Consumerism At Its Best!

I haven't actually made a tally of all my purchases in the last four days but if the sound of my VISA card whimpering in my wallet is any indication, I believe I have single-handedly increased the profit margin of several North American clothing stores in the last few days. I am still under budget but I will have to stop soon ... my suitcase only expands so far! Boy oh boy, has it been fun. I've made some incredible buys and found some amazing bargains but I am tired. I am so out of shape. I haven't shopped like this in years! I'm having so much fun ... LOL

My efforts to renew my passport are failing miserably. On Monday morning, I stopped by The Passport Office to get the forms and then I got my photographs done in accordance with the specifications set out in the application. I arrived at my former employer's office before noon so that Robert (my former boss) could sign my application. Unfortunately, I did not have my birth certificate or health care card with me so he couldn't sign as my guarantor. Later, I found both cards in my luggage but not after a few nervous minutes when I thought I had left them in PV!

This morning, I stopped by The Passport Office around 11AM and it was relatively quiet. Only a half a million people there waiting as opposed to the million that were there on Monday morning. Sheesh! What a racket! I went back to the office again, this time meeting with Lisa (my other former boss) and had her sign as my guarantor. I was back at The Passport Office by 11:30AM, third in line in the "pre-screening" line with all my documentation in order. Or so I thought until I read item 2 under "Helpful Tips for Completing Your Passport Application: Complete and sign all three pages."

THREE PAGES!?!?! I flipped the application over and found a whole other page which I had neglected to complete. I needed two references -- names, addresses and phone numbers -- which information was not with me. Apparently an original un-expired passport, an original birth certificate, an original signed Provincial Health Care Card and the guarantee of a lawyer registered with Canadian Bar Association are not enough. I suspect they might want to draw blood tomorrow in addition to charging me $87 CDN for the privilege of having my passport renewed. *sigh*

I had to put my visit to my parents off by one day. Now I am wondering if I should chance spending the day at The Passport Office in Toronto or get on a bus and spend half the day at The Passport Office in Kitchener. I figure there are less people in Kitchener so maybe it would be easier to file there. What to do, what to do ... Passports are taking approximately two weeks to be issued so I still have a lot of time. I don't have to be back at work in PV until July 26th and I am sure that if I called and told them I don't have a passport, they would understand.

The weather has been grand! A little bit cool on the weekend but it has warmed up nicely the last two days and the sun has been shining constantly. I thought we might get a bit of rain tonight but it looks like there will be a beautiful sunset instead. The first day of summer has finally arrived! Heidi and I took Rose out last night for her birthday dinner. The three of us do this three times a year, for each birthday. My birthday in October was celebrated here in September before I left and Heidi's birthday in May was celebrated in April while we were all in PV for GCIV.

We started in The Library Bar at the Royal York Hotel for before dinner drinks. Six martinis later (we had 2 each), we headed out to Spoon (www.spoonrestaurant.com) on King West. Dinner was incredible! Rose had lamb, Heidi had duck and I had chicken. The wine was particularly fabulous. It was a 2001 Hollick, Cabernet-Merlot from Coonwarra, South Australia. I must remember to look for that in my local LCBO (www.lcbo.com). We gave Rose her gifts, had the wait staff take photos and we were on our way by 11PM. My two fellow Goddesses had to work this morning and were a little bit groggy. Being on vacation, I did not feel the effects of the night before as strongly ... ;)