Son Jay Joined Us

Playing the Silent Game

Aren't these two adorable?!

Zeek is my Lil' Cowpoke!
And I love that the horse's tongue is out.

Messy Face

Matty's buddy Ricky! (He's an amazing cook ladies!)

Matty wasn't impressed with this little pumpkin patch

Pumpkin Heads

The Diva was ready to go home

We have a lot planned for this week. We went to our buddy Joe's for dinner and NCIS tonight...We'll be going to my girlfriend Bruni's house for dinner on Thursday (keeping my fingers crossed for some chimichangas!) We're going to Del Mar on Friday night for the Scare Zone! And then having a lil Asian Food Fest over at Ricky's house Saturday night! I have the weekend free to help my girlfriend Melanie move... and I think that's it for the agenda.

Have you done anything exciting lately? Any mini road trips or staycations? Big plans for the weekend?

NEVER Order From Wesley Berry Florists!!!

I'll let the emails speak for themselves on this one: 

From: Rachel Norton <rachel.kern@yahoo.com>
Date: October 1, 2011 9:34:12 AM PDT
To: "customerrelations@800wesleys.com" <customerrelations@800wesleys.com>
Subject: Victorian Romance Premium Order Was 2 Days Late and Not Even What I Ordered!

To whom it may concern:

On September 29, 2011 I placed an order online for the premium Victorian Romance bouquet to be delivered to my mother in Virginia Beach, VA the same day. At 5 pm EST I called your company because I hadn't heard anything from my mom. I was told that they could be delivered as late as 8 pm...that businesses get delivered first. That was fine with me. I called back at 7:50 EST and was told they couldn't get ahold of the driver. The guy offered me an in-store credit and assured me they would be delivered the next day. I called yesterday...I was told that they were going to have to find a different company to make the arrangement. I was called back and told they they'd be delivered the next day! I was told the arrangement would be even larger than what I had ordered and they'd put an apologetic note in there.

Here's what the arrangement should have looked like:

This is what was delivered!

The roses were all supposed to be cream NOT pink! My mother turned 43, NOT 16! Theres supposed to be lavender waxflower NOT pinkish white! There isn't even any ivy in the arrangement! And there's NOT supposed to be some cheap pink mesh ribbon wrapped around the vase!

These flowers were delivered by Rose Hall Florist in Virginia Beach. I called them and they said that someone told them they could substitute pink flowers for white! I never agreed to this. Why would someone tell them to put together an arrangement that I had not ordered?!

I am very disappointed with the flowers that were sent to my mother. I don't want my money back. I just want the arrangement that I paid for to be delivered to my mother.
Please call me at ###-###-####.

Rachel Kern 

I will admit I was quite livid when I wrote this email to Wesley Berry. I had just been jerked around on the phones for two days and then found out that they didn't even send the flowers I'd ordered. How would you feel about this?  Have you ever been in a similar situation? These flowers were certainly NOT an upgrade from what I had paid nearly $140 for! And no one at Wesley Berry returned my call! Instead, I got this email:

From: WBF Customer Relations Manager - Wesley Berry Flowers <customerrelations@800wesleys.com>

Date: October 1, 2011 11:30:57 AM PDT

To: Rachel Norton <rachel.kern@yahoo.com>

Subject: RE: Victorian Romance Premium Order Was 2 Days Late and Not Even What I Ordered! 

I'm very sorry the flowers had to be subbed on. The flowers that you requested were not available and in order to get something delivered we did have to substitute on it. As I looked into the order I did notice that we sent a 50 store credit. I honestly can't do much more than that we do have a substitution policy that clearly states on the web site substitutions may have to be made to get a delivery out. Once again I do want to apologize.  

Thank you,

WESLEY BERRY FLOWERS

Josh Hetmanski

Josh Hetmanski

Wesley Berry Corporate Offices: 2985 Haggerty Rd. Commerce, MI 48390

Office: 248.668.2881 Fax: 248.669.2454

customerrelations@800wesleys.com

           

Is this guy a joke?! He doesn't even have the decency to address me by name! On top of that I'm pretty sure that he just wrote a run-on sentence in there. Why don't they just offer to correct the problem? I can get over it being late! I can't get over that they completely fucked up the order! And the nerve to mention the micro-sized substitution policy on their website. I had to go back to their site and read very slowly before I noticed a tiny print link that said Substitutions. Here is my response:

From: Rachel Kern <rachel.kern@yahoo.com>

Date: October 2, 2011 1:21:35 AM PDT

To: WBF Customer Relations Manager - Wesley Berry Flowers <customerrelations@800wesleys.com>

Subject: Re: Victorian Romance Premium Order Was 2 Days Late and Not Even What I Ordered!

Reply-To: Rachel Kern <rachel.kern@yahoo.com>

Mr. Hetmanski, 

It's quite disappointing that you would mention a SUBSTITUTION policy that is in fine print on your website at the very bottom of the page where no one would notice it unless they are looking specifically for it after the fact. I would understand your poor business excuse if my ugly pink bouquet of flowers had been delivered on the day that they were supposed to be sent (September 29th). When I called about my order on October 1st, it would have been nice to at least be informed that the flowers I wanted were out of stock and that a substitution is being made. I would like to ask you this...If you were eating at fancy restaurant and you just paid $130 for your steak, would you not want it cooked to your liking? Would you not be upset if your waiter brought you chicken instead? Would you still pay if they brought you your chicken instead of steak two days later? Would you feel any better if they told you that in the small print of their menu there's a small note that states that sometimes they run out of steak and have to substitute with chicken? 

Sir, I want you to know two things. I am not going to see my mother for a very long time. My husband is military and we are getting ready to be moved overseas. I wanted to do something special for my mother on her birthday...which is hard to do from California when my mother is all the way in Virginia. I relied on your business to help make that feeling happen and you failed miserably. My mother was waiting to hear from me on her birthday...I was waiting to hear from her after she'd received the flowers. On top of that, I called late in the day and told her they'd be there the next day. My mother works the graveyard shift. She stayed up all morning and afternoon waiting for her arrangement to be delivered just to receive another call that they'd be there the following day. And when they finally arrive, they're wrong and someone would be returning to take the flowers back and redeliver on Monday. 

I want you to know that Rose Hall Florists has agreed to deliver the correct flowers that I ordered on Monday. We returned the flowers that were left at my mother's door. In the future, I will not be doing business with Wesley Berry Flowers and I will not be recommending you to any of my friends, family, nor business associates. I will be sharing my poor experience with Wesley Berry Flowers online, on my blog, through various social networking sites, through Yelp, and other various online sources and by word of mouth. 

I didn't want any more money from you. I simply requested that you correct my order and you won't even offer to do that. I have never been more dissatisfied with an online florist company. 

Another customer lost, 

Rachel Kern 

Customer Service: Be All That You Can Be! OR QUIT!!

Yesterday was a crazy busy "day off" of work. It could have involved less running around if some people were more thorough at doing their jobs and more willing to provide people with details that could save everyone some time. I like to think this is why I'm great at doing my job...I will take a few extra minutes with each person to give them more information than they probably want so that the feel prepared...especially if they're coming to turn in applications for an apartment. For example, if someone is on the phone with me, I make sure they have easy directions on how to get to my complex. I tell them to bring a picture ID (because that's required to even look at an apartment). I let them know where they can find information/pictures/etc. about us online (in case they haven't visited us online already). I try to qualify them before they get to the property. If they have a certain breed of dog that we do not accept in our community or if we do not have a dog friendly unit available, then there's no point in wasting the gas visiting a community that Buster can't live at. I tell my prospects to bring their proof of income and credit card because if they like what they see they should be ready to put a deposit down and complete applications the same day...apartments go quickly in San Diego! I expect other people to be on top of their game too, especially if you work for the government! You're supposed to represent the Best of America...not the half-ass of America! And I expect you to know your shit!

So here's what happened: Matty was told by some unnamed person that even though we just received our "civilian" passports in the mail, we are required to have "military" passports to travel on military orders. No big deal. Same paperwork for both.  Well, this would have been nice to know BEFORE we wasted our time at the Passport Office and had my daughter late for school. Matty was just told that we had to go to the Passports Office on base...they didn't say what to bring, just that they accept walk-ins only and that dependents need to be present.  We figured, that since it's the military, all we would need is our orders and Page 2. So we showed up bright and early at 8:00 a.m. ready to get things taken care of. We were "greeted" by a not-so-friendly-bitch who looked annoyed that we'd come without applications. She told us we would have to go to the Fleet and Family Building to use their computers to print out applications (but she didn't bother to tell us where that building is) and that we would need our original Birth Certificates (which we brought even though we were not told to bring...I happen to have them in my Getting-to-Guam Binder along with other important documents) and passport pictures. I was shocked that they don't take pictures there! I mean, you are the PASSPORT office for the military members and their family! You can't help a military family out and take their PASSPORT photos?!! She mentioned some place off-base [which we discovered] that didn't open until 10! (Luckily for me I happened to have extra copies of our passport photos that the NICE lady in El Cajon took of us...but they were 20 minutes away...back at home...in some drawer...)

So we left a little irritated. We drove around and by chance found the Fleet and Family Building. I hollered out the window at some guy that was passing by and he pointed us in the right direction. The Philippine Lady in the Fleet and Family office was SUPER FRIENDLY! She logged Matty and I into the computers so we could print up applications for the kids and me. She mentioned that her husband had been at Guam and we talked about the traveling opportunities available overseas. She kindly suggested that I go to the Fleet and Family Office when I get to Guam so that they can help me with my resume and to find work on the island. She mentioned that it would be a great time to get into a government job which I am excited to hear (even though I still want to take a little time off to spend with my kids)! The kids acted crazy in there...but no one complained. And we got our paperwork printed out.

There's a catch to paperwork....Well, my daughter's biological father lives in Virginia. When I was in VA picking her up at the end of the summer, he went with me to get a Form DS-3053 notarized so that I can get Catalina a passport (this is required if both parents are not present when turning in the passport application of a minor). Well, earlier this month we applied for and received our passports. No one ever mentioned that I would need a separate notarized letter when applying for the military passport...and I certainly didn't think to have Terrence sign and have notarized the same document twice while I was there. On top of that, I haven't been able to reach Catalina's father since August 17, 2011. He hasn't responded to any of my calls/voice-messages/texts/messages-relayed-through-his-family-members. He has recently been subpoena'ed to court for non-payment of child support (real winner) so I have a feeling he's avoiding me until the court date (which I'm trying to get a telephonic hearing instead of flying back east...but that's a completely different story).

Before we left base, we stopped by Personal Property.  and found out the information for shipping our household goods to Guam and got a number for who to call about shipping our truck. I have to say, the guy at Personal Property was SUPER friendly and very informative. He didn't make us feel stupid about not knowing what we needed to do, and he said "Hafa Adai" to us! He looked like a heavy set islander guy...Samoan or something....and just very nice. He talked with us about the island fruits and said our daughter would become a little chamorro girl. You can tell this guy is satisfied with his life and his job makes him happy. He offered stellar customer service...even to the people after us! He let us know that it will take 55 days depending on weather conditions to ship our bulky items and 25-30 for our express home goods items. He'll be sending us an email on how to go online to make the arrangements for our pack-out.

After I signed Catalina back in at school, we had to make a trip to the bank. Since our vehicle is still being financed, we needed a letter from our bank stating that we have permission to take our Explorer overseas.  I was hoping to also have my Form DS-3053 notarized....it turns out that Navy Federals in San Diego are not allowed to notarize documents (very lame)! After Becky, the EXTREMELY sweet older Philippine lady talked with us about her time in Guam back in '86...her husband is a retired machinists mate (so is Matty...well, not retired, but a machinists mate)...after our trip down memory lane and getting our paper for the truck, we went next door to the Postal Annex to wait for the Notary Lady. This is another lady that must not like her job. We waited very patiently for her to finish up with an older couple. We cooed at her baby (grandchild maybe) that was bouncing in his bouncer behind the counter. (Must be nice to bring your kid, his pack n play, and all the baby's stuff to work with you! Apparently, also stressing somebody out.) When it was our turn, she was very snippy about not needing to notarize the document. She said that the section that is supposed to be notarized is ONLY for after the non-present parent signs. I was happy to save a few bucks and for her to not have my business so I left. After that, we went to get an arrangement of balloons to surprise Catalina with. She had a ceremony for being a Star Student and was being recognized by her school for Academic Achievement!

I love my girl! She's so smart and well behaved! She LOVES school!

After her ceremony we headed back to base with a truck full of balloons and returned to the Passport Office. I already knew that this not-so-friendly-bitch was going to have something to say about the Form DS-3053 not being notarized....total gut feeling...so I called the 877 number on the passport application for the Passport Agency Call Center during our drive and I explained my situation with my daughter's father to them and how he had recently had a Form DS-3035 notarized. I  explained that I could show paperwork stating that I have sole custody of my daughter, my marriage license reflecting my name change since her birth, and a copy of her recently-issued-passport. The Passport Guy told me to complete the bottom section of the form and confirmed that I would not need to get form notarized...the notary is only for the non-present parent's signature.

We got there right at 2:40 pm and the Passport Office closes at 3:00, so naturally the not-so-friendly-bitch looked irritated to have to work. (And of course, while she was in the middle of handling our paperwork, four other people showed up needing to take care of passport related stuff! Bahahaha!) Anyway, she starts arguing with me that the pictures are too big and asked where we had them done at. I said, "Oh really, because I had them done at the Passport Office in El Cajon...and these are the pictures that are on our current passports." She replied, "Well, they ain't the right size but I'll go ahead and send them...they might just put a hold on your passports until you get new pictures." She instructs me to write our names on the backs of the pictures. No problem. She takes our IDs and birth certificates and starts putting our packets together. She has me sign for my paperwork and Ezekiel's and then she starts eye balling Catalina's birth certificate. Our conversation goes something like this:

     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "Well where's the father? He's supposed to be present or you'll have to get a Form DS-3053 notarized."
     Me: "I have the form right there. He's not able to be reached. That's why I filled out the bottom portion. I also have a letter attached, my court paperwork showing I have sole custody, and a copy of my marriage license. I'd like for you to make a copy of her passport to send along with all of this."
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "The court paperwork has to say you have SOLE custody."
     Me: "I just told you it says I have SOLE custody. This is the orders for custody, visitation, and child support showing that I have SOLE custody."
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "Well they're going to need to see the originals. You can't send these copies."
     Me: "Are they going to send my originals back?"
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "Yeah, they'll send 'em back. But you can't send these copies."  (Duh Not-so-friendly-bitch, you already said that!)
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "Well this form here is supposed to be notarized."
     Me: "No, it's only supposed to be notarized after the non-present parent signs."
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "No, the State requires that this is notarized. See this spot right here."
     Me: "That spot right there in the middle of the page is for the notary to stamp AFTER the signature of the non-present parent. I signed the bottom. It doesn't need to be notarized. I already called to passport office before we got here."
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "Well the State requires that it's notarized."
     Me: "Ma'am the federal government issues passports. The rules are the same for this document whether you're applying for a Tourist Visa or a Military Visa. I already called and spoke to them about this because I knew I'd have this problem here."
     Not-so-friendly-bitch: "Well the State is going to want it notarized. I'll send it, but they'll just put a hold on issuing the passport until you get it to them."
    Me: "Well, we'll see then. Just send it in along with my letter and all the other paperwork, because I said in this letter that it would be attached. If they want 100 pages of my phone records to prove he's not responding to my phone calls and messages, I'll be sure to send it to them."

Now I can understand that maybe the passport office in DC (Matty assumes that is where our paperwork will get sent off to) might be stricter than the passport office in LA (which is probably where our current passports were issued out of) but do lady, do you have to be such a nasty bitch? If you hate your job, QUIT! Do us all a favor.

The rest of my day was beautiful. We had a great dinner with Matty's buddy Ricky and watched a very lame movie: American Loser. It had its moments but overall it was a flop.  I went to work today with a stronger appreciation for why I do my job so thoroughly. I was even complimented today. One of my prospects told me, "Thank you for your time Rachel. You're very good at what you do." And I have to admit, he's right. There are a lot of people out there that half-ass it through life. I'd like to think my parents raised me better than that. I value my time and I respect the time of others. Too bad other people don't all think the same....

Borrowed from Here. Dededo, Guam
Can't wait to get away to some beach like this!