passports are in!

we applied for our passports almost 8 weeks ago, and were so surprised to get an envelope from the government 3 weeks later. i was confused, though, when scott's passport was the only one in the envelope. our check processed! it obviously only took scott's passport 3 weeks to process. where was mine?

i waited a week longer and finally found a website that has a link to check the status of my passport. i entered my name, etc... and there was nothing! didn't they get my check? wasn't my application sent with my husband's? where was mine? i called their 800 number at 6pm on a weeknight and was told that their customer representatives (that accept calls until 10pm) were overwhelmed with calls. i thought i would be put on hold, but the message said, "please call back at another time" and hung up! the government can't even afford to put me in a queue? had they not processed my $200 check? surely that afforded to put me on hold!

there was a way to send an email through the website, so i submitted my question. where is my passport? three days later, i got a call while i was in a meeting. "ms stead, we're trying to verify your travel date" -- no "call me back at this number" or anything, just a message teasing me, letting me know that they called, and there was obviously a problem.

i broke down and called them again. this time i waited 25 minutes on hold. i spoke to someone that said there was no problem -- my passport was being processed. i asked why we received my husband's so much sooner than mine and the representative could not give me an answer.

finally i received an email stating that they needed me to send in my old passport. why had no one told me this before? i asked the lady at the post office if i needed to provide anything else. she verified that i did not need to send in my old passport, which was damaged (and included my maiden name). looks like she was wrong, as was the woman who i waited 25 minutes to speak to. i mailed my passport to the passport processing center with a letter. i did not receive anything back for over a week, so i replied to the email asking again, "WHERE IS MY PASSPORT????"

sunday night we checked the mail from the weekend. my passport was finally here! i can't imagine how this would have worked if i expected to travel in the last two months. i guess scott would have just gone without me!